Tales Beyond The Tomb - Route 86

a short but very good Horror game. I recommend it. always exciting. always scary. I also like the soundtrack when you start the game. the game has more language to choose, even german. the price of this game is alright.

For newcomers to the series, it’s worth noting that each installment is designed as a self-contained episode, loosely inspired by real-world crime cases. While the games share the same immersive, first-person format, there’s no overarching plot that links one title to the next. Every entry tells its own story, and this one focuses on a group of friends embarking on what begins as a carefree road trip. Their journey takes a darker turn when they find the main road unexpectedly closed. At a local gas station, a guy suggests they take an older, less-traveled route. Predictably, this detour leads them straight into the kind of horror scenario you’ve likely seen before: isolated farm and a twisted family with only one pastime, tormenting and killing unlucky travelers. There’s no main character because point of view shifts to other members of the group. The character depends on the chapter and you don’t get to choose, but it’s a nice way of showing something you wouldn’t be able to see from just the main character’s point of view. One of the more noticeable upgrades from the previous installment is the inclusion of voice acting. The voice acting itself is solid, but the recordings seem to have been done with personal equipment, resulting in uneven audio quality. This can be heard in certain letters, such as “P” or “B”, which might sound strange when a character talks with a microphone aftertaste. Gameplay, as in past entries, is intentionally straightforward. The emphasis is on storytelling and atmosphere, which means you’re able to walk around, examine your surroundings, and interact with key objects marked by icons. The most common action involves using or picking up items, represented by a hand symbol. A crosshair in the center of the screen changes color to indicate interactable elements, though its design occasionally blends into the background, making it harder to notice. Thankfully, supplementary icons appear when you’re close enough to important objects, which helps prevent aimless wandering. The game world often gives the impression of being open, but invisible barriers gently funnel you in the right direction. Objectives are typically displayed in the top-left corner of the screen so you shouldn’t get lost. Even in moments when goals aren’t explicitly shown, the areas are small enough that exploration doesn’t become overwhelming. Instead of collectible tapes from the last game, this entry introduces balloons as the new hidden items. They’re easier to spot but ultimately less rewarding, since they don’t provide extra lore or background information. Complicating matters, the game doesn’t indicate whether you’ve collected all balloons in a chapter, which might bother completionists. Although no brand-new mechanics are added, except for a lock picking mini-game, a few familiar features return. There’s a brief driving segment, a snake-inspired mini-game at the gas station, and a microphone-based stealth feature where you need to be quit. If you lack a microphone, you can still progress normally, but the mechanic adds to immersion. In the end, this entry delivers a familiar yet enjoyable horror experience. It leans heavily on loud jump scares and classic tropes, but that’s very much the point. For fans of straightforward, atmospheric scares, it works exactly as intended.