'Perception' continues trend for home exploration games
With 2016 release "Perception" looking to expand on a growing trend for a seemingly mundane gaming genre -- wandering around other people's houses -- we look at it in the context of five other titles that have plotted similar paths.
First up, Deep End Games' debut, "Perception." It stars Cassie Thornton, whose superhuman (or supernatural) ability allows her to use echolocation to map her surroundings in a detailed and visual manner, if not almost entirely rendered in hues of black and blue.
That talent proves useful when she finds herself drawn to an abandoned mansion in the northeast USA, but as well as solving the time-shifted mystery of an almost vacant Echo Bluff estate, she has to escape the attentions of haunting being The Presence.
Given a new trailer the day before "Perception" was announced, "What Remains of Edith Finch" also proposes exploration of a layered manse -- though this one tends towards surreal events rather than horror. Thematically speaking, developer Giant Sparrow already turned in a reduced-color game with its own debut, "The Unfinished Swan."
Both games are being compared to 2013's formative "Gone Home" (Windows, Mac or Linux), which elevated the seemingly mundane contents of domestic property to principal players in narrative exploration: overseas traveler Kaitlin returns to an empty house and wonders why her parents and younger sister aren't there.
While the Finch family home is likely remaining a PlayStation 4 exclusive, and "Perception" targets Windows PC before moving on to Mac, Linux, and (possibly) console, 2014's compendium of nocturnal toddler adventures "Among the Sleep" is already set to go from home computer to PS4, though its re-release remains undated -- it's presumed a launch title for Sony's upcoming virtual reality headset.
On a more writerly bent, "The Novelist" (2013) allowed players to investigate the objects scattered around a stylishly-designed dwelling. Taking the form of a supernatural being who can stay undetected by flitting between light fittings, there's an opportunity to help three family members work out their differences at the end of each chapter.
Rounding out these recommendations is new release "Sunset," which takes place within the penthouse complex of a Latin American businessman. As hired help Angela Burnes, only allowed in for an hour when the owner is temporarily absent, players can choose what to tidy away or rearrange, affecting the pair's relationship as a result, while revolution breaks out in the city around the apartment's posh tower block.
Like most of the explorative titles alongside it, "Sunset" is not going to be for everyone -- but an unusual approach to the video game medium has won it critical praise since a May 21 release.
