Boreal Tenebrae Act 0: Sundowning

Incredible cinematic novel brought down by the few sections of the game you actually play. There are two mandatory puzzles, which aren't hard, but you figure out what to do quickly and then struggle against the game anyway cause you missed an explorable space hiding behind the camera, or you forgot the character swapping mechanic cause its mostly used to have a cat knock things over. The other sections of gameplay are "linear" combat arenas where you wander down hallways, which sometimes diverge briefly into a dead end with extra items for survival. These sections have a lot of mechanics, but they don't really seem to matter until you hit the 2nd boss fight, and then it only matters cause unlike every other enemy, including the first boss, going down in 1-2 hits, the 2nd boss tanks so many hits you wonder if you're even doing damage. The combat's feedback is lacking, though those sections are pretty atmospheric. Despite feeling like you could cut out all the game play, I still recommend this, for the visuals are stunning and the story being told has me interested to go check out Act 1.

Visually stunning, writing that feels hand in hand with a mix of Lynch, Lovecraft, and Marx, all wrapped in a game that does have more going on in it than you first may sense on your first playthrough. Absolutely need to check out the other episodes now

A short and thrilling story of a eventful evening in a isolated small town. The visual and audio design are genuinely one of the best I've seen from an indie story game. Can't wait to see more!

while some of the mechanics are a little clunky and its easy to get caught in a glitch, i love the story telling and the visuals are incredible. edit: after having to replay it twice to get all the achievements, its become a lot more clear how clunky the mechanics are. i didn't realize i kept dying to bosses because my fear level was rapidly draining my health, while hitboxes are still hard to get sometimes, watching that fear level helped a ton with the nightmare segments. i wanted to play this with my switch controller and it wouldn't let me. for someone who never uses keyboard controls, it was hell trying to get used to everything i do wish it was also a bit more forgiving on the timing of things. i forgot to do one item exchange and had to replay the game for a second time. glad i did though because the collect all the mailbox items achievement didn't set off in the second play through. since it is a prequel, i get not being able to do all the same time bendy exploration the act 1 had, so hopefully this issue will be isolated to act 0. i am excited to see what more comes from this story. i love nicole so much.

Back in 2022, we covered a rather interesting indie title that impressed us with its Lynchian storytelling and lo-fi artstyle. Its abrupt ending was disappointing, but I was confident that we would eventually see the second half. Four years later and Boreal Tenebrae is back… although it’s not here to finish off the story it left behind. Rather, this is a standalone prequel that reintroduces us to this world and helps enrich it with more lore and character growth. Not quite the resolution I was hoping for, but I was still excited to delve back into Tamarack Marrows once more! BACK TO BOREALITY Being set before the events of the original, the small town of Tamarack Marrows is a different place. The static hasn’t (as yet) infected the town, Bree’s sister Sarah has not gone missing, and everything seems just about normal for somewhere with animals that walk around acting like humans. None of that is important though, as this game only really serves to put the town in the position it was at the start of the original game. During the course of the game you’ll be playing as Sarah and her sister, as well as Sam, Nicole, … and a cat that can talk to ghosts, as they see their town fall ap…

stunning game, looking forward for the next act