Decarnation

About Decarnation

Decarnation is a psychological horror adventure from the France-based studio Atelier QDB, published by Shiro Unlimited and released on Windows and Nintendo Switch on May 31, 2023. It is set in Paris in 1990 and drawn in detailed retro pixel art. It was first built in RPG Maker and later moved to Unity. Its makers name Silent Hill, the original Alice in Wonderland, and the films of David Lynch and Satoshi Kon among their inspirations, and the soundtrack includes music by Akira Yamaoka, the composer of Silent Hill.

Gloria is a cabaret dancer at the end of her rope. Her career, her relationships and her self-esteem are slipping away when a mysterious patron makes her an offer she cannot refuse. What follows moves between her waking days and her dreams, and between dreams and nightmares, as monsters work their way into the fabric of her ordinary life.

It plays as a 2D adventure: you walk through each place, look at objects and talk to people. Puzzles are mostly solved with the scenery around you rather than with items you carry, such as one built around giant chess pieces. Everyday moments are turned into mini-games, from Gloria's morning stretches to her dances on stage, which are played as a rhythm game where you press directions in time with the music. In the nightmares you also have to slip past monsters, some of which end the attempt on contact.

What frightens is less the danger than what you see: rooms swallowed by growths full of eyes, a caged mass of flesh hung with heads, a giant arm covered in eyes. The store warns of physical and moral violence, suffering, captivity, drowning, manipulation, body horror and soft nudity, though there are no weapons. Critics praised its sprite art, its monster design and its story; the common complaints are mini-games that run too long and puzzles that are either too easy or too abstract, and the story carries on for over an hour past the point where it seems to end.

It suits players who want a story-led horror game about a person in crisis, closer to Silent Hill 2, Fran Bow or OMORI than to a monster chase. One playthrough of the main story takes about five and a half hours.

How to play Decarnation

1. Buy it on Steam or GOG for Windows, or on the Nintendo eShop for Switch; a demo is on Steam.
2. Follow Gloria through her days in Paris, look at what is around you and talk to the people in her life.
3. Play the mini-games that stand in for her daily routine, such as keeping a marker in a moving bar during her morning stretches.
4. When she dances on stage, press the directions shown in time with the music.
5. In her dreams, explore, solve the puzzles laid into the rooms and keep away from the monsters to move the story on.

Tips

• Most puzzles are solved with the room itself, not your pockets: look at the scenery and how it is laid out before hunting for items.
• In one puzzle an enemy kills on contact while you switch off lights; keep it moving around the room and work while it follows you.
• The story reaches a point that feels like the end and goes on for more than an hour; keep playing until the credits roll.
• It supports controllers fully on PC, which suits the rhythm sections.
• Look out for references to cult horror films and games; the makers invite you to spot them.

Questions