The Nice Under by Dobra Studios

The Nice Under is a artistic mixture of top-down map-based exploration and first-person investigation.

A darkish, cosmic horror narrative is established because the backdrop for an assortment of puzzles and eerie world-building; a darkish mansion lies in wait, and a mysterious group known as The Society is linked to it. The protagonist seeks an merchandise often known as “The Object” hidden someplace inside the unnerving halls of the mansion. A brief demo model is obtainable at current, providing a glimpse of what’s to return.

Stumbling by the Darkness

The Nice Under gives a minimal introduction, giving mere hints of the mysteries that is likely to be unveiled later. Exposition is surreal and poetic when it’s delivered – normally by a wide range of notes discovered all through the corridors of the mansion.

These twisting passages are navigated by map; an overhead view is offered, suggesting that the protagonist is blindly following the map within the darkness. A match will be struck to examine areas extra carefully, switching to a first-person view as a way to resolve the numerous puzzles scattered all through the deserted rooms of the construction.

The combo of overhead and first-person views is an attention-grabbing one which helps to construct a way of rigidity; you by no means know precisely what you’ll see whenever you mild that match and change from the map to taking a look at what’s in entrance of you. You possibly can’t transfer when you mild the match – you may solely work together with close by objects or return to the beginning space – so choosing the proper place to cease is considerably necessary.

Regardless that the entire recreation technically takes place on this first-person house (with the map held within the protagonist’s palms), this has the impact of constructing the locations you cease at really feel like bespoke, crafted scenes.

Laborious to Navigate

The necessity to return to the beginning everytime you cease to research could make exploration a tad clunky. It may be gradual going particularly whenever you’re looking for clues to a puzzle.

I discovered many of the puzzles themselves to vary from easy to reasonable in problem, with a pair that proceed to be mysteries; both I haven’t unpicked their secrets and techniques, or they relate to elements of the sport deliberate for launch within the full model.

Haunting Hallways

The Nice Under harkens again to PS1-style graphics – a great period for atmospheric horror vibes.

A foreboding sense that “one thing is on the market” is conjured to nice impact by a backing monitor of ambient noises and unusual, distant sounds. On the extra comforting aspect of the spectrum, the sound of placing a match turns into a sort of audio touchstone, hissing into life and signaling the change of perspective.

While there’s nonetheless a lot to study The Nice Under what we’ve got seen is promising. The weird perspective-swapping method makes for an intriguing tackle the horror exploration style, and whereas it could possibly really feel slightly awkward, it does make for excellent rigidity. I can think about all kinds of enjoyable makes use of for the map and the little footprints indicating the protagonist’s place (the inevitable second when a second set of footsteps seem will definitely be a spine-tingler).

The Nice Under has great potential and I look ahead to seeing extra of its haunted hallways sooner or later.

A demo for The Nice Under is obtainable by way of Steam.

Take a look at the official trailer for The Nice Under: