BrokenLore: Unfollow PS5 Review. – After a couple generations of slim pickings, fans of the horror genre have been eating very well with the sheer volume of options available. Another offering to join the fray is BrokenLore: Unfollow, which is an entry in a new horror franchise created by Serafini Productions. These all seem to stand alone, but they also share connections for fans to dig up. Thankfully, you do not need to have played the previous BrokenLore entries to appreciate Unfollow, but the delivery might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
BrokenLore: Unfollow Review (PS5) – An Important Message Delivered Through Mixed Signals
Navigating Trauma
Everyone has their own demons to deal with, many of them stemming from childhood trauma. Such is the case with Anne, who finds herself caught up in a horror rally of the greatest traumatic events from her teenage years. These range from parental pressures to bullying, and they all get compounded by the presence of the internet and social media.
Like many horror games before it, Unfollow presents itself as a combination walking sim and stealth horror experience. Most of the time, you just navigate the areas, find simple puzzle elements, and then move on to the next area. These are then broken into seven chapters, with each chapter focusing on a different element of Anne’s trauma.
The ultimate message behind BrokenLore: Unfollow is a good one. It explores what it means to depend on self-worth when it comes from the internet or outside sources, and it also digs into how you perceive and process those things in your life. The game wants you to disconnect from the things that treat you badly and focus on the things that benefit your well-being. That might even mean facing and coming to terms with your demons.
Inconsistent Delivery
The qualms I have with the story delivery is that it is heavy handed at times and then incredibly vague in others. Sometimes, it’s both. A good example is when social media comes into play. It leans heavily on the message of disconnecting and focusing on actual people, but then it also delivers alongside this message a fondness between Anne and a YouTuber. In my mind, I took this as focusing on what enriches your life and work on your needs.
However, I also see this as simple as just disconnecting from the internet entirely to fix your problems. Interpretations play a big part in psychological horror games. Regardless, the delivery of the message can make or break the experience. Also, the use of actual influencers to portray in-game characters is a choice I go back and forth on. In some ways, their insight and presence help convey that side of life, but not all influencers are favorable to everyone. The intentions might not yield the desired impact because of that.
Like with most walking sim games, the gameplay loop is simple: Interact with things to progress and watch out for scary creatures. Technically, there is a stealth element to the game, but it feels more shoehorned into the experience than anything else. You can crouch and avoid patrolling enemies if you choose, but most of the enemy’s programming isn’t very complex. Sometimes, it lets you get away with walking by right in their line of sight, and sometimes they see you from a fair distance.
The other thing of notice is shadow effects. This doesn’t break the game, but you often see shadows that appear more like pixelations than anything else. In the darker areas, this quickly starts to take away from the immersion when all you look at is what shows up in your flashlight.
Getting Around the Maps
Otherwise, if you are not directly within a 45-degree cone in front of them, you can make all the noise you want and run everywhere to avoid them. This is also a bit of a benefit simply because they often stop chasing you if you run far enough. Much of the fear factor in Unfollow comes from these hide/chase sequences too. The maps have layouts that allow you to keep running without stopping, usually due to rooms where you circle around tables or basements with a bunch of strategically-placed furniture. This helps progress the story, but it quickly diminishes the fear factor of the game.
The interesting thing about Unfollow is that, even though the game often feels like a labyrinth, it gives you enough signs to keep you progressing forward with very little mindless wandering. Whether it’s the level design or the use of lights, I can only think of one area where I had to do any actual exploring. Since that level is chapter 6, I won’t divulge details on it, but it makes sense why it’s so weird to navigate. That doesn’t change the fact that it is, in fact, weird to navigate, though. Considering how well the rest of the game is managed on this front, having that one chapter feel so clunky is inconsistent to the overall experience.
The other qualm I have with Unfollow is something I get irritated with in a lot of horror games: spontaneous jump scares. After a time or two, they grow more frustrating than anything else. The music ramps up and sounds get loud as things jump out at you. Thankfully, this eventually evens out in the second half of the game when the overall message starts to come together. At the same time, the game would have benefitted overall if the game had approached its fear in the first half of the game the way it delivered its fear in the second half.
It Eventually Gets There In The End
BrokenLore: Unfollow is a bit up-and-down with its delivery. It explores worthwhile themes of self-betterment but utilizes some conflicting messages to do so. Then, enemy scares are more jump scares than anything else, which get old quickly. The second half of the game proves more cohesive, and the experience only lasts a couple of hours. $30 isn’t an unfair asking price for BrokenLore: Unfollow, but it will likely keep people on the fence if they already are.
Review code kindly provided by publisher.