Look Outside is a game that I was mildly dreading playing. Despite the rave reviews and my own desire to experience it, there was some reservation for me - I'm not a big horror fan, I'm too jaded when it comes to more mainstream horror's Jumpscare-heavy vibes, and I was concerned this game would follow in those footsteps. I was very, very pleased to discover that not only is that not the case, but Look Outside has in fact managed to be everything I always wanted a horror game to be, and on top of all that, a genuinely good game experience to boot.
I'll start with the criticisms because they're few and far between, and I want to get them out of the way. Some of the mechanics (Weapon durability, cleaning yourself and the "danger" system) feel a little aimless. Weapon Durability is a massive headache logistically, but is also a very luck-influenced lottery of "will it, won't it". I get the idea, limit the strongest skills by limiting the amount of potential times they can be used, but in practice it just made me very stingy with using my skills and just mashing basic attacks into most enemies. I also don't think having weapons break from regular attacks was a good move - if durability needs to exist, it should be to counterbalance the strongest skills rather than just make regular progression annoying. Showering and Cleaning Teeth feel like very "we need some survival mechanics" systems, in that they're really just arbitrary bars to keep full up. You'll probably only need to shower eight or so times in a full playthrough, and it doesn't take time or really any resources (same for teeth), so why even bother having them? Sure, neglecting them is very detrimental, but they're so easy to satiate that there's really no point having them. The Danger bar serves as a way to get bonus XP by staying out longer, and allowing you the "luxury" of saving the game, but the only real malus to filling it up is constant harrassment from irritating shades. They don't really serve as a threat past the first half of the game, and just end up being a nuisance that either gets in the way, or you farm for some useful items. It doesn't feel like the system as it exists is serving a good purpose - it neither urges me to go back, save for the reward, or punishes me for going for said reward. Lastly, there are some small but irritating bugs - namely with the score achievements that meant I had to re-fight the final boss over again after losing a challenge bonus in order to fit exactly within the bracket for it, but that's getting fixed.
Now the fun part - what this game does well. In short: Everything else. The story is fascinating and layered, pieces of the plot are drip-fed to you the entire time - and most of the endings and the process to get to them offer even more interesting information and lore, to the point where they all provide something meaningful and interesting to the experience. Characters are multi-faceted, and while some can feel a little underbaked due to a lack of content (Audrey and Sophie spring to mind), the vast majority are interesting, complex people that feel like actual residents of a post-apocalyptic nightmare world. The visuals emphasise and bring this all to light - enemies are detailed, complex horrors of interwoven flesh and bone, each themed and stylised to both bring out their personalities and share insight into how they came to be. It's really a case of putting the Art in Pixel Art - and not once did I feel like the pixelated visuals were a constraint, which really demonstrates how well it's done and how well it slots into this world.
Mechanically, aside from previous gripes, the game is excellently composed. An RPG maker game at it's core, (the turn-based combat and plethora of interesting and varied skills is something that's a great favorite of mine), Look Outside managed to make ever part of it's toolkit shine. Unique weapons often have use cases, statuses are both many and extremely powerful - and you can't just equip a ribbon and ignore what the enemy throws out either, you have to choose what to sacrifice to offer some resistance or immunity. Skills are strong, but at a two-pronged cost, and while the level of player power is great once you get going, there's a very real risk of running low on supplies and resources and being forced to play risky. It's a genuine and engaging balancing act between keeping your supplies up and knowing when to all in, and it captures the idea of a survival game better than most other survival games I've played (And that number is sadly quite high). Environments are twisted and turned in on themselves in a wonderful way, lending itself very well to thorough exploration, and there's a genuine feeling of satisfaction from scrounging together enough supplies to keep your head above water while you wait to become as strong as you want to be. Lastly, the sound design (and especially music), are fantastic - really helping to set the scene and paint a picture of the horrors (or the temporary safety) that you find. While the tracks can feel a little limited sometimes, and sound effects are not that many in number, it's not something you tend to notice - and when the time comes to give you a truly important, climactic backing track to set the tone - this game will absolutely deliver in the best way possible.
Look Outside is a horror game that does everything right. Jumpscares are few and far between, and what do exist are handled very well, The tone, pacing, story and atmosphere are beautifully composed, and the mechanics are, in the vast majority of cases, exactly what they need to be. While no game is without it's flaws, I can say wholeheartedly that this game is absolutely worth the time investment and money spent to experience it. Even if you're not a completionist like me, and just play through the game once, I'd still say it's worth it. If every game was as high-quality as Look Outside we'd be blessed, but since we don't, Look Outside just shines all the brighter for it. Absolutely and definitively worth it.
