Luto Review – The Spirit Of P.T. Lives On In This Unpredictable Ghost Story

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Following the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills project, which left only the free demo game P.T. associated with Konami’s revival initiative, numerous games mimicking the style of P.T. emerged. This trend has continued for years and persists today. Many creators were inspired by P.T., but frequently drew the wrong conclusions from the iconic playable teaser. At first sight, Luto appears to be another attempt at emulating P.T., but it quickly distinguishes itself as an exceptionally unpredictable and unusual horror tale.

In the game Luto, you assume the role of a character named Sam who finds himself trapped both emotionally and physically in a continuous cycle. Each day begins with discovering a shattered bathroom mirror, followed by Sam’s exit from an L-shaped hallway filled with locked doors, a descent down stairs, and an eventual exit through the front door. The pattern repeats daily, but Luto manages to differentiate itself from Kojima’s initial concept by exploring and developing this central idea in imaginative and often awe-inspiring ways.

A while back, I sampled a preview of Luto that had no narrator. Recently, I discovered there’s now a narrator in this horror tale, and it struck me as unusual because it made the game feel more like The Stanley Parable. The cheerful, yet almost grating British voice adds an ironic twist, especially when the narrator seems to anticipate my actions with remarkable insight and foresight. Initially, I disliked this new feature in the game. The once unsettling sounds of footsteps echoing in the empty house were overshadowed by a narrator who seemed to be explaining the story too explicitly. It felt like they undermined the tense ambiance with unnecessary chatter.

However, the addition of this narrator swiftly proves its worth, contributing significantly to the game’s unique blend of narrative styles that are both crucial and captivating. As Sam’s cycle starts to disintegrate, the narrator assumes a distinct form – one I won’t reveal here – transforming the game into something far beyond a repetitive corridor, effectively dispelling numerous comparisons to P.T.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that many games trying to emulate P.T. often stick to the conventional haunted house narrative, but what makes Luto shine is its embrace of the bizarre and unusual – traits that P.T. was renowned for. Luto isn’t afraid to dabble in various genres, visual styles, and atmospheres. At times, it communicates with me in ways that are puzzling, but by the end of the game, the story usually falls into place.

Investigating Sam’s unique, non-Euclidean dwelling leads to alterations in the game’s graphic design, frequent camera antics, and an extraordinary scene showcasing George A. Romero’s groundbreaking zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. The game explicitly informs you that it won’t offer rewards for watching the entire movie. Spaces transition from hallways to desert caverns, safe zones crumble like flawed coding within the game, inviting you, the player, to engage in a way that could leave you questioning what’s planned and what might be a genuine glitch. Fortunately, the game doesn’t appear to have many bugs, and all the unusual or glitchy aspects I encountered on PC were intentional. Despite my comparisons to P.T., the approximately six hours of gameplay offered is more akin to Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves – an innovative exploration of form that’s challenging to describe without spoiling it. The game also pays homage to Hideo Kojima, with a scene so captivating, similar to Psycho Mantis, that I had to pause and share it with my boss. For a debut game from a small indie studio, Luto takes significant risks.

Although it constantly changes its appearance, some of its aspects are less captivating. Perplexing riddles, similar to those found in a traditional Resident Evil game, occasionally require an extraordinary ability to notice details. My main issue with the game is these riddles, which at times caused me to pause for so long that exciting moments turned into frustrating ones. I remember one early puzzle where I needed to find a key while someone (or something) pounded on Sam’s front door. The reverberations in the room with high ceilings were initially intimidating, but after spending 5 to 10 minutes trying to solve its riddle, they merely served as background noise to my growing annoyance. Eventually, I realized that they wouldn’t break down the door, so the sound effect gradually lost its impact over several minutes.

Fortunately, Luto’s initial puzzles were so challenging that they pushed me into a creative mindset, making later puzzles seem simpler once I learned the game’s logic. When Luto tasked me with solving for a phone numbera puzzle made more complex by its shape-shifting during a review period when a pre-patch was releasedI eventually realized I had to use all my inventory items to figure out the missing numbers. Since the game usually operates within confined areas, it was useful to know I had already explored every nook and cranny, meaning the solution was likely close at hand, perhaps even in my pockets.

In essence, Luto mainly focuses on its themes and final message instead of being frightening after the initial tense scenes. Similar to many horror-adventure games, it appears that most of what you experience in terms of fear is predetermined. The game seems to lack any combat or stealth features, so when you come across the house’s wandering spirits, they can be compared to a haunted hayride – they might startle you, but once you understand that they won’t actually catch or harm you, it becomes challenging to maintain suspense of disbelief. However, the game manages to create a chilling atmosphere even with this knowledge, so while I’m not scared, I am drawn into the experience.

As a gamer, let me tell you, Luto lays it all on the line in its final act, and for a good reason. The closing third of this game is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, whether horror or not. At times, the game gets so engrossed in metaphors that it can be disorienting to follow along, which somewhat muddies its overall message. Nevertheless, after completing the game, I felt like I had played something unique and on track to become a cult classic. A game like Luto is hard to applaud in depth because so much of what it does exceptionally well should be experienced firsthand. I’ve attempted to skirt around the game’s most remarkable features, and I hope it’s evident that there are issues with the game as well. Some players might walk away from Luto puzzled, questioning its meaning, and some of that confusion is undoubtedly due to the game itself.

For avid horror enthusiasts, I fervently encourage fellow fans to persevere through the challenging puzzles and intricate narrative of this game, in order to appreciate its many captivating aspects which are truly unforgettable. Given that it’s Broken Bird Games’ inaugural project, I’m eagerly anticipating what this talented team will create next. It’s intriguing to ponder what P.T., had it been fully developed, might have resembled. Luto, in my opinion, could have been a potential match for such a game. Alas, we can only speculate about its possible likeness, but Luto certainly embodies the essence of an imaginative horror masterpiece that P.T. might have become.

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2025-07-24 20:09