The Exit 8

Granted, The Exit 8 is probably going to take you around an hour to beat, even less if you play through it a second time. However, this is a fantastic psychological horror experience that had me questioning every little thing that I saw. Seriously, the first play-through of this game that you do is so freaking cool, as it will drive you insane and make you wonder if you are seeing things or if you are being paranoid. If you dig games like this, games that are not just trying to scare you with jump scares, but really make you question your sanity, you simply must play this game.

An Underground Kind Of Backrooms?

Before we get to the game, we do have to talk about the possible inspiration for The Exit 8. If you have played the iconic game, P.T., which was released many years back, which was a teaser for a new Silent Hill game, you will have an idea of what to expect here. I would also say that the Inside The Backrooms, Escape the Backrooms, and any other game that deals with the whole backrooms thing are also a very good comparison for what you can expect with this psychological horror walking simulator.

Going Deeper Underground

The premise of the story in The Exit 8 is that we are stuck in what I think is an underground subway that is located in Japan. We need to make our way to exit 8, as that is the only way that we can escape this repeating nightmare that we are in. The thing is, there are all kinds of sinister anomalies in this passageway, and we need to avoid them… or things will not go well for us, and we will find ourselves stuck here or perhaps even worse.

Walking, Walking, Walking

The developer themselves has referred to the game as a walking simulator, and that is honestly the best way to look at this thing, a walking simulator with a bucket load of psychological horror. You walk through this subway system, and during the main walkway, the straight part, you will come across a series of anomalies. It is up to you to figure out what is an anomaly and what is not. If you think you see one, you turn around and walk back the way you came. The exit sign will start at zero, and if you correctly discover an anomaly or walk through when there is none without turning back, the number will increase until you get to the final exit.

More To Scare You With

The whole psychological nature of The Exit 8 is awesome and something I had a great deal of fun with. There is a great variety of anomalies to discover, and there is no way you will find them all in your first, second, or even third playthrough. Some are pretty scary and will make you jump. Others will be more psychological, like a different poster on the wall, a new yellow line on the floor, and so on. There were many moments where I was racking my brain to think, “Was this there before? Was this like that before?” and so on, and it was just so much fun.

Pros:

• I loved the Japanese subway setting
• Some of the anomalies made me jump
• It is so awesome the way the game messes with your mind
• This was just a whole heap of brain-melting fun

Cons:

• This kind of thing does not always click with people
• I liked the mystery aspect, but a bit of lore would have been nice

Stepping into the eerily solitary corridors of The Exit 8, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this was more than just a game – it was a descent into a psychological abyss that blurred the lines between the real and the surreal.

Crafted by an indie studio with a knack for the macabre, this walking simulator dared me to navigate an underground labyrinth where the only companions were my instincts and the chilling whispers warning me of dangers lurking in this bizarre subway station.

The Exit 8 stands out not for its jump scares, but for its atmospheric mastery. It’s like wandering through a waking nightmare, reminiscent of the haunting vibes of Silent Hill 4: The Room and the psychological twists of PT. Every shadow felt alive, every silence screamed – a delicate balance between fear and fascination.

Echoes in the Shadows

As you venture deeper, the game’s minimalist storytelling echoes the enigmatic nature of tiles like Visage, leaving you to piece together a narrative from environmental hints and sudden "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moments happening in the corner of the screen. It is a journey of isolation, where the dread of the unknown grows with each step into the station's halls.

The heart of The Exit 8 beats with the enigma of the anomalies – entities I was warned to avoid, yet drawn to uncover. The deeper I delved, the stronger the pull to reveal their secrets, a test of curiosity against self-preservation.

Liminal Horrors

The true essence of The Exit 8 lay in its exploration of liminal spaces – those eerie thresholds where reality meets the unknown. The visual design, coupled with a haunting soundtrack, crafted an atmosphere of unease that lingered, turning my own imagination into both a curse and a gift as I struggled to make sense of the uncanny.

Liminal spaces are all the rage in modern horror. With games like Chilla's Art's Shinkansen 0 making waves in the online discourse, more games might follow the path of The Exit 8. The slowly building tension and the possibility of there being something more in the creepy hallways is something that follows you all throughout this profoundly unsettling experience.

One thing that I definitely consider a huge negative about The Exit 8 is its short playtime. I understand this is more a horror "experience" than a "game" itself, but I managed to beat The Exit 8 in a little under an hour – and I was taking my time with it.

Special Consideration

In the end, “The Exit 8” is not just a game; it’s an experience that echoes the psychological depth of Silent Hill and the mind-bending puzzles of “PT,” leaving a lasting impression that’s hard to shake. If you’re brave enough to walk these halls, you’ll find that the true horror lies not in what you see, but in what you imagine.

As an indie title – and one that delves into meta-horror – The Exit 8 manages to be unsettling despite its limited gameplay and even more limited visual variety. For fans of quirky horror titles, this one is a must.

Pros

• Masterful atmospheric storytelling
• Unsettling liminal spaces
• Minimal narrative approach that remains effective

Cons

• Short playtime
• Absence of traditional horror elements
• Japanese-only voice acting limits accessibility