People are capable of very much. Physically they do a lot of things and the body can also do a lot, even if you think the limit is reached. Mentally too, man can have a lot, but that depends on the state of the mind. Nonetheless, people are generally special beings and although the 'basic' person can do a lot in itself, searching for new possibilities is never wrong. However, it must then be done in an ethical manner, because then certain conditions will be observed. Ian, the main character in Past Cure, has not had to deal with those ethical conditions and has completely lost the thread... time to find out what happened.
Mystery at the top
Ian is an old soldier who misses three years of his life and has to deal with heavy nightmares. This ensures that he has lost his way at times, but he still wants to find out what exactly happened to him and why he has those strange nightmares. In the three years that he misses his life, something has happened that gives him special powers. He can, as a spirit, step outside himself to look around at a short distance, to switch switches and more. At the same time, he can also slow down time where he can move more or less at a normal pace.
That is quite handy, because Ian's search leads him to a large hotel where possibly more can be found which could explain what happened to him. However, this hotel has very good security, so Ian needs his own skills to get further into the adventure. Slowly but surely he comes closer to his final goal and that is where the story gets an interesting turn, because is everything as it seems or is he being fooled by his own head? You can discover that for yourself, at least the story leaves room for your own interpretation and to discover more we see a sequel, thanks to the open end.
Mix of gameplay
What makes Past Cure very interesting is that it contains a wide variety of gameplay elements. During the adventure that lasts about six hours, you will end up in a nightmare several times. That brings you to tightly designed levels where you have to solve some environmental puzzles to get ahead. You also have to deal with a kind of prison in which porcelain mannequins have provided for you. These nightmares are the strongest point of the adventure, because the levels are very tight in design one moment, the other moment it is a bit dingy and luguber so it has a frightening effect.
Between the nightmares you will follow Ian in his search for what happened and what a certain company with specific pills does exactly. That brings him to a few locations and there you actually have three parts in terms of gameplay that you can apply. You can cross various areas by using stealth and your skills. If that does not work, then you can also opt for the frontal attack, again in combination with your special skills. Those possibilities, slow-motion and outside your body, are always the core in the way of playing and that can be pretty useful. With your body outside you can see where enemies are hanging out and with slow-motion you just get a little better.
In the nightmares the action is mainly lacking, because stealth here predominates and through the entire game you come across some fun puzzles here and there. We must not forget that the game can also sporadically frighten you through the slight horror in mixing, making the entire composition of Past Cure can still be called unique. In terms of gameplay it offers a lot of variation and that makes the game in itself worthwhile to play out. The story is also interesting, but we can not deny that it might have been more concrete, because at times it is a bit vague.
Something too much hay on the fork?
Phantom 8 has tried to put together a special game with Past Cure, because it combines so many different elements. A risk associated with this is that you may try too much, so that various elements do work, but do not actually do it well enough. That is such a shame, because Past Cure has to do with this and that has at times quite a lot of influence on the gameplay and the fun. In our opinion, the stealth gameplay works fine and the puzzles are in order. The action on the other hand is just not that good, because it feels very stiff.
You have two options for dealing with enemies. The first option is simply shooting with the target rods that you have at your disposal and the other option is hand-to-hand combat. The shooting is okay, but because Ian is so stiff to drive at times like that, you will regularly leave the pipe because he does not move fast enough to your liking. It does not go smoothly in one way or another and that can be frustrating. In addition, the hand-to-hand combat is a nice alternative, but you actually have very little if you are in a gunfight. However, enemies will come at you and as soon as you are still shooting and the enemy starts a scuffle, the game will lose the thread a bit. You then have to walk backwards, aim again and then shoot. Not efficient.
Fighting with your hands is therefore an alternative, but that is also very difficult, because you have to stand exactly in front of the opponent. If, however, it is a bit further away from you, then you are stuck in the vacuum. If an enemy is left or right next to you, then Ian does not automatically update, so you have to do an extra operation with Ian to be able to send a striking blow at all. Quite awkward if you are under fire in the meantime, because this all takes too much time and possibly results in death. In the end it is a lot of small things that simply do not feel good and work well in combat. All this is mainly due to the too stiff steering and that can be very annoying at certain times.
Will you play the game with a lot of effort? That in itself is not, because it is all pretty good to do. But it is simply unfortunate to see that the combat just does not work nicely enough and since that is a significant part of the game, this raises frustration and that could certainly have been done more smoothly with more attention. The developer tries to do a lot of different things and at some points this works out well, on other points less which makes it feel a little bit like the developer has put too much hay on the fork. Especially in the action moves Ian too slow and stiff, which makes it very tiring. Something that becomes clear towards the end of the game, where you notice that the control works against you.
Conclusion
Past Cure is an interesting title with a fascinating story that tastes like more. The fact that the story is vague at times is something that you should take for granted. The atmosphere in the game is very strong at times and the creepy moments are fantastic. Especially the nightmares are very nice and varied, because they dare to do new things with this. Between the nightmares, the normal levels are more focused on the action and sometimes a bit too long, while the stiff combat does not help. The game has absolute potential and the ideas of the developer are interesting. The execution is a bit less, because the game has some bugs. These bugs are generally not game-breaking, so apart from the fact that it is sloppy, it will not really hamper your adventure. There are many points that the game can certainly improve, because the current state is not very good. Despite that, we did enjoy playing this game and the open end leaves room for a sequel. With the ideas and ambition of Phantom 8 we see a sequel for sure, but at least like it without the stiff gameplay.
The plus and minus points
✔ Nightmares are a highlight with creepy moments
✔ Some levels are beautiful
✔ Stealth gameplay at times exciting
✔ Interesting story...
✖ ...but sometimes a bit vague
✖ Very stiff combat
✖ Moderate voice-acting
✖ Irritating bugs
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!
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