Survival Horror isn’t a new genre. Neither is the concept of a pixel-art RPG. Both groups of games have seen their fair share of indie releases, due in part to how much groundwork there is to draw from. It’s easier as a solo-developer to rely upon tried-and-tested concepts such as turn-based combat and status effects, and utilise the preconceptions that come with any resource-based horror game, like limited healing items and saving your best weapon for when you truly need it. With staples like these, people tend to know what they’re in for. That’s why games like Darkwood, Undertale and Hylics are regarded so highly, because not only do they capitalise on the best elements of their genre, but exceed and subvert those preconceptions as well. You can probably see where I’m going with this. Look Outside is the kind of game that was exactly what I hoped it would be, while simultaneously outdoing my expectations at every turn.

Don’t be fooled by the title’s alluring instructions, as the game centres around an unknown “thing” sitting in the sky, that once gazed upon, drives a person insane, kills, or transforms them into some of the most creatively disgusting pixel art monsters you’ll ever witness. Playing as Sam, and taking place in a large apartment complex, you’ll venture outside of the safe confines of your home to discover the vastly different ways that the entity has altered humanity. Battling horrific monstrosities and interacting with other survivors, you’ve got 15 days to keep sane, and maybe put a stop to the end of the world.

The act of combining Lovecraftian Horror with a modern setting, themes and characters creates a beautifully hideous picture of what a world on the brink of insanity would look like. A lot of the dialogue and interactions in this primarily horror-focused game can have darkly comedic undertones or are just straight up hilarious. The eclectic mix of altered humans and party members often breaks through traditional RPG or story beats, and threw me off balance at multiple points throughout the game. You’ll struggle to predict exactly what you’ll come across, or how certain events will go down, and the best part is, you’re largely in control of a lot of the craziest stuff that can happen.

The replayability for what can be considered quite a short game is pretty damn impressive. There are multiple branching pathways to explore, decisions to be made, and nowhere is that more apparent than at your apartment’s front door. While at home, crafting, eating or killing time with a game (not dissimilar to Persona), you’ll occasionally get a knock at the door. Now, it’s entirely up to the player whether or not to let someone in, but at the start of the game, after experiencing some of the horrors that lurk outside, you wouldn’t be blamed for not wanting to open the door at all. Unfortunately, what you might miss out on are fully fleshed-out party members and shopkeepers, who can help out significantly with enemy encounters. It is, however, worth keeping in mind that certain party members are more trustworthy than others.

Right, let’s talk about the actual gameplay. When not fighting, you’re able to explore the apartment complex, solve puzzles, and choose whether to fight or run from a given monster. The standard turn-based combat mentioned in the intro remains what you’d expect it to be. You’ll go into a fight with whatever’s equipped, with a plethora of weapons and gear to find throughout the game. With items both support and offensive to choose from mid-fight, and special attacks that vary from player to player, you’ll find an easily accessible and likely familiar system that can be tailored to whatever works for you. The Look Outside spin on the system however is that some party members will have their own battle mechanics, which range from traditional to slightly batshit. Seven year old neighbour Sophie utilises hiding and enraging enemies, which I’ve seen before sure, but Dan on the other hand, also known as “Creep”, is a Let’s Play content creator who can gain or lose viewers due to his abilities/behaviour, allowing him to access offensive or defensive options depending on his view count.

What’s great about the two characters I’ve just mentioned is that if you, the reader, decide to give this game a go (which you should), I can’t be certain you’ll use them, or even run into them at the same point I did. That may sound like a negative, but what I’m getting at is that there are so many hidden choice moments that shape each playthrough into wholly unique runs. Aside from the aforementioned front door, the way you go about meeting new party members can completely pass the player by without them realising. Some require split-second decisions that may seem stupid, like turning and facing the hulking behemoth that’s chasing you, while others are discovered through acts of kindness from the player, or even acts that have seemingly no merit to them. Curiosity is most definitely rewarded, and I found that after my first playthrough, a lot of what I missed out on was down to being too afraid to die. Take my advice, you have a save option, utilise it to try out options you wouldn’t otherwise do.

On the topic of dying, the difficulty of this game is perhaps the only real complaint I’ve seen about this game online. Some say it’s too hard, others say that you can become overpowered too easily, and I think that’s how it’s supposed to go. I personally love the fact that in the first few days, and for many first-time encounters with pseudo-boss monsters, you are heavily advised to use the flee battle option, with the line “You feel the urge to run away” appearing when an enemy is significantly more powerful than your party. I also love that once you’ve passed a lot of days, levelled up, found more members to help out and picked up better gear, you can return to whichever monstrosity was giving you grief and beat the crap out of them, often rewarding you with a unique weapon, exp or at the very least an achievement.

The areas you’ll discover throughout your playthrough may, on the surface, fit into the confines of an average apartment block, but through the effects of “The Visitor” and those cursed by it, you’ll find that pesky things like rationality or the laws of physics no longer apply. The building itself is now an unpredictable mishmash of interconnecting horror scenes. You’ll enter one apartment to find its inhabitants have stretched to encompass multiple rooms, only to enter another one and seemingly be inside a war veteran’s PTSD memory-scape, alongside anyone else unfortunate enough to be near. The change of layout and monster design can reflect characters’ personalities, circumstances or occupation and is broader in scope than you’d initially think.

The unlucky folk living in these strange and horrific times can vary from mindless, Cronenberg abominations, to the unaltered survivors who have realised that outside contact is a bad idea. The distinction between the two, however, is not black and white, and oftentimes you’ll come across altered beasts who still retain the mannerisms and traits of the person they once were. Sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, one of the best aspects of the game doesn’t just come from whether or not you decide to fight or spare monsters, but from just having a conversation with some of the deformed NPCs you’ll run across. You’ll find entire communities of the cursed to interact with, and speaking to them gives you enough to piece together individuals’ experiences and backstories of what exactly happened to them. You get a real range of viewpoints and reactions to what’s going on, and it’s oftentimes very blunt and realistic character dialogue that makes the world of Look Outside feel like a dark reflection of our own.

In case, during the RPG combat, you forget that Look Outside is indeed a horror game, the incredible and twisted pixel-artwork may remind you in any number of unsettling ways. Oftentimes, an encounter will start with an enemy standing too far to be attacked with regular methods, and after a turn, they’ll come to the forefront, unveiling their terrifying form. These moments can genuinely make the player jump, even if they’re aware that something’s on the way, thanks to a mix of intense visuals and superb sound design. Without relying on cheap jump scares or making the player feel constantly on edge, Look Outside manages to achieve an unsettling overtone that begs the player to dig deeper, with the real scares often coming from written descriptions or dialogue.

The most traumatic moment for me comes from one of the endings of the game, of which there are quite a few. I went back to experience a bunch of them, and with the nature of “The Visitor” in question, the opportunity for pure Cosmic Horror presents itself. I was introduced, in one of the many “bad” endings, to a new phobia I had never before considered, and I don’t know whether to commend Francis or hate him for such an existentially frightening string of text. I think commendation is more appropriate, as it also made me want to go back to some of ‘The Father of Cosmic Horror’, H.P. Lovecraft’s, overly descriptive works.

I’ve purposefully tried not to talk too much about the story or specific plot points, and that’s so anyone reading this can go into the game as blind as I was. I truly admire this game, and am always so inspired by how a developer can utilise software like RPGMaker to create something wholly original. I’m so glad that this grew into more than the game jam submission it initially was, as the amount of times I think about this game, or recommend it to friends is already quite high. It’s gonna take something special to surpass Look Outside as my favourite new game this year.