Edge of Sanity Review

Horror games have a wide range, usually relying on jumpscares and creepy atmospheres to fill players with fear and trepidation. They can come in many shapes and forms but usually share similar patterns. Not every game is like Still Wakes the Deep, which uses its atmosphere, narrative, music, and scary enemies to instill the horror aspect. Not every game is like Little Nightmares, which gets its horror aspects from the enemies and gameplay. You won't often find a good mix between the two, and in general, really good horror games are a dime a dozen.

Developed by Vixa Games and produced by German publisher Daedalic Entertainment. A publisher is known for its wide variety of indie and deeply engaging adventure games. Edge of Sanity is part psychological horror and part survival game set in the unforgiving wilderness of Alaska with a 2D art style not often seen in the genre. You play as a resupplying specialist working for a company called PRISM.

You and your old friend Frank are suddenly thrown into a haunting reality from which survival seems like a dream. As you escape from your outpost, you establish a camp and look for survivors and resources. You try to escape from the wilderness, which is slowly becoming a hellhole.

As stated before, in Edge of Sanity you are working for a research company in Alaska during the Cold War as the events of the game unfold. As you explore, scavenge resources, and try to save other survivors, you slowly uncover a deeper, darker story involving your employer, PRISM. Throughout your struggle to escape, you witness the aftermath of PRISM's experiments and encounter notes, reports, and various other pieces of information that clue you into what exactly was going on.

The sinister theme persists as you slowly drift away from reality, often encountering things that aren't there, seeing a phantom version of yourself, and witnessing Lovecraftian body horrors. You also have dreams that defy reality and speak to monsters, which overall really sells the psychological horror bit.

After the short prologue that establishes the atmosphere, you start in a camp set up with the help of your trusty companion and friend, Frank. He advises you to look for survivors as you choose from specific areas to explore. Choose carefully, as you might not be able to save them all. In Edge of Sanity you can either avoid enemies or fight them when out in the wilderness.

Fighting them costs a lot of resources and is the direct option, and running away is always a measure if things go south. And trust me, they will. You will often find yourself in tricky positions where you have bitten more than you can chew. With very limited resources, trying to avoid fights and getting around enemies might be a better idea.

Each enemy has its own gimmick, weaknesses, and blind spots to exploit to move past them. You can find a wide array of items to use for these, and as you encounter more enemies and find clues on how to deal with them, your journal will be updated. The many maps and areas you go to are also like mazes; context clues and puzzles are woven into the maps that make you keep an eye out.

There are also many choices that you will have to make throughout the story, each with boons and consequences. Interacting with the environment gets you stress points [or removes them], and too many stress points get you trauma points, which gives you traumas like Night Terrors and Phantom Sight. These might hinder or help you as you slowly descend into madness and lose your sanity.

As you progress through the game, you add characters to your camp who will help you escape. The game shifts from survival to management, as when within the camp, you have to manage your supplies, such as food and water, and assign jobs to your survivors.

You may upgrade these buildings with resources you find while out on an expedition and increase production. The survivors can get sick, tired, and wounded, so take good care of them. You will also need to deal with their morale. Together with supplies and morale, you may lose survivors or even die yourself if you do not manage things correctly.

As you go out on expeditions, you can find a lot of raw materials and resources that let you craft items to help you throughout your journey. Resources are still pretty limited and somewhat hard to come by. This, paired with the limited backpack space, means you also have to dabble with a little bit of inventory management, as you usually have to bring the bare necessities to your expeditions. If you take too many things and over-prepare, you won't be able to take back more important items to the camp.

With many areas becoming inaccessible once you go through them, you have to sometimes choose what to keep and throw away. These items range from the invaluable Lamp, which lights up the nightly wilderness and helps you spot and deal with enemies, to flares, traps, rocks, and weapons with limited uses. Even your Lamp constantly hungers for fuel, so you are forced to use it sparingly.

The game steps away from being too linear, as you have some degree of choice and control over where you go and how you explore. You also have to make difficult choices to which there are no right answers and deal with the consequences to your sanity. Things are also sometimes not what they seem, and without spoiling too much, let's just say you won't always be able to trust what you're seeing or doing.

The mechanics in the game are really well-made and well-integrated, adding to the atmosphere and vibes while you play. The resource and base management aspects are handled pretty well without having too much clutter or making you do too many things.

Edge of Sanity makes an effort to make you think when you play instead of just mindlessly doing objectives. The objectives themselves are vague, and with no minimap, this puts you in the character's shoes as you struggle through mines, forests, and labs to find your way to objectives and complete them.

The game wants you to use your mind and be patient, which might detract many who prefer things to be more action-oriented. Despite this, the combat mechanics are also well made, with your ability to exploit enemy weaknesses, provided you have the right items. Combat feels fresh throughout the game and doesn't become a slog at any point. The resource management is also pretty punishing, which will definitely frustrate many players.

Edge of Sanity really sells the psychological horror parts, as, throughout your gameplay, you're always struggling and always on the back foot. You encounter horrors and enter into dreams and visions that often leave you unnerved. The 2D art style is advertised as 'hand-crafted,' it certainly feels that way. The art style has charm, and the effects mesh well with the Lovecraftian horror themes. The cartoon-styled characters add to the flair, with smart use of in-game lighting, shadows, and effects to add to the atmosphere. The game feels truly alive and makes you a part of things.

This is further inhibited by the sound design and music. The music itself is a bit generic, but it is still amazing, adding a lot to the game. When you are out on expeditions, you will always use eerie noises, the sound of the forest, and the occasional and ever-increasing screams and howls from monsters. These really do a lot to unnerve you and keep you on the edge of your seat as it slowly starts to get hard to tell if a sound is an enemy nearby or some far-off creature in the background.

The voice acting in the game is otherworldly and incredibly immersive; you can tell that the voice actors did a good job, as every character gets added flair. One thing you can be sure of when playing the game is that you will rarely skip the dialogue, thanks to the phenomenal voice acting.

The characters come in different flavors, and each has its own charm; their personalities are fun and unique, and regardless of their obliviousness [ I am looking at you, Clair], you start to care about their wellbeing. The game can also be unintentionally [or intentionally] hilarious, as your main character's responses leave a mark and get you attached to him. The story itself is also masterfully woven, being a slow burn into a pit of revelations, giving you a lot of clues and slowly easing you into the story as you uncover more about what actually is going on.

Edge of Sanity is a wonderfully made game that is a must-get for psychological horror and survival fans. It also offers a lot for the casual player and tells a great story. The challenge of resource management and survival might detract from some, but it only adds more to the game. It puts you in the main character's shoes and offers striking visuals, great gameplay, and brilliant voice acting. Edge of Sanity is a wonderful survival horror game, and you'll miss out on a lot if you don't grab a copy.