LogFAQs > #969703457

P.T.

at special request of @plasmabeam (but expanded a lot)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/9/AAR-tQAAD7F_.jpg

Fear: 9.5
Importance: 10
Snake: 10

(29.5 points)

P.T. was a video game developed by 7780s Studios and published by Konami for the still new PlayStation 4 platform. This unassuming free download made its way onto the console in the late throes of summer, August 12, 2014. Just four days prior, another groundbreaking horror title Five Nights at Freddy's was released. A day prior, it was announced that famed actor and comedian Robin William had passed away. Hints of Russian invasion into Ukraine bubbled and ruminated under political chatter.

Along with the rest of those events, the release of P.T. sent out shockwaves still being felt to this day. This short game had everyone talking a game by an unknown studio that presented such subtle terror which had folks wondering what sort of madmen could have made it. Its incredible presentation, looping hallways, and brain-teasing puzzles demonstrated all the components to make P.T. a real winner for its debut.

Of course, we know how this story ends. P.T. wasn't made by some random developer - it was the brainchild of Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, who, as it turned out, were working on their collaborative project Silent Hills, the next huge main series entry in the then flagging horror franchise, the plan to bring the series some dignity back after the maligned releases of the HD Collection and Book of Memories in particular. This... never happened. In a fate more surreal than P.T. itself, a fallout between Kojima and his long-time publisher Konami (which is also still being felt to this day) led to the removal of P.T. from the PlayStation store, ensuring no one could download the teaser anymore and postponing Silent Hills indefinitely.

In its removal however, P.T. became more interesting than ever. It was pulled by one of the hugest publishers in the industry and it left gamers scratching their heads as to why it was taken away. It was now akin to forbidden knowledge, a game that no longer existed, somehow reflecting the horror of Silent Hill's curse in a game that was no longer there. People would pay out the nose just to have this game on a PS4. A cottage industry of P.T.-likes sprang up, such as the vaporware Allison Road by developer Lilith Ltd or Layers of Fear by Bloober Team. P.T. took on a new life of its own with the internet age, finding its place as a pioneering horror game and slowly making it so its influence was still being felt to this day.

Few games have come anywhere near P.T.'s accomplishment in the horror genre. So, what is it that makes this game so special anyway? Why is it as revered as it is? What are the elements that made this game so special, and how are those features replicated in other titles? First, I have a confession. I have never played the original P.T. as it existed on PS4. I wouldn't have a PS4 until the tail end of 2016, long after it was taken down. Of course, as a self-proclaimed survival horror enthusiast and historian, I had watched the game be played a few dozen times online after its release and I was able to get a general impression of its effectiveness. I initially wrote it off as one of those "walking sim horror games", like Amnesia or Outlast. I love those games, but it wasn't what I wanted Silent Hill to be like. It definitely seemed like a rehashed gameplay experience, but as I continued to dig deeper, I began to realize just how unique it was.

You awake in a non-descript room, with a roach and door, slightly ajar, in front of you. A single light source illuminates the space around you, with shadows lurking around the edges of your vision. You step forward and open the door further, revealing not a monster or devil, but a familiar looking hallway like one would have in their house, its walls lined with generic paintings and its floor a hard wood, as if you'd find it in an average suburban home. Still, you're wary, as a corner presents itself further down. As you push a little further in, an alarm clock stuck at 23:59 and beer bottles catches your eye - perhaps evidence that something unpleasant has been going on here recently. Even further now, and a dresser loaded with pictures and pills draws your attention next - alcohol and pills, not a healthy combo to say the least. Next, the corner. You hold your breath tightly as you peek around however, there is nothing to be seen but more hallway. To your right, you see a door, but nothing can be done with it. A radio buzzes in to earshot, a news report about a man who killed his wife, son, daughter, and unborn child, and that it was just one in a series of incidents involving fathers/husbands murdering their families. Scary stuff though perhaps not too uncommon for the town of Silent Hill. Other minor things to note are what appears to be a front door, an upper section of the hallway, and an open door which is your only path forward.

At this point, you've basically experienced the primary location P.T. has to offer. Beyond the next door, the hallway loops again, trapping you here. When it comes to survival horror, I feel like location is at least 2/3s of what makes a game scary. Hell, that goes for any horror medium. The environment is the conduit for the terror. YOU'RE the one that has to traverse this. YOU'RE the one that has to directly interact with this. Horror is adept at making even the most simple of areas a hostile environment, twisting what you deem as "safe". Perhaps you have a similar looking hallway in your own place, lined with the same kind of paintings, the same kind of drawers packed with junk, the same door you walk in and out of day after day, the same oppressive feeling in the dark you feel sometimes at night, that something is watching you from somewhere - something you can't see, but there nonetheless. P.T. and the broader horror genre brings those thoughts to the forefront - it makes you more closely examine just what a hallway's purpose is, and pushes you to recognize just how prevalent in your life hallways of all types are. Hallways inherently represent transition, and I think P.T. was a perfect precursor to the liminal space trend we now see most everywhere in horror game design. When horror is working in this type of constricted space, the results are often terrifying.

It is in this hallway where P.T.'s obtuse puzzles present themselves. It is where the environment and gameplay perfectly meld into one cohesive whole. You're forced to scour the place with a fine tooth pointer, combing every possible nook and cranny for anything that can help in your progression. That closed door in the hallway suddenly becomes a nexus point for the entire game, as the door rattles and shakes violently as if being rammed by something. It is unnerving - the tight claustrophobia of the hallway feels more closed in than ever, and while your solving the game's dastardly puzzles, you have this presence in the back of your head like a roving ghost ready to jump out of the dark just when you think you've caught a break.

On that note, you know what else is terrific in this game? The sound design. The sounds in P.T. are so well crafted and organically integrated that it's almost like you're living inside the game. Every clunking footstep, the pitter-patter of the rainfall, the swinging chandelier, these numbing sounds become part of your routine, and you begin to almost ignore them - that is, until a new sound enters the mix, usually something unknown and jolting. Every sound that emanates from the bathroom is nauseating and thought provoking in equal measures. The sounds of the baby crying feel so raw and unsettling and is inherently ear-catching. I also particularly love the radio sounds and voice actor in this, and how the radio broadcasts lend themselves to an intimate experience the creators were trying to invoke.