Decarnation is not about the gameplay, but about the journey. And that journey is wrought with existentialism, Lovecraftian horror, and psychological quandaries that may be trigger inducing. It will grip you, refuse to let go, and entrap you until the end of its story. Should you play Decarnation, you will be opting into experiencing horror through the eyes of a protagonist you may, or may not, empathize with. Should you play Decarnation, you should also avoid sharing its execution of horrors that should remain unspeakable. In other words, avoid spoiling whenever possible.
Horror doesn’t have to just be jumpscares, fright feats, and other overused ooky-spooky tropes that are often seen in popular media every Autumn. Sometimes, a _lack_ of certainty or an air of uneasiness can be effective in making folks like you and I feel uneasy over a period of time. In gaming, series like Resident Evil push players into spaces of adrenaline-fueled horror, whereas titles like Doki Doki Literature Club, The Quarry, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent plant seeds of doubt and concern in our stomachs. The latter titles succeed in making players question if things are what they seem at first as their narratives plod along into darker and more unsettling territories, gnawing away at any happiness players may have left. Despite the uneasiness, these grim narrative journeys are memorable in all the right ways.
Enter Decarnation, a psychological thriller and survival title from Atelier QDB. Set in 1989’s Paris, Decarnation invites players into the life of Gloria, a nearly-thirty-year-old cabaret dancer who wants to retain her lifestyle despite facing the reality of needing to shift her choices as she gets older. When she gets an offer that she can’t refuse, Gloria’s story becomes one of survival, entrapment, and nightmares. For the sake of spoilers, I am keeping this description as general as possible should you choose to play, and I would encourage you to follow suit should you describe this game to others.
I started my review of Decarnation, I was settling into my seat flying home from Atlanta. I popped in my headphones and booted up the title on my Switch, presented with charming pop music from the French band Fleur & Bleu. For comparison’s sake, Decarnation‘s path into the abyss mirrored that of Doki Doki Literature Club. At first, things are cutesy. Benign. I felt for the characters’ struggles as I learned more about them while Fleur & Bleu sings alongside a synthetic track. The combination of the music and the simple gameplay of moving about a 2D pixelated world reminiscient of Habbo Hotel kept me at ease. This was not going to be the case for long.
Upon visiting an art exhibition with Joy, Gloria’s story begins to inch closer and closer into an unsettling territory. I felt uneasy in my stomach as the world began to lose its natural and expected shape and began to morph into lovecraftian designs. I occasionally glanced back and forth at the passengers on either side of me, worried that they may be watching me play a Nintendo Switch game that sucked the joy out of me.
Decarnation does not rely on jumpscares to make players feel uneasy. Instead, it slowly leads them down a stairwell into the depths of Gloria’s nightmares where each step into the abyss makes you feel more uneasy and less hopeful. While there are a few jumpscares scattered throughout Gloria’s journey, the psychological horror ends up being a slow burn, steadily eating away at any positive emotions the player has left. Gloria’s journey is filled with Lovecraftian elements, be it tentacles covered in eyeballs poking their way out of ruined buildings to shells of Gloria herself that represent her darkest emotions and her fleeting innocence. As you explore Gloria’s personal hell, real life and nightmares seamless blend together and encouraging you to question her reality.
Much of Decarnation‘s gameplay is simple and narrative in nature, encouraging you to guide Gloria around her nightmarish reality and occasionally interact with a ghoulish NPC or an object. Text-based dialogue springs up around Gloria upon interaction, giving you insight into her thoughts and her words. Occasionally, I was presented with a minigame, puzzle, or a quick-time event. These breaks in the narrative were infrequent and less fleshed out than I had hoped. Some minigames felt out of place, too. For instance, a rhythm-based minigame asks you to press the Switch’s navigation keys in time with the music, but it’s not synced up to the best of its ability. Even more, these minigames seem to be placed to break up the typical structure of just walking around and mindless button-pressing.
As a result, I’m left feeling that Decarnation emphasizes a narrative journey rather than a narrative that is complemented by players’ inputs. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if I was to compare Decarnation‘s whole experience to a similar narrative title, be it Kentucky Route Zero or even Life is Strange, Decarnation falls slightly short in encouraging the player to have an active role beyond moving the character around. The best narrative journeys discourage the player to be passive while encouraging emotional involvement, and I don’t really feel anything other than emotional investment.
This isn’t to say that Decarnation‘s offering is less than worthwhile or lacking memorability. Gloria’s story is indeed emotional, at times hopeless, and leaves you just as confused yet concerned throughout your playthrough. By the time I reached the end, I felt drained. No spoilers, but a player should feel drained after going through this type of story. Some thematic elements may be trigger inducing to some, so be warned that you may, or even definitely will, feel unsettled at multiple points in the story.
Atelier QDB’s artistic choices are deliberate, leaning heavily into the story’s grimness while accurately creating a psychologically horrifying experience. Despite being 2D pixels, environments are fully realized to their horrific potential while nightmarish beings’ qualities skew nightmarish. Their collaboration with Akira Yamaoka, Alt236, and Fleur & Bleu created a soundtrack that is equal parts disturbing while charming. I loved the art and music, and I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the artistic direction, too.
If you’re considering between playing Decarnation on the PC or Switch, do know that the Switch’s experience is currently inferior. I encountered instances where SFX were not displaying properly, occasionally leading to silent gameplay. There were a handful of situations where I noticed that graphics and animations were curiously absent in the Switch version, such as in a nightclub and in a marsh. I also encountered a handful of instances where I became softlocked by a visual glitch and was forced to restart so I could see my character. I have faith that most of these issues will be resolved in time, but I am erring toward recommending you to consider the PC version to get the full visual and audio experience.
Decarnation is not about the gameplay, but about the journey. And that journey is wrought with existentialism, Lovecraftian horror, and psychological quandaries that may be trigger inducing. It will grip you, refuse to let go, and entrap you until the end of its story. Should you play Decarnation, you will be opting into experiencing horror through the eyes of a protagonist you may, or may not, empathize with. Should you play Decarnation, you should also avoid sharing its execution of horrors that should remain unspeakable. In other words, avoid spoiling whenever possible.
A review copy of Decarnation was provided by the publisher for the sole purpose of this DigitalChumps review.
