Simulacra

Simulacra
I am you, and you are I! We will never be separated!
Protagonist(s): Player Genre(s): Horror Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Android iOS PlayStation 4 Xbox One Switch Release: October 26th, 2017 Developer(s): Kaigan Games Publisher(s): Kaigan Games Country: South East Asia Series: Simulacra Predecessor: Sara is Missing (by release date) Successor: Simulacra: Pipe Dreams (by release date) Simulacra 2

Simulacra is a 2017 lost phone horror game developed and published by Kaigan Games, the developers of Sara is Missing. The game is considered an expanded version of the 2016 horror game Sara is Missing.

Why It Rocks

1. The concept of a game where you find a lost phone and you must find the person who lost said phone is great. Sure, Sara is Missing already did this concept, but Simulacra actually expanded it and made it more interesting and darker, making it a very enjoyable experience.
   1. The game also abandons any cliches from the typical "missing person" plot and make it very original, making it very refreshing.
2. Good story about a person finding a phone of a lost person who had various issues (such as troubled relationship and awful work) and must search for it. Rather than being a flat plot, the game acutally has a lot of backstory and exposition
3. Lot of great characters with deep personalities and backstories, especially James Aulner.
4. Decent character development for characters like Greg.
5. There are multiple choices and unlike other games, these choices actually do matter and are even crucial to certain endings.
6. There are 4 endings, and all of them are well done.
7. Tons of replay value due to the game having various endings, secrets, easter eggs and so on that give tons of world building. There's even an easter egg that references Iris from Sara is Missing. A new update on mobile added a new mode that is basically New Game Plus but faster, and it's a perfect choice for story veterans.
8. Even though the jumpscares are cheap and stop losing their scare factor after playing, the atmosphere is pretty good for the most part, depending on where you play. In fact, the game highly suggests you to play with headphones to have a scarier experience, as you will hear different sound cues throughout the entire playthrough.
9. Most of the apps are pretty good and realistically capture the apps they're based on, like Spark (which is based on Tinder), and Jabbr (based on Twitter). Speaking of Jabbr, you can even make comments and put a heart in several posts.
10. The game does a pretty good job explaining the problems with society and the usage of smartphones.

Bad Qualities

1. The console versions are unnecessary, as they don't feel the same as playing it on an actual phone.
2. Bad voice acting for the audio messages that often feels scripted and fake. The regular acting for the videos aren't much better. Anna has better acting than the rest of the characters but is still mediocre.
3. The Save both Anna and Taylor ending, while good, feels anticlimatic. Yes, Anna and Taylor are saved from the SIMULACRA, but unfortunately, the same can't be said about the player.
4. Some characters, while still good, are pretty flawed or are not fleshed out enough.
   1. Greg comes off a pretty rude to the player, and while it's understandable, since he tries way too hard to find Anna, he's also very harsh and sometimes even insults the player.
   2. Taylor, while sympathetic and helpful, when he was introduced in the game, he didn't really take the fact that Anna went missing very seriously.

Reception

The game received very positive reviews from critics and audiences. The game has a 82/100 critic score and a 8.0 user score on Metacritic. The game was highly praised for the concept, story, replay value and characters, although the acting (as well the voice acting) was criticized.

Trivia

• When you put the name of a popular YouTuber once the phone is restored, like Markiplier and jacksepticeye, the game will instead use their real names.

Game Tips

• To have a better experience, you must play the game with your headphones, as well alone (like your house).
• Here are different tips to get the "Save both Anna and Taylor": First, you must lie to Ashley, making her believe you're Anna throughout the entire game, so that she can send a photo of herself before the finale. Second, you must side with Taylor throughout the entire game to gain his trust. And then, when you create a Spark account, you must create it pretending to be Ashley (use her image, use her name and other stuff). Then when Simulacra asks you to choose who to save, say that you want to save them both and he will tell you that you must tell Taylor to go to Anna to spare them both.

Comments

Loading comments...