From one of my favorite childhood Youtube channels, the Game Grumps, comes the survival horror game, Homebody. As you may know from my Hello Neighbor 2 review, I am a certified scaredy cat when it comes to horror games. However, unlike Hello Neighbor, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So safe to say, I was on edge the entire time and pausing the game quite a bit. I will say though, after repeated loops, the game became less scary but something about horror games just makes me so anxious.
When you press start, you play as a girl named Emily, who players soon find out to be riddled with anxiety. She’s having some trouble deciding if she should meet her friends for a party in the middle of nowhere in a large rented house. Now to be fair, I would have that same struggle. Party, middle of nowhere, dark outside? It sounds like a recipe for disaster. However, after some convincing from another friend, she pushes through and finally arrives at the house. I think this was the most relaxed part of the game. Interacting with the NPCs, exploring the house, and interacting with items was probably the most fun I had before the difficulty cranked up. It surprisingly was also the first time I’ve ever played Minesweeper – then the power went out and I died in the bathroom to the killer. The loop with every time you die I thought was cool as well because it doesn’t completely reset the game. For example, when I first interacted with the NPCs after my death, I received different dialogue options to choose from. Most of them indicated that Emily knew there was a killer, while the NPCs were oblivious. However, after selecting a specific option, Emily just continued with ‘normal checking in’ dialogue, which I thought was pretty interesting. In an attempt to save the day, she tries to remain calm and solve all the puzzles. Another thing I noticed in my first loop was when I returned to the computer to solve Minesweeper again, it was actually broken – a way of showing that the puzzle was completed (although this doesn’t happen for all puzzles).
In regards to the actual puzzles and Hello Neighbor being the only comparable game in my memory, I think Homebody succeeds where Hello Neighbor fails. (This is mainly in regards to the first Hello Neighbor game and not Hello Neighbor 2). While the puzzles still vary in difficulty, it doesn’t feel like a wild goose hunt/chase to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing next. There are hints from the NPCs, Emily herself, and players can interact with a lot of things in the environment – thankfully, that interaction isn’t unlimited. Additionally, there’s help for pea-brained players like myself through the game’s Memory Log. Basically if it’s going to be important later on, it gets saved in there, which is super helpful the further into the game you get with more intricate puzzles. Not only that, but the puzzles actually feel pretty rewarding to solve, and I feel tied in with the story. It isn’t completely random and doesn’t require a journey across the map to solve.
Last, but not least, the story doesn’t feel forced. There isn’t some lore trap that players have to fall into to pick out what exactly is going on, which seems to be a huge thing in many horror puzzle games released recently. Sure, it isn’t straightforward, but it isn’t like looking for a needle in a haystack. Emily’s anxiety is prevalent throughout the course of the story, fueling dialogue choices as well as memories players get as they progress in their gameplay. I also feel like Emily is a character that a lot of people can relate to – myself, included. So while sometimes the game may feel frustrating to play, in the end it definitely is rewarding and worth playing to finish.
Rating: 9/10
Check out the HOMEBODY launch trailer:
Homebody is available now on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. For more information on Rogue Games, follow on Twitter, join the conversation on Discord and visit the official Rogue Games website.
Related: Reviews by Maryanne Fadonougbo
"I've enjoyed gaming since I was little, playing games like Pokémon, Rayman, and Naruto every day. Besides that though, I've always had a love for writing. Now I am combining the two for the best of both worlds! My ultimate goal is to do narrative design for video games."
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