Let Me Out – A Fun but Imperfect Mix of Horror and Puzzles

“One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.” – Steven Moffat

Overview

Let Me Out is an atmospheric horror adventure game in which a 10-year-old boy, Alvin, must go in search of his mother and escape Mata Koetjhing, an ancient Javanese village.

Narrative

Let Me Out begins in Alvin’s family home, his father has passed away and he is living with his mother and younger sister. After some brief gameplay, the game jumps to two years later and things are notably more sinister. Alvin’s mother is missing, along with the rest of the villagers, there is blood on the floor, and his sister appears as a spirit. It is up to the 10-year-old protagonist to escape the village, discover the secrets behind the curse that has been placed upon it, and exorcise the countless demons that terrorise his journey.

The narrative is delivered through the gameplay and dialogue, but also largely through the environment and the many interactable objects as well as letters, documents, and photos that Alvin can find and inspect. The story is intriguing and written in such a way that creates suspense, making the player want to explore further and delve deeper into Indonesian mythology.

Gameplay

Let Me Out mixes a range of gameplay styles and genres such as walking simulator, horror, puzzle, and adventure. Alvin must explore his house, and then the village beyond, solve environmental, logical, and inventory-based puzzles with the help of his spirit sister, and avoid demons and other enemies adding light survival horror elements. The enemy encounters are, however, very scripted which definitely limits their potential to be truly scary.

The puzzles, whilst varied, are sometimes frustrating, with little indication of what solution is needed, or where to look for said solution. Sometimes hints feel a bit like red herrings and lead the player to look for the wrong thing. For example, when a source of light is needed, it is not possible to interact with any of the many candles that are already lit within the house.

Alvin’s movement is rather cumbersome, which can be arduous, especially as the look sensitivity is very high even on the lowest settings. This severely detracts from the sense of immersion but also the overall enjoyment. Alvin can jump and crouch but only when the game allows, which also adds a somewhat unnatural feel to the movement.

Let Me Out features a fun mechanic whereby the player can switch to control Alvin’s pet spider, Poko. This cannot be done freely, but only be done when the game permits. Poko has additional abilities such as night vision, and sense, and can also explore hard-to-reach and smaller areas. Creating potions is also a prominent feature, and the player must collect ingredients to craft concoctions that will exorcise demons and open new pathways. Alvin also has an extensive inventory, divided into categories, that contains puzzle items, documents, photos, and other objects.

There are a small number of bugs present in the game. One of the most prominent issues encountered was the inability to see the diaries of Alvin’s mother and father once they had been collected. When attempting to view them from the inventory the pages are invisible and the contents can only be read by using the ‘read’ function that adds a text overlay. This breaks the immersion and also means that any images or drawings cannot be viewed at all.

Styling

Let Me Out uses a simple 3D art style that fills a variety of intriguing environments with somewhat basic models, the characters and monsters are particularly rudimentary though some inanimate objects have a nice amount of detail. The animation can feel a little stunted and jittery at times, with the spider companion being an exception, as it both looks good and moves in a convincing way. The 2D art in various documents and photos is stylistic and high quality.

The game uses muted colour palettes, and atmospheric, often high-contrast, lighting effects. There is a general dustiness to the visuals that emphasises the retro 60’s setting and gives the environments a creepy, undisturbed feel.

The music ranges from relaxing, to melancholy, to dramatic numbers full of tension, with piano featuring heavily. The sound effects are executed successfully in terms of player immersion, and adding unnerving touches to the already mysterious ambience of the different settings. The voice acting is entirely in Indonesian, with subtitles available, but seems to be well-delivered with the tone of the speaker apparent despite the language barrier, adding an extra layer of emotion to the dialogue

Unfortunately, the implementation of the sound design is rather unbalanced with regard to volume, the music is difficult to hear regardless of settings, and the sound effects are overwhelmingly loud and feel jarring in an unnatural way. The voice acting sits somewhere in between and is delivered at a comfortable volume.

Summary

Let Me Out is an entertaining and often satisfying game, but it is not without flaws. It delivers an interesting narrative with endearing characters, a range of environments rife with interactable objects, some satisfying puzzles, and creepy enemies. The music is well-suited to the themes and gameplay though the general sound design and volume levels could use some tweaking. The visuals are a bit hit-and-miss, featuring detailed objects and decent 2D artwork, but lacklustre 3D character models and janky animations. The issues with movement, and other bugs also have a detrimental effect on the overall enjoyment of the experience.

The game could undoubtedly use a bit of polishing, but that being said, the price is quite reasonable for the 6-10 hours of gameplay on offer. In conclusion, I’d cautiously recommend this game to puzzle fans or those who appreciate more casual horror games.

If you enjoyed this game you may also like to read these reviews:
A Glance at Indonesia with Mojiken Studios – Double Game Review – Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness – Disturbing New Survival Horror Game – Transient: A Lovecraftian Cyberpunk Thriller

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