Psychological horror games have become quite abundant in the last handful of years. To me, they tend to fall under one of two big headings. There’s the games that go for the hard and heavy scares, looking to get in your face and make you jump out of your seat. Or there’s the slow cookers, the ones that burrow into your mind and hide there for days until you think you see something one day and it creeps you out.
The Inner Friend manages to do both of these things, and it does them both in very interesting ways. You’re dropped into a world filled with dreams and nightmares, and must follow a mysterious shadow into the depths. You soon learn that the shadow is dragging you through its childhood memories, forcing you to bear witness and reclaim its safe haven that was the shadow’s childhood bedroom.
Each level you encounter is one of these fears, and it’s within these levels that The Inner Friend does what I mentioned above. It takes both the slow cooker, and hard hitter approaches, but different at the same time. It burrows into your mind, not to sit and fester for days. Instead, it digs in deep, sinking into your childhood, touching on similar fears that we all must have shared with Shadow at some point. And the hard hits? They’re not meant to send you flying from your seat. Rather, it builds on the above approach and just makes you cringe, feel uncomfortable, and want to look away.
You don’t start off very comfortably either. The game starts in what will eventually be the safe haven, once you make it so. After walking through a crack in the wall, you’ll be falling down through an endless maze of building-like formations. Some doorways and windows appear much brighter than others and this is your beacon towards finding the game’s levels. Once in, you’ll see Shadow’s fear, and need to relive it.
The game features very minimal controls, with you only being able to walk and interact with things, but only if the option to do so is available. Once inside the memories, you’ll have to do what you can to move objects and solve puzzles, sneak and hide to avoid getting caught, or even try and outrun a grotesque hairdresser in a salon.
The Inner Friend is a really incredible game. It does the psychological horror genre much justice, hitting on just about every note possible to make you uneasy. If you’re a fan of creepy games, this one is absolutely for you so don’t miss your chance to play it.
8.5/10
Tested on PC (Steam)
