Decarnation Review (PC)

Gloria’s dreaming, lost inside her own thoughts, seeking freedom and clarity. Her life was recently reshaped by violence and she feels abandoned by the most important people in her life. The future seems bleak and there’s no telling if she has the mental resources to deal with the coming challenges.

But there’s freedom in dreaming when our mind seeks to make sense of what happened during the day and remixes everything in surprising ways. Maybe there’s a message here, a way to reconnect to the subconscious and reveal some deeper truth. Maybe it’s just a way to relax and prepare for a new day. Regardless, Gloria is asleep, moving through an unknown house, moving up the stairs before finding a big symbol on a wall.

She looks at the three huge chess pieces lying around before entering the room they and the symbol are in. The floor is patterned in black and white and stepping on certain tiles makes the massive blocks of stone move, using the patterns associated with the figures they represent. Gloria hasn’t played chess in the real world so far but I know the rules and I start figuring out how to get the pieces in the right positions to solve this puzzle and move this dream forward.

Decarnation is developed by Atelier QDB and published by Shiro Unlimited. I played on the PC using Steam and a version of the game is also available on the Nintendo Switch. The title is story-driven, with a lot of interesting conversations and a good variety of gameplay that’s neatly tied into the narrative.

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The star of the experience is a dancer named Gloria. She’s on the cusp of turning thirty, she isn’t valued at work, there are problems with her relationships, and a sculptor she poses for underlines how misogynist the world she’s living in is. It’s 1989 in Paris and she’ll soon make a decision that will set her life on a dangerous and weird path.

Almost any detail about what happens past the first half hour qualifies as a spoiler (some of the images accompanying this review feature moments from later in the game). The core narrative is strong, carefully written, and impactful. It features dream sequences and moments when Gloria is exploring her own psyche. There are horror moments, only a few of them jump scares, and extended conversations filled with meaning.

Decarnation tackles a range of mature themes, including emotional abuse, direct violence, and the consequences of trauma. Individuals use their power to coerce, our own heroine is affected by depression and has to deal with rage. The line between reality, dreams, and mental issues isn’t always clear. This is a game designed for mature audiences, despite its playful style.

The story has a few false notes towards the end, especially when it comes to one major relationship. But, given the themes and the events it tackles, the writing is of good quality. There are flashes of effective humor but the writers did a great job of showing how Gloria is affected by what’s happening. But, once again, players should be aware of the mature themes.

Dacarnation’s gameplay is built on movement and extensive conversations. Only a few of them feature actual choices but they still manage to be captivating. Gloria is a dancer, so there are musical sequences that ask gamers to engage with simple rhythm mechanics. Puzzles pop up from time to time, most of them built on dream logic. The solutions are intuitive but it might take a little time to actually implement them.

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The game also features Quick Time Events. I like to believe that Decarnation’s developers understand how hated they are and use them to link the frustration, fear, and anger of the main character to the actual gameplay. Most of the featured QTEs aren’t very annoying. But, as the story nears its conclusion, there are a few sets of jumps powered by the mechanic that will frustrate players without impeccable timing.

Decarnation also has a few action sequences, where Gloria avoids painful memories turned into monsters and even a set-piece that works like a boss battle. All its gameplay mechanics tie back into the narrative and Gloria’s emotions, which adds stakes even if the moment-to-moment action isn’t very exciting. After all, why should her inner life conform to our expectations about good gameplay?

The mechanics are varied, even if there’s not much depth to any of them. In conjunction with the solid narrative, they create a unique game world. And Gloria is such an interesting main character that I felt compelled to explore her story even when I was annoyed by another QTE sequence. Go into this game with as little info about the plot as possible and enjoy where it takes you.

Decarnation’s pixel art is beautiful and captures a ton of little details that make this horror-tinged universe come alive. Gloria manages to communicate a lot through movement and small ticks and the nightmare moments manage to be horrific, even if there’s no attempt to deliver the jump scares most video games rely on.

There’s equal care lavished on the game’s sound elements. There’s no voice acting but a lot of musical cues that match the tone of the narrative moment and underline the character’s emotions. There are a few straight-up musical numbers that are good but just weird enough to add to the atmosphere of menace and ramp up the tension. Pop tunes are rarely used so effectively by indie games.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion