The original Layers of Fear was fairly well received by both critics and players alike. The focus on environmental exploration peppered with jump-scares is such a signature element of modern indie horror titles that people may have become immune to it by now. The atmosphere and the concept of you exploring an ever-changing world via paintings drew people in to the title. It would seem like following that formula with a focus on a different medium would be good enough for Layers of Fear 2, but the developers should be praised for trying to add something new. Unfortunately, that new mechanic doesn't work as well, so the rest of the game falters as a result.

The story starts off on an ocean liner set out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As a famous actor, you've been persuaded by a director to star in his next film that's completely taking place on this boat. As you would expect, not everything is what it seems, and soon, you can't tell if everything you're seeing is part of the film or something else entirely.

The story is good, but compared to the original title, it's a bit harder to get into. Part of that is due to the fact that your character never speaks, except for some lines repeated from some of your earlier works. Even then, that only occurs when you encounter the posters of films that you were part of, so nothing is spoken in relation to what's actually happening at that moment. Another factor in the story's disengagement is that the only voices you hear in the game come from flashbacks between an older sister and younger brother, as well as the ramblings of the director who hired you. For the former, it starts off with the duo pretending they're on a pirate adventure, but your progress in the game reveals much more behind that. For the latter, the gravelly voice of Tony Todd of Candyman fame can be creepy, but his lines go between philosophical and confusing.

If you're familiar with the first game, then you know that the crux is going to revolve around exploration. Most of your time is spent walking around the ship, looking at every scrap of paper and object that's not nailed down. Some of the things you see will be curiosities with no importance, while others trigger events, like the unlocking of a door or a flashback of people talking. Puzzles are present, but most of the solutions are easily laid out for you or the keys will be right next to the door that it'll open. Some puzzles are tough to solve, but they're few and far between.

The exploration come with two signature aspects. The first is that any interactions with the environment aren't done with a simple button press. Instead, the game requires you to hold down a button to get the highlighted object into an interactive state and then use your right analog stick or mouse (depending on your preferred control scheme) to mimic the action you want to perform. Opening a door, for example, means either pushing it forward or pulling it back. The same goes for levers, doors that rely on sliding motions, or wheels that need spinning. It seems novel at first, but as you progress in the game, it begins to feel intuitive.

The second aspect has to do with the ever-changing layout of each room. Traveling to a new room often causes the previous room to get locked, so while there is constant pressure to move forward, you miss the chance to go back and pick up collectibles. Reaching dead ends or finding objects can sometimes cause new doors to appear. Turning around will suddenly produce a wall where a hallway used to be. This brings about a sense of confusion that was also present in the first title, and even though the effect is repeated here, it retains a cool factor that few other games try to use.

The one disappointment is that Layers of Fear 2 is too reliant on jump-scares. The first game did a good job of mixing in traditional frights with a sense of unease as you went through each room and kept looking at each painting. Here, the reliance on movies is better since more people are familiar with films than art, but their presence is more referential than troubling. You'll find it pretty cool to see the twins from The Shining appear down a hallway, but the game does nothing with it to amplify the horror aspect.

A new addition is the presence of a malformed spirit as your antagonist. There are moments when you'll encounter what looks like the spirit of a shambling mannequin, and like many horror villains, if they catch up to you, it means immediate death. Without any means of defending yourself, you must run away and look for ways to barricade yourself in a room in the hopes that the malevolent spirit will pass. Couple your decent run speed with the ever-changing environments, and these chase sequences can be rather terrifying, even if you've experienced the same thing, limitations and all, in other modern horror titles.

The presence of a specter isn't likely to quell the debate brought up by the first game's lack of an adversary, so those loving this addition will be met with an equal amount of people who hate it. What will even annoy the supporters is how the game's mechanics for interaction make the chase sequences feel clunkier. The manual actions of opening and closing doors or activating switches can add to the tension of the chase, but the increased accuracy needed to get the trigger point activated can feel unnecessary. For a game that supports both keyboard and mouse and controllers, it feels like those using the latter will have a tougher time with these sequences compared to the former, something that shouldn't occur in a game that isn't a twitch shooter.

As in the prior title, Layers of Fear 2 contains multiple endings, and the key to getting any of them is tied to actions taken throughout the game rather than one specific part. That was tolerable when the game was shorter, but with the sequel being quite lengthy in comparison, it can be annoying to play again to see that second or third conclusion. Luckily, the New Game+ mode allows you to replay the story but with all of the previously gathered items in tow. Even if you still have to play everything again, at least you can do so knowing that every collectible you run into will be something new rather than something that you've previously collected.

The presentation remains strong in some areas but weak in others. Graphically, the environments look gorgeous, with lighting effects playing a big part in making the gorgeous parts of the ship shine and the decrepit parts look more decayed than expected. The change from black and white to color in some parts may not be smooth, and the constant flashing of lights in some parts can be an annoyance, but it looks quite nice overall. Meanwhile, the sound effects and scant use of music does wonders in ratcheting up the level of suspense, with the brief appearances of the score punctuating the arrival of something bad. As mentioned before, the director's gravelly voice may not fit what you expect from someone with that job title, but Tony's voice certainly adds to the constant sense of dread, while the voices of the two kids sound fine but pale in comparison to some recent efforts in terms of emotion and believability, like what was seen in A Plague Tale: Innocence.

The story in Layers of Fear 2 is decent, even if you can see the narrative twist coming, but you need to sit down and analyze the pieces for it to really come together. The same tricks used in the original to distort the environment still work here, as do the jump-scares despite their predictability over time. The longer playtime robs the title of the crispness of its predecessor, while the element of an active pursuer doesn't mix well with the game's need for more involved door and switch mechanics and the precision needed to activate those action spots. It's still worth checking out for fans — but sometime later, as opposed to immediately.

Score: 6.5/10