Serviceable gameplay, but a poor story
The general exploring/rummaging/puzzle-solving gameplay is pretty good, as expected of a Frictional game. I also appreciate the general aesthetic and art style of the game.
The horror elements are generally weaker than the previous games. Not terrible, but the effects and wait time of the "fail state" were more annoying than simply dying and reloading a save would have been. The monsters are also poorer than in the previous games, and are demystified by the extended eye contact that occurs when the player is caught by them. There were some disturbing elements and plenty of spooky locations that were interesting, but mostly the game feels like a step back, horror-wise.
But the lack of scares is far from being a deal breaker for me; the main problem with Rebirth is the story. Tasi is not likable at all, speaks too much during gameplay, and little of what she says is relatable. Previous games were tightly focused on helping us understand Daniel's and Simon's feelings about their situations, but Tasi's motivations stem solely from her husband and child, who we neither know nor have any reason to care about.
The story is also muddy and scatter-brained in general. The constant jumping between locations is very disorienting, and makes the game feel more like a montage of scenes than a cohesive story. This is made worse by the baffling amount of time that's spent recovering from Tasi's "bad luck", which seems to steer her away from the main plot thread in every single hub area! The endings are also weak and unsatisfying, but I can't go into greater detail without entering spoiler territory.
All in all, this one was a disappointment. But I haven't given up hope that Frictional could have another great game yet to come!
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