Italian UFO, The Town of Light is a descent into hell as we rarely see. We had missed out as its (re)release was very discreet on Nintendo Switch in February 2020. It seems necessary to speak of an imperfect work that deserves special attention… Especially since you will not come out unscathed! Italy, mid-twentieth century. Renée, 16, is interned at the Volterra psychiatric hospital in Tuscany… The player will discover the remains of this hospital in search of the girl's memories. Let the madness begin…
It's crazy what you can tell in a walking simulator!
The Town of Light is neither really a survival game nor even a horror game despite the oppressive atmosphere in which the player is immersed until the end. The Town of Light could be defined simply by a first-person simulation of urbex. Do not expect any enemies on your way or even the slightest jump-scare. You will be alone throughout the different chapters, confronted with your memories and your painful loneliness in this hospital that delivers increasingly terrifying secrets bordering on trauma. What happened to Renee when she was interned when she was only sixteen years old? This is the main objective of The Town of Light which is terribly captivating despite its short lifespan (barely four hours!) and its overall lack of ancillary content. As a creepy "walking simulator", don't expect much diversity in gameplay. Three keys will be used throughout your trip. Observe an element of the scenery, turn on a flashlight, review all your collectibles and your progress in the adventure. These are the only gameplay possibilities offered by the game. To discover the truth and delve into new memories, you have to snoop around every nook and cranny of the hospital, pick up the documents, complete Renee's journal, and head to the next goal. 
Journey to the end of madness
Before diving into this game for the first time, you must absolutely be on guard. LKA's work is not innocent and deals with mental illness in a very realistic way. The atmosphere is dangerously heavy and it must be recognized that the Unity engine does not help things. The game doesn't boast of being the most beautiful game in the world but the animation sequences acting as cutscenes and the depressing staging will make you really uncomfortable. It must be said that the game deals with very sensitive subjects on the mistreatment suffered by patients, sometimes arrived here by chance because society no longer knew what to do with their case. In the hospital, you will witness many things: physical and psychological abuse, abuse of all kinds, deprivation, suffering… Everything can very quickly become very unbearable like this appalling finale that will remain in the memories of those who could not escape these painful images… The sorrow, the pity, the discomfort, the despair, the shock… These are the emotions that will accompany you throughout this journey in the memories of the young Renée… 
Nothing will be easy in The Town of Light…
However, the game will not be easy either in relation to its mechanics: many round trips, subtitles too small, the impossibility of running, the slow pace and some graphical bugs, etc. All of this can make the experience very redundant and frankly very boring. The player can get lost, miss information. He can go around in circles, not immediately understand a goal to move forward to the next chapter… The game refuses to reach out to you. You are alone, confronted with yourself in this sinister hospital. This is probably voluntary on the part of the developers to fully plunge the player into madness, but it risks losing it in many ways. And, let's be honest, it would be a shame to give up especially since the game ends quickly… To discover The Town of Light as one would discover an Outlast or an Amnesia would be a fatal mistake! The Town of Light is a real descent into emotional hell from which none of the players could come out indifferent… Provided that he was not too bored in this gigantic urbex…
The Town of Light trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5j5qPjEWqQ
