Layers of Fear 2 review: A brilliant psychological horror game that's better without expectations
Layers of Fear 2 is brilliant, and unfortunately it probably won’t be recognized as such because it defies genre definitions. In 2016, writing about the original Layers of Fear, I asked “Can a horror game be successful if it never manages to scare?” and the same question dogs this sequel. Make no mistake: It’s rarely frightening at all. In fact, when Layers of Fear 2 does fall back on jump scares or clumsy chase sequences, those are its worst moments.
So how do you set expectations?
It’s tempting at times to segment these games off into their own genre, to try and preempt pigeonholing. I’ve seen film circles struggle with the same questions of late, throwing around the term “post-horror” when discussing Get Out, Us, Haunting of Hill House, Hereditary, and more. Myself, I wrote that Layers of Fear's follow-up Observer “wasn’t a horror game” when it released in 2017.