The indie horror scene is one of the fastest-growing genres in the game industry and last year was no exception to that fact. One of the games we got in September 2022 was the psychological horror from BR Digital and Light Off Studio called IMAGO: Beyond The Nightmares. Blending the journey between reality and dreams while maintaining the hostility in both worlds through various creatures and situations, this title definitely has an intriguing premise. But did they manage to pull it off?

Story

As a previously retired detective, you find yourself taking on one more case as the client is looking for someone out-of-town that they can trust. This job is to find a missing kid that seems to have almost no leads and really could be anywhere. Seeing how the client is a big oil company owner and the island they live on has a strong dislike towards him, he finds himself unable to trust anybody on the island - including the other detectives.

Setting out on the job undercover, you quickly begin to experience the reasons he tried to retire as hostile dreams pull him in at even the least convenient times. However, the good thing is that these dreams aren’t all terrible. In fact, before they became nightmares, they were a key asset to his detective prowess, and even earned a reputation as a great detective with a strange ability. But now, something isn’t right and the dreams have become hostile nightmares.

But, he took the job and so finding the kid is his main priority. Even though he may find himself falling into his nightmare dreamscapes every so often, it is worth fighting his way out of in order to proceed with his current case. Hopefully, he can get some glimpses of what to do or where to go next so that he can solve the case soon. This job just might kill him, after all.

I truly have to say that the story of this game is actually really good and showed a lot of potential for the game as I got started. It’s intriguing, has mystery, and really places the player in the middle of a broken mind all while giving each dream a purpose in itself. At least, that was the idea… some of the journey moments in this game felt like big jumps as if my character lost memory of where he’d come from or gone, and the flow of the storytelling itself was a bit jaded. It gets better the further you get into the game - or perhaps you get used to it - but even so, it played out quite interesting, even if I had to fill in the gaps myself at times. They do wrap it up for you at the end of the game though.

Gameplay

Each area that you go through in the game will have its own anxiety-building environment and a threat that resides within it. From the start of the game, you experience the walkthrough of these areas as you are first tasked with making your way to town. This is the first time you are left to find your own path and it won’t be the last time.

Soon after you will find yourself in a nightmare where you will see how intense the atmosphere gets just before you meet the main enemy of the game. This leads into the first chase sequence where you have to find your way through some vents without running into the enemy in order to escape. Here is where I found out that this game has some interesting level design to it, but the threats themselves are only scary at first and not a huge threat after the initial encounter.

The further into the story you go, the more back and forth between reality and dreams you will begin to experience. Thanks to your character’s ability, the dreams aren’t only a cursed moment to experience but also a key to getting you information on the case you are on. Some of this information will lead you to a conclusion that is a bit more in-depth than the initial setup.

The majority of the game is played completely defenseless and you are mainly just solving puzzles. However, they aren’t so much puzzles as they are confusing ways to find your path. Sometimes the game manages to make it clear but other times you will need to figure it out yourself. Each area is handled differently, so try to look around for clues on how to deal with the zone you are in. An example of the difference here is how you need to interact with the creature in the toy level while the creature in the amusement park can be completely avoided with proper movement.

You will get a moment with a weapon which always feels nice towards the conclusion of these types of games. It is a pretty straightforward tool when you get it and you don’t really aim down the barrel or anything. Simply point in the direction you want to shoot and pull the trigger.

Audio and Visual

Considering this is a lesser-known indie game, the voice work in it is actually really well done! The music and sound effects for the game are all pretty standard and do a good job of being fitting, even though some sound effects were a bit too loud in comparison to others, but I was surprised how well each character sounded as there are quite a few that get a voice in the game.

Aesthetically, this game is too dark too often. There are times when the game is pretty gorgeous, but the majority of the game is played in dark environments with somewhat decent designs around what you can see. Stuff like where they put a key to open a door that was locked was sometimes really silly in my opinion, like directly in front of the door (why even lock it?), but for the most part, the environments were pretty well fleshed out.

Replayability

I don’t see any reason to play the game more than once. The areas will be the same and everything was pretty linear so I doubt there are multiple ways to beat the different levels, let alone multiple endings to unlock.

What It Could Have Done Better

There were a bunch of little issues throughout the game that all added up and proved to be a bit annoying. The lack of an updated objective list, the constant feeling of being lost with no direction on what I am supposed to be doing, being unable to see because the game is absurdly dark, having an unclear transition between different areas at times, and more. They have such a great story in this game and the gameplay is fairly decent, but there seemed to be a disconnect somewhere in plugging all the pieces together to make the gameplay flow smoothly into one entertaining experience.

Verdict

IMAGO: Beyond The Nightmares is a dark tale told through hostile dreams. It really had all the components to be an amazing title, but it just wasn’t able to get a solid flow going for the overall experience. I few improvements on the transitions, a bit more guidance for what the player is supposed to be doing, and not making it so dark and labyrinthine all the time would have really turned this title around. It is still one I recommend checking out for horror fans, but with a bit of caution.

IMAGO: Beyond The Nightmares is available now on PC via Steam.