Past Cure

Past Cure is a mix of good and bad, but all of it is very cinematic and filled with atmosphere at least.

Though there are some definite strengths throughout Past Cure, like the textural environments, the melodies and the overall world duality, it simply fails to really take advantage of the hype gained from its badass trailers.

In spite of a good atmosphere and a worth story, Past Cure suffers from wacky gameplay and a short overall experience. Obviously Phantom 8 got too ambitious on this project.

An intriguing narrative is interrupted by long bouts of boring wave-based shooting against generic enemies in dull locations. I can’t help but think of the early moments in Ian’s house, seeing ceramic horrors in reflections and being excited for a cinematic psychological-horror action game that would never come to be.

An interesting story isn't enough to save Past Cure. The main culprits? Lacklustre controls and an absolute overdose of bugs. Shame.

Past Cure does many things well, but it fails where it's more important: at its core mechanics. Dull and repetitive shootings and boring and unfair stealth make some sequences almost unbearables, but there are some good moments too. Let's hope a few patches can improve the adventure.

Past Cure is a mixture of good intentions: unfortunately, it ends up putting too much flesh on the fire, and attempting to keep together various playful and narrative elements, it fails to deepen anyone. The result is a dull, tedious experience, with unjustified difficulty peaks and terribly long, boring sections.

Past Cure isn’t terrible. It has a great visual style, and the combat manages to offer some thrilling setpieces. It’s the lack of a coherent story that really sinks it, though. The way the script gives only glimpses of the big picture before undercutting all the work it’s done right at the end is simply unacceptable. Perhaps a sequel could redeem this effort and let the developers figure out the story they want to tell, but that doesn’t let them off the hook for keeping the player so thoroughly in the dark this time around.

Developers tried to include in Past Cure action, stealth and puzzles elements, without being able to exalt any of them. The desire to put too much meat into the fire has played a bad trick to Phantom 8 Studios.

A title that is totally lacking in finishing, and disappoints in all respects.

Past Cure is many things: technically infuriating, a slog, and thematically inconsistent. While one can appreciate the effort of a small team trying to craft a game that does many things, it can't seem to do any of them well enough to warrant any attention. With a glut of better games that tackle similar elements on the platform, it's very difficult to recommend Past Cure to people, even as a quick diversion.

You’ll cringe or laugh at some of the horrible dialogue, you’ll get bored by the repetitive nature of the tasks in front of you, and you’ll wonder what the point of the whole thing is, but, throughout it all, you’ll always be able to say that Past Cure works. So…I guess it has that going for it?

I’ve read scarier issues of the Beano in this clunky, buggy mess of a wanna be Deadly Premonition.

We find few reasons to recommend Past Cure. It is quite far from what is expected of a video game: having fun with it.

A joyless chore. [Apr 2018, p.84]

Past Cure is a bad game. It's bad bad. But it's also the best kind of bad game, in that it's not for a lack of effort or that the team were bereft of ideas that the finished product doesn't come together. If anything, the game is too ambitious, with too many ideas, and it inevitably crumbles under the weight of numerous poorly implemented gameplay styles and a total lack of a cohesive identity. It's a bit like when your mum tries making Baked Alaska for the first time – sure, the end result is a sloppy mess, but you've got to applaud the audacity to try it in the first place.

One of the worst games of the generation, but at least it’s an interesting failure – with almost comical attempts to mimic everything from Max Payne to Silent Hill.

Even without the bugs, Past Cure is a bad game that you should pass on. The story is barely there and nonsensical, the voice acting and writing are atrocious, and the gameplay just isn't enjoyable. If anything, Past Cure gave me more respect for the games it tries to imitate, instead of doing any favors for itself.

Let's get to the point: Past Cure is an atrocious video game, bad at every level. That's all you need to know about it.

Perhaps my biggest issue with Past Cure above everything else I have mentioned is that it feels so uninspired. I’m hard-pressed to believe that Phantom 8 Studio found anything in Past Cure to be what I would consider “fun” because there’s just none to be had.