Clea 2

About Clea 2

Clea 2 was made by InvertMouse and released in March 2021, two years after the first Clea. It is sold on Steam and itch.io for Windows, Mac and Linux, and on Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox; the PlayStation version is published by Sekai Project. Every cutscene is fully voiced in English, and the text is translated into eleven more languages.

Four years have passed since the Whitlock Mansion tragedy. Florine, once a maid there, is determined to resurrect the person who means everything to her, and to do it she must travel past the third dimension into the realms beyond. Otherworldly horrors wait there, and this is her last chance at redemption.

You walk Florine through hand-drawn, side-on rooms by lantern light, picking up items such as orbs and keys and combining them in a small inventory to open the way on. The enemies are not scripted: they roam the halls in real time and react to every noise you make, so much of the game is listening for footsteps, judging where a creature is and choosing when to move. Like the first game, it has no jump scares; the tension comes from knowing something is near.

It is built to be hard and to reward players who master it, with unlockable costumes, galleries, difficulty modes, an arcade feature, Steam leaderboards and multiple endings. Critics were mixed to warm: Hey Poor Player called it a short and engaging horror game, COGconnected found it very challenging but not impossible and praised its use of sound in the dark, and TheGamer liked its doll-like art but wanted clearer audio. It suits players who liked Clea, Clock Tower or The Coma and want slow, careful horror that relies on sound rather than shocks.

How to play Clea 2

1. Move Florine through each room by lantern light and listen closely for nearby creatures.
2. Keep your noise low and time your moves for when the enemies are away from you.
3. Pick up the items you find and use or combine them from the inventory to open the way forward.
4. Replay on other difficulty modes to unlock costumes, galleries and the other endings.

Tips

• Play with headphones; knowing where the enemies are by sound is most of the game.
• Learn how each creature behaves before you rush; reviewers found it very challenging but fair once its rules are learned.
• Play the first Clea first if you want the story of the Whitlock Mansion behind Florine's journey; critics found the sequel's story hard to follow on its own.

Questions