Bite Sized PC Review - Fears to Fathom (Season 1)

The image is a point of view from an open door of a house with a wooden porch, facing outward onto a suburban street at night. Peeking around the edge of the door is a black silhouette. The text reads ‘an episodic horror’ (in white) and below that, the words ‘Fears To Fathom’ in red.

Read Time:2 Minute, 36 Second

I’ve been following the Fears to Fathom games for a while, and so here are my thoughts on season 1. The games are a collection of stories from various people and then changed into a horror game thanks to the developer Rayll.

Pick your poison of fear.

Each episode takes place in a different location and aims to bring your genuine fears to life. You can find all the episodes on Steam, which I’ll list below with a link and their prices. Here’s the list:

EP1: Home Alone – Free To Play
EP2: Norwood Hitchhike – £4.29
EP3: Carson House – £4.29
EP4: Ironbark Lookout – £8.50
EP5: Woodbury Getaway – £8.50

Player is sat in a van with the dash board lit up. In the distance is a tower which seems to have two windows lit up. A camper fan can be seen parked to the right. — Sometimes you got to love late night drives.

Gameplay

You’ll usually play from the perspective of who originally experienced the events. With each game giving you the actual story beforehand for the setup. We’re then thrown into the game with the character saying what they must do, such as “I then needed to lock the back door”. In earlier episodes, there aren’t many interactive objects, but later on, we do get a fun amount. Like a computer in episode three and fishing in episode five.

In certain points in Fears to Fathom’s stories, the player’s microphone can get them in trouble and alert the threat. So don’t make too much noise, or don’t have it plugged in like I usually do. When talking to NPC, you get the chance to pick a response. This doesn’t do much for the game.

A male silhouette at a door, it seems to be snowing outside. Text in white reads: "C to Stand Up" The letter C is in brackets Text in yellow reads: "the realization that someone was outside this late at night was horrific" — We’re closed!

Longevity

Each Fears to Fathom episode’s playtime is different and doesn’t take long, with the fifth one being about two hours. Usually there are some small side tasks you can do for an achievement to offer a little replay time. The ending on some can also be a little tricky to get.

The player is in a store speaking to two boys. One is wearing a red shirt looking at the boy on the right. The boy wearing a green shirt is talking directly to the player. besides the boys are shelves filled with various cearels. Boy in creen says "Anyways dude what are you up to tonight?" There are three response in yellow to select with a white square over the currently hightlighted choice. in order the choices say Option one - Nothing Option two - Just chilling Option three - House sitting for this guy Carson tonight. — “What you doing tonight? …Chillin’…killin’…” – (Scary Movie)

Final Thoughts

I thought I’d review Fears to Fathom in its entirety because each episode is more based on your preference. But I love how the dev takes stories from the community and brings them to life for a wider audience to enjoy. Some are better than others, with episode one being the weakest. My favourite episode was Carson’s House, where we house-sat for our dad’s friend. It felt more eerie than the other episodes, and the twist got me. With each episode, you’re able to see the improvements that Rayll has made over time. I’m going to be looking forward to season 2.

I’d highly suggest checking these out. That’s why I’ll give it the Thumb Culture Golden Award. The first two episodes are hit or miss for me, which lowers the rating.

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

About Author

Kyle McGrath

I’ve enjoyed video games for as long as I remember and I don’t think there isn’t a game I wouldn’t play. For reviews, I try my best to make them simple and easy to understand. With so many games released daily, I attempt to play them all.

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Bite Sized PC Review – Fears to Fathom (Season 1)