Remorse: The List review for Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox

Platform: Switch
Also on: PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Publisher: Feardemic
Developer: Ashkandi
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: M

I?ll be honest: I had no idea what was happening as I was playing Remorse: The List. I walked down a bunch of hallways that were increasingly dark and blood-drenched, then something attacked me, then I woke up and wandered around with no idea what the game wanted me to do. It gave me a map and some weapons, except the map didn?t tell me anything and the weapons were pretty underpowered, so, obviously, I died a bunch and had no clue what the goal was.

To Remorse’s credit, this is kind of the point. On its Steam page, it describes itself thusly: as ?a classic survival horror game where the player must figure out what is happening in the little Hungarian town of Hidegpuszta, and your only clue is a list that doesn’t make much sense.?

Lots of bonus points for self-awareness, I guess?

More seriously, though, even if it?s actively opposed to giving you any real guidance, Remorse deserves a lot of credit for nailing the atmosphere. Good horror relies on leaving you creeped out and unsettled, and Remorse is nothing if not creepy and unsettling. To some extent, this is thanks to the fact it never allows you to find your bearings.

More than that, though, this is just a disturbing world, one where partially formed bodies can attack you, where you never know what could be hiding in shadows, and you find all kinds of hints of evil and wrong-doing scattered everywhere.

Mind you, it would be nice if those hints added up to a coherent story, or even something that guided you in one direction or another. But if you just want to be creeped out first and worry about story second, then Remorse: The List might just be worth adding to your ?to-play? list.

Feardemic provided us with a Remorse: The List Nintendo Switch code for review purposes.

Grade: B-