Steam review code provided by Ravenscourt
Kona 2: Brume is an adventure-mystery game that falls into the horror-adjacent genre. It is developed by Parabole and published by Ravenscourt. Serving as the sequel to the well-regarded 2016 game Kona, let's take a closer look at how this sequel measures up in comparison.
Gameplay and Story
In Kona 2: Brume, you play as Detective Carl Faubert, tasked with solving the mysteries surrounding the Hamilton Mining Corporation. The game focuses on investigating the perpetual ice storm and strange animal behavior. As a detective like Sherlock Holmes, you must carefully search for clues, take notes, and capture photos in your journal. Consulting your journal can provide helpful insights to solve puzzles throughout the game.
Kona 2: Brume is a horror survival game with fewer jump scares, which is a positive in my opinion. The scarcity of jump scares makes them more surprising and effective. The game excels at creating a stressful atmosphere. You are alone in an icy wasteland, so every little noise keeps you on edge. The geiger counter adds to the tension, serving as a compass that guides you in the right direction with its eerie sound.
The gameplay is familiar - explore the house, search for clues, find a key, unlock doors, and solve puzzles. What I appreciate is that as long as you're thorough, there's no need for backtracking. It's a relief knowing that you won't have to check every room multiple times. The game makes it clear when you need to revisit a room.
There are occasional combat encounters in the game, which is where the jump scares come into play. Sometimes you'll be attacked by real animals or startled by wild spirit animals. The difficulty level you choose determines your reaction time, giving you a few seconds to aim before the attack.
Audio and Visual
As mentioned before, the audio in the game is fantastic. When you're outside in the midst of the snowstorm, all you hear is the rushing wind and your own footsteps. So, when you hear a distant twig crack, you can't help but turn your head in that direction. Inside the buildings, the creaking sounds are so eerie that you start to question if your imagination is playing tricks on you. Every now and then, radios play either regular music or distorted, creepy tunes, and whenever I heard them in the distance, my heart would sink.
The outside environment is almost always engulfed in a blizzard, making it difficult to see much while exploring the wilderness. Coming from California where snow is rare, I was initially in awe of how cool the snow looked. However, after a while, my eyes started to hurt a bit from the brightness. I wouldn't recommend playing this game in complete darkness, as the brightness of the snow when you're outside can be quite intense. Nevertheless, the snowstorm effectively creates an atmosphere where you start to see things that may not actually be there. Countless times, I startled myself, thinking something was approaching me, only to realize it was just a fallen tree branch.
Feedback
I don’t have much feedback for the game since it is very much like a lot of other horror survivals that I love. But what I will say is there is a “quick” inventory select that I didn’t much care for. All of your items are bound on your mouse’s scroller and as you scroll through the items the game is essentially paused. While this is helpful when I need to quickly pull my gun out, it gets quite annoying when I’m trying to switch from my journal to my camera and I can’t do it while walking. I also think that the game not pausing while you fumble through your items would add to the tension of being attacked randomly, it’s your fault you weren’t prepared after all.
Other than that, my only other complaint is the brightness, but it's not really a major issue. I should have just worn my blue light glasses to ease the strain on my eyes. So, make sure you have a pair handy for long gaming sessions, or simply take breaks to avoid any discomfort.
Conclusion
Kona 2: Brume is a fantastic horror and mystery game that creates a subtly scary atmosphere and offers thought-provoking puzzles. If you haven't played the original Kona, I suggest giving it a try before starting this one, but it's still possible to enjoy Brume without prior experience. I highly recommend this game to mystery game enthusiasts, especially during the spooky season.
Kona 2: Brume is available now for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
