I recently played several hours of IMMORTALITY and this is the first time I have played a game that I cant compare to another.
While IMMORTALITY has been out on other platforms, it was recently released for PS5 and I was excited to have the opportunity to play this. The aim of the game is to explore footage of three lost movies of an actress, Marissa Marcel. There is no story, in the beginning, it drops you into the game with a single clip, and a few directions of how to "match cut" and organize in the larger visual board.
And that's it.
The rest of the game is exploration how you choose to. Match Cut is when you are watching a clip of one of these movies, and if you see the cursor turn into an eye when you hover over an element, whether its an actor or something like an apple or cross in the background, it takes that item and switches to a new clip from a different movie that has that item in the scene. You can transport from clip to clip by using these common threads and piece together these films which consist of behind the scenes footage, both edited and unedited clips, which show a bit about the characters and the actors who portray them. And the styles of the time period, how the film is shot, is so apparent and I appreciate the attention to these small details that even myself, someone who is amateur film appreciator at best, could recognize.
At first, it seems like a fun matching game and building these full film clips are interesting. But then there are some unsettling elements which tie in to the horror aspect of the game. There were some films which felt a little too real, and in one clip, the main actress was getting held under water, and ended up getting held under a bit too long before the director had to stop the scene for her safety.
This game is very slow to start because there's frankly no direction. Part of the experience, and I will use that term experience as the best way to categorize the game, is taking your own path. I still have a ways to go to uncover the mystery, and even though the story hasn't yet fully been revealed, what is fascinating is the concept and this is enough to drive me to see it through.
The foresight and planning that is required to weave these scenes together is super impressive. It is such an interesting concept and I found myself getting lost down a rabbit hole frequently, which in this case, is a good thing.
I will be returning to IMMORTALITY because I want to see what all the clips I've collected lead to and uncover the mystery about this story. If you are interested in slow burn content and very different gameplay style games, I would definitely check this out. Im sure I will be ranting on the podcast as soon as I finish this, so stay tuned!
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