Reveil, a first-person psychological-horror game by Pixelsplit, is carrying on the legacy that Kojima's P.T. left behind, built around a tense atmosphere and supported by a relatable, intimate narrative. Although Reveil takes steps to make itself stand out, and it isn't a carbon copy of P.T., it's symbolic of the gone-too-soon game's impact on horror gaming as a whole.

The story of P.T. and Silent Hills is a tragic one. P.T. is a two-hour, first-person horror experience released on the PlayStation Store back in 2014. The game traps players in a loop, forcing them to walk through the first-floor hallway of a typical suburban home dozens of times, solving obtuse and enigmatic puzzles in order to escape. Once players manage to leave the house, the camera zooms out of the first-person perspective to reveal that the player-character was Norman Reedus the whole time, and that P.T. itself was actually a "Playable Teaser" for a new Silent Hill game spearheaded by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. Sadly, the notorious split between Kojima and Konami led to the game being canceled, and P.T. getting pulled from the PS Store. Still, P.T. lives on as a legendary marketing tactic and one of the most effective horror games ever made.

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Reveil Is Carrying the Torch that P.T. Dropped

Reveil's Psychological Horror Approach

The world of modern horror games is dominated by action-survival-horror titles like Resident Evil which, while great games in their own right, aren't always the most effective when it comes to inspiring actual, lasting terror. Visceral, nagging, enduring horror is what P.T. manages to evoke, and it's this approach to game and narrative design that titles like Reveil are aiming to recapture.

Reveil is a slow-paced, narrative-driven horror game built around exploration and puzzle-solving rather than action or combat. The game is similar to P.T. in terms of presentation, placing players in a fairly normal and pedestrian environment, a circus, but framing the setting in an uncanny and unsettling way; the main character doesn't know how he wound up in this circus, and his wife and daughter are missing. The player-character's personal life and psyche are reflected by the environment, which becomes more abstract and bizarre as the game progresses. In this sense, the game is much like Silent Hill as a franchise, in that the gameplay and exploration are informed by the narrative, and everything ties back to the shattered mental state of the protagonist.

The Spirit of P.T. Is Alive In Reveil, But It's Not An Exact Replica

It's no secret that P.T. has influenced horror games, especially those coming out of the indie scene. The game's minimalist, subtle approach is alluring and effective, but it's not easy to replicate. The dark mystery at the core of P.T. is expertly delivered through various in-game narrative devices, and the game's overall tone and structure help make it an oppressive, unnerving experience. All that is to say that while P.T. might look simple upon first glance, there's a lot going on under the hood that makes it work as well as it does.

It's a good thing, then, that Reveil isn't trying to be a P.T. replacement, as some other horror games have done. Although the game takes more than a few notes from Kojima's ill-fated masterpiece, especially in terms of familial-horror storytelling and vague, psych-terror narrative elements, it ultimately establishes its own distinct identity by way of striking visuals, a unique setting, and a memorable hook. It doesn't look like Silent Hills is coming back, but with releases like Reveil learning from and adapting the short game's major design facets, the legacy and soul of P.T. will hopefully live on for years to come.

Silent Hills

Franchise

Silent Hill

Platform(s)

PS4

Developer(s)

Kojima Productions

Publisher(s)

Konami

Genre(s)

Survival Horror