Review: Rental

 

 

Horror/Adventure

Steam (Free Download) itch.io (Free Download)

Cute critters in peril; you either love to see it, or you think it's been done to death. And it's true, making something horrible out of something adorable has been a cudgel wielded a bit too clumsily too often in the horror genre these days, but Rental, by Lonely House and available free to download on Steam, is pleasingly off-kilter, if a little obtuse. You play Umi, whose family shows up at the vacation rental only to find the caretaker who's supposed to greet them isn't there. When Umi goes looking for him, she finds herself trapped inside the house. Umi is more put-upon by this than she is scared, and it's up to you to help her escape.

The game revolves around exploring a very compact environment for a handful of items you'll need to progress while spooky things happen around you occasionally. For the most part, this will take players under half an hour, and probably closer to fifteen minutes provided the game's lack of clear direction doesn't get them hung up. An initially very unsettling second area quickly turns tedious since it's designed to be disorienting and repetitive in a way that makes it way too easy to go around in circles for long enough that it wears out its welcome.

Still, the game's excellent atmosphere and generally weird vibe combined with how short it is still makes it easy to recommend despite some of its rough edges. Rental is inspired by survival horror classics, which is very much felt in the camera angles and general UI. Cute and creepy is so often paired with edgy and shocking that it's refreshing to play something that just leans all in on being strange and pleasantly spooky. Rental feels like a sketch from a short-form comedy anime like Mr. Osomatsu or Pop Team Epic, and that's not a bad thing. Umi's mostly complete disdain for the whole experience is just the cherry on top, and I'd love to see her go on more adventures. In the meantime, pick up Rental, and make sure you check the reviews the next time you travel.

Steam (Free Download) itch.io (Free Download)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: MOTHERED

Image
    Horror/Adventure Steam , itch.io , Xbox Series X/S , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4/5 MOTHERED is one of those games that does a lot with a little. It's a creepy first-person adventure from ENIGMA STUDIO  that takes place over a handful of days in a very limited location, using a similarly limited number of assets. You play as Liana, a young girl being dropped off back home by her father on a dark and stormy night following a lengthy hospital stay. Your mother has been through a lot, your father tells you, and asks you to be patient with her and any odd behavior she might exhibit. Your father will be back from work in a few days - all you have to do is focus on resting, and spending some quality time reconnecting with your family. They just want you to get better. This, you might think to yourself, is suspicious as hell. It only gets stranger, and more unsettling, when you come downstairs the next morning to find... someone... in the kitchen. She says she's your...
Read more