Review of the popular walking simulator "Exit 8". Can you spot an anomaly lurking somewhere and escape the endless corridors?

If you find something strange, turn around, if not, keep going!

The objective of the game is to go through the station's underground passageway and exit from Exit 8 to the surface. The passageway has fluorescent lights, Braille blocks, posters, surveillance cameras, and other things that are not unusual in an underground station. However, the passageway is designed to repeat the same terrain indefinitely, so even if you proceed blindly, you will not be able to get out.

The controls are simple, with only forward, backward, left, and right movement.

The key to escape is to deal with the anomalies that lurk in the passageways. The player must repeatedly pass through the corridor to determine whether or not there is an anomaly, and if there is, turn around and continue on. The player must repeat this process at least eight times and answer correctly in succession. If the player misses an anomaly and moves on, he or she is sent back to the beginning. The progress is indicated by an information board at the first turn of the passage, which initially has zero exit numbers, but the number increases by one for each correct answer.

The key point is that although the player must answer correctly eight or more times in a row, an anomaly does not always occur. In order to memorize the locations that change according to the presence or absence of an anomaly, the player must pass through the passageway many times, observe the surroundings closely, and memorize the scenery in detail.

There are so many variations in the anomalies that it is probably not possible to collect them all in the first round of play. Some are obvious only by passing through a passageway, while others can only be identified by looking back or staring at the spot in the middle of the passage.

Most of the time, you are returned to the zero number for something at first, and you can't move on without much delay. It is frustrating, but it is also a preparation for repeatedly observing and making mistakes in order to burn the scenery of the passage into one's eyes and eventually notice something unusual that occurs somewhere else. It is a simple but well-designed game system that combines the so-called "endless loop" with a search for mistakes.

Even if the signboard says "No. 8," it does not necessarily mean that you can reach the goal. To get to the exit 8, you have to go through a normal passage where there is no abnormality, and in some cases, you may have to go back through the passage marked 8 on the guide board many times. When I finally reached the number 8 passageway, I felt a thrill of playing with the increased pressure of having to start all over again if I made a mistake.

In this play-through, it took the author about 40 minutes to clear the passage. The time required to complete the game varies greatly depending on how well you are able to identify the abnormalities, but my sense is that you should be able to complete the game in an hour and a half at the most. Incidentally, the description on the official Steam page for this game states that the play time is 15 to 60 minutes.

The tension of carefully exploring a place where anomalies can occur

There are a few horror elements in the game, but they are not the kind of horror where you are attacked by a monster from behind or a ghostly figure suddenly fills the screen. Instead, they are mainly the kind that gradually wreak havoc on the mind, sending chills down one's spine as one becomes aware of them.

In fact, this is exactly what makes the game so terrifying. It is mentally taxing to have to stop and observe your surroundings in a space where you don't know what is lurking. The game's extremely realistic picture quality and textures, as well as its subjective viewpoint, help to create a sense of realism, making it an enjoyable horror game that scares the player with its atmosphere.

As a rough guide, "Exit 8" is very easy to play, with an easy volume that takes anywhere from a few dozen minutes to an hour to complete, a low price of 470 yen, and simple operability. It is a title that can be recommended to those who want to enjoy a quick game, as well as to those who like horror games that slowly come to life.