The final game in the Devil Came Through Here trilogy deftly avoids the pitfalls its predecessor tumbled into, but doesn’t quite manage to live its best life
Lorelai is the third game springing from the feather and code of R. Michalski, and also the nickname of its protagonist Laura Woods, a charming young woman whose life is a heartbreaking mixture of domestic horror and a few glimpsesThe final game in the Devil Came Through Here trilogy deftly avoids the pitfalls its predecessor tumbled into, but doesn’t quite manage to live its best life
Lorelai is the third game springing from the feather and code of R. Michalski, and also the nickname of its protagonist Laura Woods, a charming young woman whose life is a heartbreaking mixture of domestic horror and a few glimpses of hope and sweetness. Fortunately, she’s almost free of said life. Unfortunately, she is the protagonist of a horror adventure game, so things will soon take a turn for the worst.
Lorelai is the first game in the trilogy made with the Unity engine, and the increase in production values shows: The art is sharper, more detailed and richer in colour, the soundscape is crisp. I am happy to report that the engine change has not cramped the developer’s style: Many weird and unsettling sights await the player, haunting tunes immerse in terrible and unfortunate things, and the rare yet effective splashes of crimson are as startling and vibrant as ever.
The gameplay, too, hasn’t changed much: Laura follows the arrow keys on a two-dimensional plane, triggers interaction points, picks up things and rubs them against other things. There is a run button now. Again the puzzles are mainly there to propel the plot and increase player buy-in, so the solutions are well telegraphed and free of moon logic. So, as before, the story and the characters are the main selling point.
So how is the story? And what are the characters like?
I am happy to report that Lorelai, unlike Downfall, does not drown in an endless sea of misery. Don’t get me wrong, **** gets very, very dark and the horror reaches a depth of depravity not yet seen in the trilogy, but Lorelai is about dealing with the horror instead of slowly succumbing to it. It suffers a bit from diminishing returns, though, because Lorelai’s arc feels a bit too similar to Susan’s in The Cat Lady.
There is another piece of the script that does retread familiar grounds without suffering for it: Once again, Michalski has found a way to make an utterly mundane slice of life chapter a very engaging experience. This time he’s actually done it twice, and in these two chapters Lorelai reaches its peaks of excellence.
As for the characters: Laura is a warm summer rain of charm and likability after the sinister Joe Davis. She seems to innately possess an inner strength and determination, yet she does have a mean streak that keeps her from Mary Sue territory. The bit players, too, come over as grounded, realistic and engaging. The secondary antagonist is a bit flat, but at least the main villain retains an atmosphere of cosmic horror and ambiguity that make her a very engrossing presence.
Michalski and his collaborators have also once again had a very lucky hand in casting. The returning actors are as great as ever, and the newcomers all deliver wonderful performances, especially Maisy Kay as Laura and Elsie Lovelock as a spunky sidekick character.
Unfortunately, one specific character, whose art design and role in the story are very endearing, is in the final analysis little more than a macguffin and a cheap ploy to gather unearned player sympathy. It’s an manipulative and unfortunate shortcut to take for an otherwise very well written script.
Is Lorelai a good time at the controllers, then? I’d say so. Following Laura through her ordeal and out the other end is an unnerving, emotional and ultimately uplifting experience that fans of the franchise or aficionados of intelligent horror should not miss.
TLDR: Lorelai finds its way back to the strengths of The Cat Lady and even expands on them. Fans of the trilogy and those that enjoy slow burn terror tales should not sleep on this game.… Expand