LogFAQs > #910231035

82. Queen Vanessa's Manor (A Hat In Time) (15 points)
Nominated by: Pirateking2000 (4/6 remaining)

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Importance: 2
Fear: 6
Snake: 7

Any screenshot of A Hat in Time can easily clue you in that this game is cutesy, charming, bright, and quite the opposite of scary. Hell, even on the game's store page on Steam it's advertised as a "cute-as-heck 3D platformer". As such, nobody would ever expect the mood whiplash that is Queen Vanessa's Manor; I'm entirely convinced now that this is an area in Amnesia that accidentally got swapped with a fantastical platforming level and they didn't have enough time to correct things.

It can be common for platform/adventure games aimed at younger audiences to contain some horror elements to spice things up from the typically light-hearted world, lending some more danger to the adventure and making things more challenging by adding a slight dash of fear to the equation. Super Mario 64's Big Boo's Haunt, Sonic Adventure 2's Pumpkin Hill, & Ocarina of Time's Shadow Temple are all great examples of levels that break-up the pacing by utilizing horror elements without getting too scary, stopping just short-enough from becoming full survival horror.

A Hat in Time says fuck all that however and crafts a full-fledged one-off survival horror area deliberately meant to scare and shock the player, combining elements of classic RE puzzle solving and key-finding with Amnesia-style hide-and-seek from the area's main oppressor, Queen Vanessa. The atmosphere speaks wonders to the talents at Gears for Breakfast, showing true depth in their level design with a willingness to experiment. The mansion could easily be a section of the Spencer Mansion, with it's wooden floorboards, grand piano, and loads of doors, with the snow outside creating a cold, unwelcoming feeling and darkening the interior halls of the mansion that feel empty, lonely, and devoid of life.

Queen Vanessa ranks up there with the stalker legends of survival horror fame, like Scissorman or even the T-00. Constantly cast in shadow with piercing, glowing red eyes, Queen Vanessa is simple yet terrifying in her design. Her long shadow easily penetrates under doorways and feels oppressing, and her ghostly voice echoes throughout the halls of her mansion. When she happens to spot you, the music swells with stabbing tension and the game is cast in a freezing, light blue glow that seems to represent Vanessa's desolate and isolated world.

The area also takes other cues from survival horror games, including files that detail Vanessa's backstory and the game even makes the player weaker by disallowing them the use of their hats because a contract with the Snatcher. I think it is quite incredible how far this game is willing to go to nail an authentic and classic survival horror experience. Much like how the rest of the game harkens back to 90s platformers like Banjo-Kazooie, the developers also clearly have a lot of love for another huge genre back in the day and it shines through in every aspect of Queen Vanessa's manor.
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If the suspense doesn't kill you, something else will!
http://tinyurl.com/zqwzc9a - https://imgur.com/a/OcdhKKR