Title: The Town of Light
Type of Game: Psychological Horror, Adventure
Developer: LKA
Publisher: Wired Productions
Released: February 26, 2016
Platforms Available: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Level of Maturity: Mature 17+
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Not What You’d Expect
The Town of Light seemed like a classic horror exploration adventure game from the very beginning. Still, the first few minutes were very deceiving, and the game is much more of a drama and a trip into the protagonist’s own past. So don’t expect heart attacks or a classic ghost story. The Town of Light builds tension with its story.
A Grim Blast from the Past
The entire game is set in the present day. Still, every sliver of the story harkens back to the 1930s to 1940s and a sanatorium located near the Italian town of Volterra. The sanatorium was used to accommodate the mentally ill. However, more than 70 years ago, the treatment methods were quite different. The sanatorium was full of pain, suffering, and injustice, and whoever was declared mentally ill at that time ceased to exist as a human being and was deprived not only of their rights but also of personal freedom. This was also the case for Renee, a girl of only 16, who ended up there because of family strife – but the story’s background is more complex. You can taste it in the form of the girl’s diary before playing. It didn’t take long for this place to take the most important things from Renée – youth, humanity, but also a girl’s innocence.
Back to Where It All Went Wrong
Being thrown into the story works brilliantly, and when the adult Renée returns to the crime scene, I found myself staring at the screen with my mouth open. The entry was strong, and some moments were so interesting. When you add in the mental breakdown and the hint of schizophrenia expressed by the main character’s dialogue, the real goosebumps have already set in. What actually happened, and who is Reneé after all these years? Curiosity drove me constantly forward and the reason I kept going, finger jammed into the controller stick. The ending didn’t leave you waiting for long – the last pieces of the branching and election-influenced story fall into place after some 4 hours. The hardly influential bitter ending then raises more questions, but it’s not bad. The story aspect of the game may bring to mind some clichés, but as a whole, I have little to fault it for and can only recommend it. Unfortunately, however, it’s more or less downhill from there.
Rough Around the Edges
From a technical standpoint, the game looks solid by the standards from which it sprang. However, I still encountered several bouncing objects, a few minor bugs, and annoying memory leaks and frame rate drops. On top of that, there was also the game’s poor dubbing and generally unconvincing audio. In short, the fault was not with my admittedly ancient PlayStation 4 but with the optimization as far as the first half of my criticism of the technical side of the game so far is concerned. On the other hand, the game’s environments provided a number of pleasing details in the form of ants running on the walls or fluorescent lights on the ceilings that had to be warmed up before they could be fully lit. I was also pleased with the reasonably credible treatment of the real-life prototype, which I watched in retrospect after playing the game out of curiosity on the Internet.
A Slow Walk Through History
Another shortcoming is definitely the pace of the game. The player character is far too slow in most passages, and it feels like the length of the game is artificially stretched by the character’s slow movement. Add to that the fact that the developers send you back and forth over and over again, with Renee gradually recalling a series of events in different corners of the sanatorium. Unsurprisingly, the very next event is usually at the other end of the game map. The game sends you where the sun doesn’t shine over and over again, and whether you want it to or not, the story begins to suffer. So that aforementioned squeezed finger on the forward lever suddenly signifies not only a desire to explore what awaits you next but also a wish: “May I finally be there, dammit!” And the promise that something interesting would be around the corner. It’s not just a silly joke when this title was initially created as a virtual tour, and the decision to make it a game came later.
A Story Worth Telling, Despite the Bumps
Fortunately, each successive corner provides another interesting piece of narrative. And even though the game has its obvious technical and gameplay flaws, and you will get lost more than once during such a tour, it’s still worth the wait. The Italian developers took on a fascinating topic and went on to think about how medical practice was conducted in mental institutions in the first half of the twentieth century. It’s not a pretty visit, even uninteresting from a gameplay point of view. Still, the narrative and Renee’s words thankfully pull the game out of a possible sub-par state. It is because of this aspect of the game that I would recommend The Town of Light, but I would like to warn that it is definitely redeemed by something. This time, The target audience will be even narrower than usual for other games I’ve reviewed for this site so far, which is something to consider before buying this game to see if you belong in that group.
The Bottom Line
The Town of Light takes you on a journey through the history of an Italian sanatorium in the first half of the twentieth century. It offers a great story and extensive lore of the setting, but its potential could be better in a not-so-compelling production design and an overall weak technical aspect. Those who are fans of a good script and story will find something to like, but those who want something more from every aspect of the game might as well go a little further afield.
Where to Buy The Town of Light
Steam (PC): Available for $19.99. You can purchase it directly from Steam.
Xbox Store (Xbox One): Available for $19.99. Check it out on the Xbox Store.
PlayStation Store (PS4): Available for $19.99. You can find it on the PlayStation Store.
Nintendo Shop (Switch): Available for $9.99. Purchase it from the Nintendo Shop.
Official Page: Visit the official The Town of Light page for more information.
