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The music is eerie and dissonant, building on the game’s sense of dread as you walk from room to room. Neverending Nightmares’ sound design is terrific. His regular pace is glacial, and while there is the ability to sprint - which is slightly quicker than his standard pace - Thomas can’t continue at this quicker pace longer than about 10 seconds before having to stop to catch his breath. This was all made worse by how slow Thomas moves through the levels. But this loop quickly turns boring as you’re forced to go through the same rooms time and time again, waiting to finally hit the next story beat or jump scare that will get Thomas to wake up in his next nightmare - only to have to do it all over again.
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It’s scary and unknown, and a good metaphor for obsessive-compulsive behavior. At first, going from room to room feels labyrinthian, like you’re stuck going back and forth and unaware if the rooms are changing or you’re imagining it. Wandering is the main gameplay loop of Neverending Nightmares, and not one it necessarily does well. There are multiple endings to find in second or third playthroughs, but as for my initial one, I was left unsatisfied after what I believed was an otherwise interesting story. I thought I was about half-way through the game by the time I saw the credits roll, and was a little dumbfounded as to the meaning of my ending. My playthrough ended just shy of two hours and the ending I was given was abrupt and confusing. The game’s use of increasingly violent and disturbing imagery is an effective way to communicate the creator’s issues without blatantly explaining them in plain text.īut that being said, the game is extremely short. As his cyclical nightmares continue to get worse, featuring scenes of self-mutilation, murder and suicide, you begin to feel just as trapped in Thomas’ mind as he is. It’s a personal story that is troubling to imagine as a real depiction of the creator’s issues with mental illnesses.
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But these halls are filled with their own nightmares, as Thomas faces personifications of his mental illnesses such as sights of his own corpse, shadow people and deadly monsters that must be avoided.
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Every time he wakes in a new dream, Thomas wanders around his house, an asylum or the woods trying to find his way back into reality.
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The game centers around Thomas, who finds himself in a series of ever-worsening nightmares. But the game’s quick descent into monotony and slow-pace ultimately makes it a slog to get through.
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Telling an intimate story of the game creator’s own struggles with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Neverending Nightmares is full of violent, disturbing imagery and great sound design that, at times, can make for very scary moments. Neverending Nightmares is a troubling journey through one man’s own personal Hell, but it’s a journey that may not be worth taking.
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