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13 Nov 2024

EDGE OF SANITY Xbox Series X review 7/10 "Is that a horrible tentacled thing ahead?" 🐙 @Vixa_Games #GameDev #IndieGame

EDGE OF SANITY Xbox Series X review
Edge of Sanity is a game that brings together those obvious bedfellows of Lovecraftian horror and inventory management.

I jest, slightly, given that this is a survival horror, which is very much in keeping with a lot of games inspired by HP himself. Set in the wilds of Alaska following a mysterious industrial accident, you play Carter, sent in by the company to find out what's happened and, possibly, save the day.
EDGE OF SANITY Xbox Series X review
The gameplay takes place over 2D levels and comes in two parts: exploration, along with rescuing other characters, fighting eldritch abominations and progressing through the story, and the camp phase, where you prepare for missions while trying to fix up the place a bit. Fail to do the latter and you'll find it hard to replenish your health and stress levels. Let your stress get too high and it turns into trauma, where you start experiencing hallucinations, conditions like 'the shakes' which make you make more noise as you move around (which can be very, very fatal) and other less-than-fun mechanics.

The survival and inventory management bits of the game don't take too much to keep on top of, which is welcome as the downside of not doing it right can really put a crimp in your run. You can assign your rescued companions to keep on top of things like food and water, as well as craft helpful items like fuel for your lantern (absolutely essential if you want to have a chance) or medkits. And getting it right means you can go into a run nicely loaded up with helpful stuff, rather than a small rock and half a can of petrol.

The graphics and sound design are really fitting for this kind of game, with the creepy mood front and centre. Graphically it's very much like 2016's unforgive-a-thon RPG Darkest Dungeon, which I still wake up in the night angry at. 
EDGE OF SANITY Xbox Series X review
The sound design is pretty chilling, with the monsters making horrible noises, and sometimes just enough ambiguity to make you wonder if that's a horrible tentacled thing ahead or just ambient forest noise to make you extremely wary. The voice acting for all characters is well done, with each person having their own distinct personality rather than just bland, repetitive lines.

SUMMARY
Playing through, the plot does drag a little as you get into the late game, but overall it's forgivable given the whole package. I'm not sure I'll go back to it once I'm done, but it's worth a look if this kind of setting is your jam.

EDGE OF SANITY Xbox Series X review
7/10
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