The Town of Light

The Town of Light
Developer(s)LKA
Publisher(s)Wired Productions
Platform(s)Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release
  • PC
  • February 26, 2016
  • PS4, Xbox One
  • June 6, 2017[1]
  • Nintendo Switch
  • February 7, 2020
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Town of Light is a psychological horror adventure game developed by LKA and published by Wired Productions. It was released for PC on February 26, 2016[2] and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 6, 2017.[1][3] On February 1, 2018, a Nintendo Switch version was confirmed. This version was released on February 7, 2020.

Plot

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The game is set in a hospital in Tuscany, Italy called the Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra.[4] The player character is a girl named Renée, who was a patient at the hospital in the 1940s.[5] The game begins as Renée enters the now dilapidated asylum to relive her stay there.[6] As the game progresses, it becomes known that Renée was admitted due to promiscuity, depression, and a volatile relationship with her mother. Renée found comfort in her doll, Charlotte.

Renée walks the corridors of the derelict asylum, which triggers flashbacks of both her inpatient stay and circumstances prior. It made abundantly clear that Renée was a victim of sexual abuse[7] within the asylum, perpetrated by a male nurse or doctor. Renée discovers Amara, another patient, and a romance ensues. When the nurses discovered this relationship, they were separated.

Renée finds her old medical files,[8] which imply that Amara did not exist and that they are figments of her imagination. After a thorough investigation in the patient property section, Renée finds Amara's possessions, thus proving her existence and that the medical team falsified some aspects of her mental illness.

A note found by Renée reads that Amara died in 1942. Medical notes found whilst searching the facility imply that Renée was verbally and physically aggressive and often spent time tied to her bed. Renée receives electroconvulsive therapy and multiple sedative injections to ease behavioural symptoms.

Renée discovers that correspondence from her mother does not reach her, and this is also discovered in the patient property section.

After several years of communication censoring by hospital staff, Renée discovers that her mother died and tried to take her own life on multiple occasions. Following this, the game's conclusion shows Renée receiving lobotomy surgery. The story ends with a doctor narrating that the long term recovery for Renée post surgery is unclear.[9][10]

Reception

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On Metacritic, the game has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11]

A three-part series for PC Gamer explains how Lorenzo Conticelli designed the asylum setting for the game.[12][13][14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Town of Light – Release Date Issued". Thumb Culture. May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  2. ^ "Psychological Thriller Town of Light Release Date Confirmed". IGN. October 29, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Town of Light Preview". IGN. May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  4. ^ "The Town Of Light: a unique psychological horror videogame". April 21, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  5. ^ "The Town of Light is a first-person asylum game without jump scares". Eurogamer.net. July 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Hester, Blake (June 7, 2017). "The Town Of Light Review". Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  7. ^ "'The Town of Light' Leverages Reality to Portray Survival Horror". July 4, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Town of Light is a first-person asylum game without jump scares". Eurogamer.net. July 22, 2015.
  9. ^ "The Town of Light review: A grim and unblinking psychological horror". Ars Technica. March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Town of Light is a first-person asylum game without jump scares". Eurogamer. July 22, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  11. ^ "The Town of Light for PC Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Joe Donnelly (April 24, 2017). "The Town of Light talks atmosphere, environments and handling mental health with sensitivity". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  13. ^ Joe Donnelly (May 2, 2017). "The Town of Light on researching its sensitive themes and Volterra asylum setting". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  14. ^ Joe Donnelly (May 8, 2017). "The Town of Light sidesteps jump scares by retelling real life events". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  15. ^ "The Town of Light for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  16. ^ "The Town of Light for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Town of Light for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  18. ^ Hester, Blake (June 7, 2017). "The Town of Light Review". GameSpot. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  19. ^ "Town of Light Review (PS4) | Aces high". Push Square. June 6, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  20. ^ "Town of Light review | Aces high". Eurogamer. February 29, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  21. ^ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (February 25, 2016). "Town of Light review". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  22. ^ Cooke, Caitlin (May 31, 2016). "Review: The Town of Light". Destructoid. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  23. ^ Bell, Alice (June 9, 2017). "The Town of Light review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
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