Reality is a fragile thing. It's typically easy to distinguish a dream from reality, but there are times when the line between real life and your nightmares fracture, causing you to lose your rational mind. The Horror genre has preyed on this topic multiple times throughout media history for good reason: It's utterly terrifying to think about. We take comfort in those four words you tell yourself after thrashing awake, sweat covering your body, convulsing with tremors. What happens when that all-important line ceases to exist? What happens when you're not able to calmly tell yourself, "It's only a dream"? The Long Reach for the Nintendo switch, by Painted Black Games, preys on those insecurities in a spectacular fashion, leaving you in a state of confusion and wonder once all the cards are sprawled out on the table. Now it's time to answer the massive question casting its shadow over this review: Is the Long reach worth the price tag and the time investment necessary to defeat your inner demons?

Story

5/5

There are multiple layers to The Long Reach, but the story is the centerpiece of this experience. If the subject matter doesn't resonate with you to some degree, then your time with The Long reach will be an excruciatingly boring endeavor. If you enjoy your mind being screwed with and just love a good ol' psychological horror, then you stumbled into the correct place and look forward to some trippy ass dreams. The story is based around a group of scientists working out of a lab in the fictional town of Baervox, New Hampshire. You start your adventure as Calvin, the fiancé of one of these scientists. Later you take over as Stewart, your typical lab assistant, simply doing what he is told with zero knowledge regarding the consequences of his actions. Shit starts to hit the fan quickly, making it your job to piece together what Is transpiring and, most importantly, how to get the hell outta dodge with your life and sanity intact.

I won't delve into the plot too much since the major reason I enjoyed The Long Reach was the looming dread and sense of utter confusion that lingered throughout the entire game. Between the interactions with the NPC's, the blending of reality and nightmares, and the dark humor sprinkled on top, I caught myself getting lost within the dark corners of this story. After I was half-way through the game, I thought I would be able to prepare myself for any fucked-up twist thrown my way, but I failed every time. I'm left with questions even after the story was complete, along with conversation starters that can develop unforgettable chats with my friends. Those are the type of stories that I long for and The Long Reach didn't disappoint.

Gameplay

2/5

The entirety of the game consists of side-scrolling movement in a linear-based 2D environment. You're always restricted to a limited amount of space while trying to complete logic-based puzzles to progress the story. There are moments where you're faced with an adversary too strong to take on in traditional combat. Instead, you resort to the tried and true method of running like a little bitch. The puzzles you complete comprise of gathering items and finding a way for them to interact with the environment around you. For example, locating gas and wires to power on a generator for an electronic door. This style of game play was never my strong suit, so the struggles I encountered could be the result of my stupidity with logic-based problem solving. Regardless of the reason, my time playing this game primarily consisted of running around, mindlessly interacting with every possible item, back tracking through the same areas multiple times grunting in frustration, hoping that the game would take mercy on me and grant a divine intervention, showing the way. When it came to the NPC interactions, you are given multiple choices on how you can respond, some being generic responses, while others are off the wall or down right cruel. I enjoyed the personality this created for the game, but when I realized these choices didn't really impact the overall story, I was disappointed. I also found a couple instances where the NPC reactions were the same regardless of what conversational route you ventured down.

Audio and Visuals

4.5/5

The Long Reach never tried to rely on jump scares or over the top gore to get its message across. Instead, an atmosphere was created through beautiful lighting techniques that enhanced the grungy, detailed graphics, resulting in a package that had a modern flare while paying homage to the pixelated gems that came before it. The visual effects in the Long Reach were spectacular, adding to the psychological trip the story took you on. Hallucinations, blurring the line between personal nightmares and reality, is the centerpiece of this story. From full on trippy visuals to the subtle changes to your physical location, I was impressed with the visual experience throughout the game. The soundtrack and sound effects worked majestically with the visuals to enhance the atmosphere throughout the experience. There were some sound effects that went on for too long, were louder than necessary, and hit the nerves more than needed that caused me to cringe more out of annoyance than from a place of fear. The major soundtrack used throughout the game was perfect, but quickly became predictable and redundant. I'm not sure if my play time with the game was longer than average given my inability to complete logic-based puzzles, but it would have been nice to have a little more variety for my ears to savor.

Is it worth the price tag?

This was a tough decision for me. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story and atmosphere of the game, the price-tag of $14.99 and the redundant logic-based mechanics became brick walls trapping my recommendation. My first play through took roughly 6 hours to complete, but a clean run through will only take a couple hours. For the story alone, I strongly suggest buying the game at a discounted price when it makes its round onto a switch sale. My philosophy is every dollar spent should equal an hour of gameplay. With little replay value and short play time, $14 is steep, but this will be a steal around the $5-8 price range. With some added story arcs accessible through NPC interactions, the current price would be acceptable.