When I stepped into the unsettling puzzle world of Exit 8, I don’t think I was prepared for how things would play out, even though I was fully versed in the premise. A jaunt through the liminal space of Japan’s underground station tunnels, the eerie concept combined with some truly absurd moments made for a fantastic atmosphere. While the game was nowhere near long enough for my tastes, I had a fun, if odd, time discovering all the ins and outs and bizarre happenings that could occur. To my delight, the development team of Kotake Create has decided to revisit the experience and, after some time as a PC exclusive, now brings Platform 8 to consoles.

The name, Platform 8, indicates that we are now trying to get off a train instead of find our way out of the train station. However, we spend less time trying to disembark the moving train, but rather move our way through the cars of the train towards the front. Previously, players were tasked with merely confirming if there was something weird happening in the tunnel and, if that was the case, you turn around and head back from where you came. The approach this time is always needing to move forward, with our progress occasionally being stymied by certain factors that prevent the door from opening into the next car. 

Every time we transition between train cars, something changes, and it’s up to the player to be aware of what. Some things may be very obvious, like the car suddenly being pitch black, or slowly filling up with water. Some, much like Exit 8, are very subtle and require the player to slow down and really examine the environment around them. Instead of simply observing anomalies, you now have the option to interact with them which is a very broad concept until you see it in action. The A button basically confirms that you are aware of the irregularity in front of you, and thus you can progress. There are also puzzles now, which present themselves in different, unclear ways on how to solve them.

I applaud Kotake Create for several of the choices made in this sequel. For one, the graphical fidelity and style of environment feels like a perfect connection to the previous game. Even though the location is totally different, the details in the signs, the walls and even the errant people who occupy the train (specifically the one dude who is always there) is very much a strong extension of how this all started. For obvious reasons, this game series ends up being a duology, as the physical edition lets players know. But still, I wonder if there’s a chance that 8 Chome (basically 8 Street) could be the cap on an odd trilogy?

Additionally, Platform 8 plays off of the strengths of what this sort of game could mean. As I said before, the subtle puzzles are the ones that slow you down most, like trying to find the one poster that isn’t quite right, or how to understand a cryptic message on the floor of the train. Then again, on the other hand, the sudden appearance of bloody handprints on the walls or the doors and windows all shattering let you know that Japanese poltergeists are far from coy when they want to be. I never had that “OH NO” moment like when I was suddenly being chased in Exit 8, but I always had a tremor of “What’s next?” with immense trepidation. You never quite knew what to expect, and I appreciated that.

Platform 8 also understands the brevity of its predecessor and attempts to build on that in a big way. After you are able to conquer the “story mode” of getting off the train successfully, you then are thrown into a progression of anomalies that show the gamemaker’s skill at crafting new approaches to the puzzle formula. The anomalies take all sorts of forms, but also suffer from a randomized factor in order to keep it interesting. Naturally, to keep the game from being too straightforward, the way that the high strangeness encounters happen are shuffled, and you won’t encounter the same mutation if you happen to fail one (that is to say, Anomaly 15 is different every time). But there’s a world of difference between “figure out how not to get murdered by a little girl” and “the lights look different.”

There’s also a wild imbalance from the anomalies’ difficulty in terms of understanding. Some have the clues written on the floor of the car, but you may not even have a chance to see them until you die. There’s one particular event where you have to navigate through the car in near darkness and find the correct way out, which is fraught with aggressive ghosts. Others are merely the world looking strange in some way but not necessarily impeding your walk, a totally different effect than all the anomalies of Exit 8. Interesting to behold but not really of the same caliber of problem solving. My final anomaly on my first playthrough was simply a red light, and I couldn’t tell anything else that was happening. A bit of an anticlimactic finish.

Having said that, Platform 8 is a fantastic follow-up title and honestly a bit more interesting in terms of execution. I liked the environmental interaction of being able to sit on the seats of the train, something that’s viewed as a luxury during rush hour on any given day.

Also, I appreciated that the electric signs of the car would give you clues on occasion, forcing you not to simply sprint through the game without observing your world. I like that every button except one is the run button because we all want to hold our controllers differently when sprinting from the creeps. Last but not least, I like that we finally took advantage of the sounds of the station to make for more ambience while still refusing to have a soundtrack. It’s a choice I continue to admire and am glad it works so well here, because THERE’S NO MUSIC ON THE TRAIN.

Once again, this is short, sweet and sometimes subtle, but Platform 8 delivers on all fronts what a follow-up game could be. Players who have come from Exit 8 may discover a bit of an easter egg towards the end, so be sure to stay locked in and accomplish everything in this well crafted, oddball world. If and when there is a third game, I’ll be there. If there’s a VR version, I’ll absolutely jump on it. And if this makes you feel deeply unsettled, don’t worry: this is definitely not as creepy as the late trains can get on Saturday nights.

 

Graphics: 7.5 A lot of the same from the previous game, but this time on the train instead of in the train station. Human sprites are identical. Good use of some environmental effects like swinging hand holds or the thrum of the train, but nothing that is a massive step above the first. Just a nice follow-up, visually.	Gameplay: 8.0 Significantly more engagement factors help to give a level of complexity to Platform 8 that you didn’t get in Exit 8. Some of the approaches don’t always make sense, and players might feel frustrated trying to gauge what to do from scene to scene, but it works out well after just a single attempt. Nothing groundbreaking, but a good continuation.
Sound: 7.0 In spite of some added ambience, the lack of sound really makes the deafening quiet pop in a big way. Really unhappy with one anomaly where someone was frantically pounding on the glass and asking for help. I mean, unhappy because it was upsetting, but still well done.	Fun Factor: 9.0 It was such a treat to return to this world and this style of game, and I’m thrilled that Platform 8 delivers more, in a better style, and in greater effect. The devs should be incredibly proud of putting together something so memorable from the roots of what could have really been a single shot, and now the duology is complete.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Platform 8 is available now on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Platform 8 was provided by the publisher.