An influencer killed in mysterious conditions, and a smartphone to explore full of secrets. Telephone terror returns at its best
In 2016 Kaigan Games wanted to catch us off guard with its proposal of terror vouyerist Sara is Missing, a paranormal thriller told through a mobile phone in which each chat conversation, each email and each video in the gallery could be a clue to reveal the fate of the missing Sara. It was an experimental product of just an hour's duration, but it already put on the table a series of elements that had a lot of potential for expansion. Now they arrive with another proposal that we have already been able to analyze in Meristation.
In love with his own style, the company followed that course in later works, and we have seen with it the birth of the Simulacra saga, a spiritual successor of that first game that refined the simulation in the service of even more convoluted stories. Now we not only had messaging or emails, also a Twitter, a browser, a Tinder, or in the latter case, an Instagram.
Simulacra 2 is the latest installment in a series that, although its formula has changed little during these games, it is one so concrete (and so little explored) that it still works. The fidelity with which they manage to emulate many of the routine activities we do on a mobile phone is surprising. Navigation through the menus is very polished, fast and incredibly satisfying. Every sound, every text source, every transition or visual effect is there to facilitate the immersion that we are interacting with a real mobile, and it works.
Maya Crane is dead. The influencer Yoga lover and promoter of a healthy life appeared lifeless in the living room of his house with strange marks on his face. The police soon settled the case, but veteran Detective Murilo thinks there is a cat locked up here. Too many pieces do not fit, it has been overlooked more than it should be, and to top it off, Murilo believes there is something paranormal at stake.
At the beginning we take on the role of a journalist or a rookie detective. This hardly affects the development of the story, but it slightly changes how our partners address us and the dialogue options we have available. What is our role in all this? Murilo gives us the victim's cell phone, and invites us to discover everything we can about her and what led to her death.
And it is that Simulacra 2 combines very accurately the police investigation with the inherent vouyerismo that these titles have. The game rewards our curiosity. She wants us to know as much as possible about Maya, about the world around her, her friends and her enemies. The characterization exercise is probably the best the saga has had so far. Detective Murilo is a luxury secondary. Cunning in his work but clumsy with technology, he stars in the funniest moments of the title, calling us when he does not play because he has pressed badly or sending us videos by mistake of his mask.
Behind the façade of brainless famosetes, Maya's friends have all personalities that, although they are basic, are reinforced with personal and professional conflicts that each one carries behind them. This is interesting, because the strong police investigation component that has the title will lead us to want to question and know as much as possible about these friends of the deceased: their alibis on the day of their death, their common interests and quarrels, etc … Who knows , perhaps some could be related to his death.
The influencer roll that this delivery has makes this research very interesting and full of events. It is easy to draw conclusions from the life and work of these people through the imprint they leave on their networks, private conversations with Maya, the videos that go up to Kimera (the Instagram of this game), or what they publish on Jarbb (the twitter of this game). This together with the information we obtain from Maya's own mobile, with her personal files, emails, or the gallery, gives us practically all the ingredients to be able to draw the whole set in our head.
In the 4-5 hours that the title lasts we will consume a multitude of videos, photographs, private audios and amounts and amounts of text in the form of conversations, emails, documents, web pages or similar. There is a lot of information relevant to the case in all that content, but there is also noise that we should know how to filter.
Managing all this information is easier with the help of the WARDEN application, a clandestine police tool that will allow us to scan photos, conversations, or videos from the mobile and register them as evidence. The application itself is part of the work for us by pointing out what elements we can scan, but it is our business to decide what to do with these tests and how to use them. Sometimes concrete tests will be needed to unlock corrupted files on the mobile, and others can be used as blackmail in a conversation to make someone talk.
It is not the most sophisticated system in the world, of course, and knowing what elements we can scan and which does not detract a bit from the research work, but facilitate the reception of information and ultimately, is Our task is to understand this information and know how to apply it.
Detective Murilo was right in his inquiries and Maya's case is, of course, very strange. And it does not mean revealing much to say that indeed the paranormal has much to do here. Simulacra 2 falls back into the paranormal terror and wants to scare us again with its jumpscares, its glitches, its unexpected calls with strange messages and its chilling videos.
Kaigan Games recommends that we play this with headphones, and it is true that the experience gains in immersion in the face of that facet of terror. Discovering the paranormal element of the game is one of the attractions of the story, and although on occasion the jumpscare is abused, the atmosphere of terror around the telephone ecosystem is well transmitted, and the game keeps good resources under the sleeve to put on the creeps.
It remains, however, a rather slight terror, Simulacra 2 plays the scare rather than terrifying us for real. His characters and humor give this telephone thriller a touch B series that is very easy to digest. The rocambolesco of his proposed paranormal wonder house with a cast of somewhat stupid secondary, and the actors (who are also pure B series) help sell us this fantasy.
This does not stop us from taking the investigation seriously. The case of Maya Crane awaits very good discoveries, leads us to make mental connections that will make us feel like a true detective, and also reserves moments of true tension, where we can guide some character to help them in some task of doubtful legality with such of getting proof.
Simulacra 2 is one of those titles that surprise in their first meeting, but that reward the player the more time he wants to devote. Your phone is full of secrets, and in addition to how satisfying it is to navigate through these menus and explore all those secondary stories that are emerging organically according to the content, knowing more or less about each of these legs is also the difference between being able to reach the Good or bad end. That will depend to a large extent, of course, as you gossip.
Code provided for the Steam version.
CONCLUSION
Simulacra 2 fulfills almost everything that is proposed. Its simulation of a smartphone is impeccable, browsing its interface is satisfactory and intuitive, and consuming all its content through different tweets, emails, videos or private conversations is an addictive way to absorb the fragmented narrative of this story. The investigation remains exciting from beginning to end, and the moments of terror convince as much as the moments of humor. It is true that his decision system could be a bit more refined, and that ultimately it still seems like something linear and guided, but for everything else it is a remarkable horror thriller series B in telephone format. And its formula is still fresh enough to surprise veterans and newcomers.
THE BEST
- Terrifying when he plays, but also surprisingly fun
- Mobile browsing is smooth and very satisfactory.
- Two different endings, and there is some openness in how we get to them
- Reward your curiosity by unlocking new content and small narrative details
WORST
- The decision system is somewhat limited
- The WARDEN application is practical, but perhaps it simplifies the research too much
Good
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, it has quality and does not present serious failures, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
