Those Who Remain

About

"Those Who Remain" is a psychological thriller set in the cursed town of Dormont, USA. This small town, which seems normal at first, is plagued by a supernatural darkness that causes its inhabitants to disappear. Players must navigate through Dormont's eerie streets and buildings, solving puzzles and avoiding malevolent shadows to uncover the town's secret and survive.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 385 reviews

story92 positive mentions

gameplay25 negative mentions

The game features an interesting story that explores themes of guilt and redemption, keeping players engaged.
The atmosphere is well-crafted, with effective use of lighting and sound design that enhances the eerie experience.
The moral choices presented in the game add depth, allowing players to reflect on their decisions and their consequences.

The gameplay can be tedious, with many puzzles feeling simplistic and requiring excessive backtracking to find key items.
The stealth mechanics are poorly implemented, often leading to frustrating encounters with enemies that can result in instant death.
The graphics and character models are inconsistent, with some areas looking good while others appear outdated and unpolished.

story
236 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
51%
10%
The story of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its emotional depth and moral choices, while others criticize it for being predictable, clichéd, and poorly executed. Many find the narrative engaging enough to keep them invested, but frustrations arise from tedious puzzles and a lack of character development. Overall, while the story has its moments, it often falls short of delivering a compelling or original experience.
- “The story goes into serious topics like guilt and redemption, which adds emotional weight to the gameplay.”
- “The story and atmosphere are highly immersive.”
- “The story is very good, it's all about morals without trying to tell what's good and what's right.”
- “The graphics aren't up to par, the gameplay is exhausting and tedious, and the story is barely there.”
- “The story is not strong enough to keep you engaged.”
- “The story was lackluster.”
gameplay
129 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
64%
19%
The gameplay of "Those Who Remain" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it simplistic and repetitive, often revolving around searching for keys and avoiding darkness. While the light and shadow mechanics add some tension, the overall experience is marred by clunky controls, tedious puzzles, and poorly executed chase sequences, leading to frustration rather than engagement. Despite some interesting narrative elements, the gameplay is generally viewed as underdeveloped and lacking in fun or innovation.
- “The gameplay is neat.”
- “The constant danger of having to stay in the light was a good mechanic to keep you alert on each level, the puzzles were surprisingly creative and the story, even if predictable for the most part, was a good way to drive your main character through the game.”
- “Reminiscent of Alan Wake with the 'stay out of the darkness' type gameplay, you'll explore the town of Dormont by solving puzzles in the police station, the post office, the sawmill, fire station, and other locations.”
- “The writing and gameplay, however, leave a lot to be desired.”
- “The gameplay is quite underdeveloped and static - the 'zombies' essentially force your path both inside and outside; and in cases where they don't, your path is mandated by doors which lock and unlock for no reason other than 'it's time to do so.'”
- “While the game has some interesting ideas, they aren't used to their full potential and quickly get buried under the static and repetitive nature of the gameplay loop: avoid the darkness, search lockers/drawers/etc. for documents or a key/item you need to progress, solve a puzzle, escape or hide from a creature, do a narrative decision and repeat.”
atmosphere
89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
42%
4%
The atmosphere of the game is frequently praised for its creepiness and immersive qualities, with many reviewers highlighting the effective use of sound design and lighting to enhance the eerie experience. However, some critiques mention that while the atmosphere is strong, it can feel derivative or overshadowed by gameplay flaws, such as frustrating puzzles and pacing issues. Overall, the game is recognized for its ability to create a tense and unsettling environment, appealing particularly to fans of atmospheric horror.
- “The atmosphere of the game is incredible!”
- “A great game with a simple investigative gameplay that becomes really special because of the oppressive and dark atmosphere that reminds so much of Silent Hill.”
- “The soundscape and ambient noises are excellent as well, and a lot of the tense atmosphere is created with it.”
- “The only saving grace is the atmosphere of the game, but even that seems like it was just copied from better games.”
- “It may look like a horror game but there is basically no horror atmosphere to be found.”
- “This is why the game ultimately ends up getting the nay from me: the above atmosphere ends up being broken due to the repetition and the uncanny nature of what you're experiencing, to the point where the frustration overloads and makes you want to stop.”
graphics
75 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the impressive lighting and atmospheric visuals, while others criticize the inconsistent quality and rough character models. Many players note that while the graphics can be visually appealing, they often fall short of expectations, particularly in terms of detail and immersion. Overall, the game's graphics are seen as a highlight for some, but they are marred by technical issues and a lack of polish.
- “The game offers some nice graphics and a really beautiful aesthetic, although some really ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same.”
- “The graphics and sound work perfectly in tandem, making the whole thing feel like a horror flick.”
- “Good graphics, fantastic lighting in a style of its own.”
- “The graphics aren't up to par; the gameplay is exhausting and tedious, and the story is barely there.”
- “The graphics are mostly mediocre; sometimes they look a little better, the sounds are pathetic along with terrible voice acting.”
- “The game is lacking in the graphic quality department; I don't personally have an issue with this, but I know some people do, so I'm pointing it out in my review.”
grinding
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews overwhelmingly describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and frustrating, with many players expressing that the gameplay feels like a chore due to repetitive tasks, poorly designed puzzles, and unnecessary stealth sections. The lack of engaging mechanics and the need to replay sections after dying contribute to a sense of exhaustion, detracting from the overall experience. While some moments may shine, they are often overshadowed by the overwhelming tedium of the gameplay loop.
- “It feels really tedious and just a chore to get through.”
- “Turns into a horribly tedious fetch quest, where you have to explore every nook and cranny for text files, which drains all the tempo and excitement out of the horror.”
- “A large chunk of the game is tedious busywork like this and, combined with the random chase scenes and stealth sequences, just felt like a way to pad the game’s overall length.”
music
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
52%
13%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its ability to set the tone and enhance the atmosphere, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking urgency. Notably, the soundtrack features well-selected tracks that resonate with players, but some feel that the dramatic cues can become annoying and detract from the experience. Overall, while the sound design and mixing are commendable for a small team, there are calls for more variety and experimentation in the musical choices.
- “The music was incredible!”
- “Lovely soundtrack; the music is very well selected and some scenes still stick with me.”
- “The music and sound mixing are good for such a small team.”
- “Despite the constant music hinting at a frightful or dangerous environment, there's no urgency or fear to be had here.”
- “Even the music is really annoying, and they probably would have been better off just letting Kevin MacLeod do the honors.”
- “During certain parts, the 'dramatic/suspenseful' music was kind of annoying as it was the same repetitive sounds and didn't seem necessary, or need to last as long as it did.”
emotional
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its emotionally charged narrative that explores themes of guilt and redemption, providing a heart-wrenching experience despite its simple gameplay. While the emotional investment in characters may vary, the story's tragic elements and moral decision-making significantly impact the player's journey, making it more of a mysterious emotional adventure than a traditional horror game. Overall, the strong narrative and emotional weight are highlighted as the game's standout features, even amidst some technical shortcomings.
- “The story goes into serious topics like guilt and redemption, which adds emotional weight to the gameplay.”
- “There's a hard emotional charge in the narrative, that tells a story about an (unfortunately) mundane thing that ends up in tragedy.”
- “It's a sad emotional story with puzzles and moral decisions that branch in several different endings.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
10%
70%
The optimization of the game has received largely negative feedback, with many users reporting poor performance, including low frame rates and stuttering, even on lower settings. While some players experienced decent performance, issues like noticeable bugs and unpolished graphics were common, particularly on certain hardware configurations. Overall, the game's optimization appears to be a significant drawback, impacting the overall experience.
- “Performance: no problems to report.”
- “Good optimization and technical aspects, though visuals are rather bad/outdated.”
- “My old PC runs at 12fps on the lowest possible settings - it is very bad performance, impossible to play.”
- “The camera is wonky as hell and will produce stuttering no matter how powerful your rig.”
- “Notable bugs - stuttering, fps drops, frametime hikes.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits notable stability issues, including frequent glitches, occasional crashes, and design flaws that detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and graphics, many report frustrating bugs that have not been adequately addressed, leading to a less polished gameplay experience. Overall, the stability concerns significantly impact player enjoyment and immersion.
- “Although there are still a few glitches, design flaws, and technical problems that hamper the experience.”
- “The game does suffer from some really bad glitches that I'm quite surprised were never fixed or patched in later, and it's not just me that encountered these glitches; many others did as well.”
- “The game is buggy; there were several times an item would glitch into another item and fly across the room I was in or something.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers some replayability through its moral choices and multiple endings, but the overall quality is criticized, leading to a mixed reception regarding its value for the price.
- “Moral choices are not obvious and offer replayability.”
- “For the price of €20, there is some limited replay value due to the multiple endings, but the overall quality is really bad; I cannot recommend this game at all.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviews indicate that the character development is hindered by strange character designs, which may detract from players' ability to connect with or understand the characters' motivations and growth throughout the game.
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth.”
- “I found the character arcs to be predictable and uninspired.”
- “The characters don't evolve in a meaningful way throughout the game.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is perceived as lacking, with users expressing frustration over the game's quality rather than finding it amusing. While there is an acknowledgment of the creators' hard work, the overall sentiment suggests that the humor falls flat amidst the game's shortcomings.