One day, a simple guy named Brian Pasternak was invited to work at one of the largest companies in the world – Sintracorp. He didn’t fully believe his luck, because the corporation’s diligent bureaucrats were rejecting resumes from much more suitable candidates. Having climbed to the highest floor in the office and following a completely unsuspicious trail of blood, Brian discovered a contract promising him a generous reward for very specific services. What a pity that due to the abundance of legal jargon in the text, Pasternak never understood the essence of the mission entrusted to him. And this despite a rather eloquent clue – a bloody inscription opposite him, succinctly reducing the entire agreement to one phrase: “Kill the Witch!». By signing the contract, Brian will take on the duties of a corporate witch hunter, which, of course, in no way prepares him for his descent into the abyss of madness that reigns here.
Yuppie Psycho is an adventure game with horror elements, permeated with an unsettling atmosphere of corporate culture at its most absurd and frightening. The protagonist will have to explore the Sintracorp office, reveal the secrets of the events that took place here, meet his new colleagues and, of course,, die survive encounters with monsters. All these elements combine harmoniously, without interfering with each other and adding significant variety to the gameplay.
Let me point out right away that Yuppie Psycho cannot be called horror in the full sense of the word, because the game doesn’t even try to scare the person behind the monitor. However, this does not make the horror elements in it useless. Not at all, they are simply aimed at the protagonist himself. Brian Pasternak is not James Sunderland, Ethan Thomas, Simon Henrikson or another horror game protagonist who overcomes most adversities with a stony expression. Pasternak reacts very emotionally to the nightmare happening around him: at first, not believing that something like this could ever happen to him, and then, when the merciless awareness of the reality of what is happening nevertheless overtakes him, trying with all his might to find a way to avoid the sad fate in which he will join the list of the Witch’s victims. And here it is important to note the following – the main character’s anxiety is transmitted to the player, creating the necessary tension.
And, according to all https://slotsicasino.co.uk/bonus/ the testaments of Amnesia, this tension is emphasized by the need to solve various puzzles, which fully reflect the distorted logic of this place. Moreover, many puzzles can make you puzzle over the solution, testing the player’s memory and ingenuity. This principle is even involved in counteracting monsters. There is no combat component in the usual sense – the outcome of any clash with opponents directly depends only on your cunning. Would you guess that you can pay off a predatory photocopier with ink?? Will you find ways to secret areas, including the one where on about? Or maybe you can even become a devil? Hehe.
This is what captivates the game – you want to explore it, test it for strength, meticulously study each floor in search of the next secret. This is especially true for interaction with other characters, who are divided into two types here: those who have not yet been broken by the nightmares of the company, and faceless fellow extras who are gradually degrading more and more. Take off your clothes and walk on all fours? No question. Breathe toxic fumes because their workplace is in the middle of a mysterious green cloud? Someday this damn air conditioner will definitely be fixed! Throwing pencils at big-eyed mines? And this is actually a good idea! Approximately the same contingent has gathered here, but don’t worry, you’ll definitely fit in here!
The player is free to visit almost all corners of the Sintracorp office, just forget about the sixth floor! and everywhere he will come across a competent disclosure of the chosen topic – corporate culture in all its ugly glory. For example, one of the floors was affectionately nicknamed the Hive… and such a name is incredibly fitting for this dark, oppressive place. What can we say about such everyday little things as the opportunity to steal food from the refrigerator in the dining room or listening to complaints from the local IT specialist?, while one of the employees is chewing the wires. At the same time, the developers do not stoop to the primitive reading of morality, choosing a much more interesting path – demonstrating problems by appealing to subconscious fears associated with corporate culture.
But the most delicious thing is that the developers know how to competently create tense situations, using elements that you did not pay attention to or simply underestimated their importance. With a smile, you listen to the stories of local crazy people about meeting the Witch? Try repeating this trick when she decides to visit you… Saw the corpses of colleagues? O̸on̷҈o̵̶ rn.̷.̴.̶ You went to the archives for a medieval witch hunt guide? Maybe you should make a will before that?? But the most important thing is that the ingenuity of the authors does not let you get bored for a minute!
Whether you’re running from monsters or trying to get to the cafeteria to microwave pizza, great production will make it all fun. By the way, about pizza and other delicacies – Pasternak has a health indicator, which is very atypical for adventure games. You can replenish your health with food, water and simple dishes, but you can lose it when fireflies try to eat you; when you are hit by irritated employees; when you get too close to mines; when you invite a colleague to lick you in order to explode in her mouth; when you look too closely at a picture; when women with huge mouths spit acid at you; when you breathe poisonous gases; when you can’t tame your marketing department; whend̸҈а̵҉ о҉н̶̸а̴҉ d̴̷y̷sh̶̸i҈t̴҈ t̴̸e̷b҈e̴ v҉ z̴҈a̷tgy҈l̴o̴k̷.̵.҈.̶ In other words, you definitely won’t be bored, and what else does a young careerist need to be happy??
And in conclusion, I would like to specifically mention the musical accompaniment, which perfectly copes with its task – to enhance the depressing effect. However, the visual style copes with this no worse, skillfully combining pixel art with portraits reflecting the emotions of the characters. Especially when these characters start acting strange or aggressive.
To summarize, I would like to name the main advantage of Yuppie Psycho – the authors’ absolute understanding of what they wanted to achieve by creating this game. There are no unnecessary elements here, and those that are there are implemented exactly as needed. The only complaint that I had during the passage was that the solution to some puzzles was not obvious, which, however, did not detract from the pleasure I got from this adventure. I highly recommend Yuppie Psycho to anyone who… just likes good games.