Finally, a piece of horror media that understands that the hitchhiker is in way more danger than anybody who chooses to help them out. Rather than a piece that chooses to fearmonger those most in need of help on the road based on what they could “”””””potentially”””””” do if you dare try and help them — an epitome of the capitalistic value of “fuck you got mine” — Fears to Fathom: Norwood Hitchhike hews closer to how the situation is like in the real world: you’re alone, at night, helpless, praying that whatever comes out of the darkness isn’t going to hurt you. You’re stranded, in the middle of nowhere, reliant on the kindness of strangers, hoping against hope that they have your best interests at heart. Even beyond how well it captures its subject matter, I also believe this is a really well-done indie game. The lo-fi, PS1-ish aesthetic, while maybe a bit dime-a-dozen in regards to indie horror, is utilized more… subtly, in a way that doesn’t call attention to itself. It’s an artstyle, rather than the be-all-end-all of the experience, and the framing device of the main character narrating what happened as an r/letsnotmeet style story really helps to add a unique level of character to the whole experience.

It’s also rather effective as a horror game — the way things start mundane and then slowly start to ramp up once you’re on the empty road, the way the game can bait-and-switch you into lowering your guard (and lead you into… honestly pretty effective jumpscares), a climax which was genuinely rather tense even after having already played the game once, and most of all how the sparse landscapes, the off-beat characters, and even the lighting really sell the vibe of being alone, outside, in the middle of the night. Both the bits where you are terrified for your life and just want to get home and the parts that… almost feel comfy: looking out a car window, listening to the hum of a stranger's car, seeing the outlines of the trees and the mountains and the wilderness inbetween, watching the road as it comes under the headlights. I wouldn’t call it perfect — there are moments gameplay-wise that felt finicky and a little broken, and there’s one particular narrative beat I’m a bit ??? on — but this game really does a lot for the 40 minutes you spend on it. It comes, it takes you for a ride, and then it drops you off on the side of the road. And while somebody else might pick you up later, and even despite the danger present throughout the experience, you're never going to forget what it was to be inside that stranger's car, and find yourself inside their world, even if only for a fleeting moment.

The second Fears to Fathom game expands a bit in ambition as it takes place across several locations. This one picks up as your character wearily makes the long drive home from a concert, late at night. After a gas station stop, your car breaks down and you're left having to hitchhike to a nearby motel with sketchy characters. Norwood Hitchhike is effective in that you aren't too sure when the scares are going to start, so it leaves you in suspense. Maybe it's because there's so much downtime but when the jump scares do come they are oddly more effective than I find them to be in other games.

In my first run on Norwood Hitchhike, when my car broke down I thought I'd better start walking down the road. A car passed by me but then I was left in on a mountain road, walking seemingly endlessly for maybe twenty minutes. I realized when I reloaded the game that you were supposed to just wait by your car. Whoops!

That one was on me, but there are some trial-and-error elements in this, without many checkpoints, which makes repeating some of the gameplay more frustrating than I would've liked. It definitely holds back the experience somewhat, but Fears to Fathom 2 is still surprisingly fun despite its low-budget stylings and its place in the jump scare genre.

Essa foi a minha primeira experiência de gameplay com um jogo da série, e esse em específico, se tornou um dos mais fracos na minha opinião, tendo em vista que após esse tivemos outros jogos da mesma franquia infinitamente mais interessantes e muito mais bem trabalhados.

O jogo até consegue construir uma certa tensão mas ela não dura tanto tempo e isso é um pouco triste, pois eu queria que esse em específico tivesse sido muito mais aprofundado, o mistério é tão raso e não me intrigou a querer saber mais.

| What I Like |
- Alike episode 1, creates an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere
- Jumpscares just as good as episode 1
- Implies some pretty heavy stuff if this is based on a real story
- Perfect game length
- Cool radio songs

| What I Don't Like |
- Couldn't find the coffee machine for 10 minutes.....

| My Score |
8/10 - Just like episode 1, the atmosphere of this is really unmatched by any other horror series I've played. It's scary, it's eerie, it's uncomfortable and just hits the nail on the head when you know what's in that room, but you're still scared to open it