Chasing Static

I'm honestly extremely impressed with Chasing Static. I'm pretty sure I grabbed this during a random sale after finding the premise pretty intriguing. At it's core it is a walking simulator with horror elements, but it works really well and I didn't find any part boring or tedious. You are also not stuck walking at a snails pace!!! You can sprint in this.
I personally found the story really interesting and quickly became invested in what was going on. The mechanic of using a device to find echoes of the past to reveal more of the story felt pretty fresh.
Audio wise, the game had great music, good voice acting and solid environmental sound. Graphics wise, the game looked great! It's not got AAA graphics or anything, but it's a charming art style that I really liked.
I also loved the little nods to other classic horror games like RE and SH2, and found that to be a really nice touch.
The game is quite short and can be beaten in around 2 hours (my current playtime was going AFK for much longer than expected) I find it well paced though and think two hours works perfectly for something like this. It doesn't overstay it's welcome or keep repeating the same story beats over and over for extended playtime.
There are multiple endings which means there's some replayability to get those two.
If you're looking for a short little horror title, Chasing Static is a great one to pick up.

Chasing Static is a good horror game for those seeking a casual experience. I picked it up in anticipation of Hollow Body and I haven't been disappointed. There isn't any real combat and no way to "die" other than a secret ending. There are several ending outcomes leaving you with some replay value for an otherwise short game. If you know exactly what you're doing you can finish Chasing Static in around an hour or less. Chasing Static has some collectible related achievements and it can provide some fun for fans of horror games, walking sims, and achievement hunting. It's short but fun and worth picking up. I'd give Chasing Static a 3/5.

very interesting game .. parts of it don't really work for me, but a lot of it does. having trouble putting more words together for it yet.

TL; DR Chasing Static is the only walking simulator I have actually finished, so either it does something right, or it does something very wrong, nevertheless, I enjoyed my time with it, primarily due of its soundscape, so I will recommend it.
Chris just lost his father, but he is not too bothered about it because they were not close, I wonder why, however, his dad did leave something behind… a book containing a bit of a confession, so in the end he did have many regrets, but not, the institute, whatever that is.
There are only so many things that can be said about a walking simulator before you start spoiling the entire experience, so I will keep things concise. I enjoyed Chasing Static, it sets up and builds on its mysteries in a good way to create a short but gloomy story. It is never scary, but it has atmosphere and tension, and that is often just as good, to me.
While this is due in part to some competent, and quite interesting writing—the opening monologue in particular—it is mostly thanks to the sound, the incessant drizzling rain, the muffled spectral voices, the um, static, and more!
It was the soundscape that immersed me, that together with the, and I think it is fair to say, retro-graphics puts you in a state of mind that the game can play off of, I found it easy to see myself in his shoes in those abandoned Welsh woods, though, as stated, it is not scary, but it did manage to produce some chilling moments. These moments only gave me chills because of the immersion, and that is a testament to the quality of the presentation.
On a similar note, there is the voice acting, again, the writing is quite competent on its own, and the same can be said for the voicework, however, there is a lack of gravitas, they can pull off the casual conversation convincingly, but when they fear for their lives, I do not really buy it.
So, take Chris, honestly pretty great voice acting work, but not when he is supposed to be distressed, I can feel the conflicted emotions when he talks about his father, but not when he is trapped alone out in the woods, sure, there is the attempt, but it is not convincing and that is a bit of a problem. Luckily a lot of dialogue is unaffected by this issue, but unfortunately a large portion is affected, not just Chris but also a lot of the echoes you find scattered throughout.
Since the puzzles are mostly bringing item A to place B there is not much else to talk about, so to close I will say that the main menu is very cool, the looping clips looks like found footage and is evocative of some sort of ARG, that makes a good first impression and helps put you in the correct mood, ready to enjoy a short story.

solid horror experience with really good writing and atmosphere. it really has only one main issue, which is that it's sometimes frustratingly vague about where you need to go in order to progress the story. i had no idea there was even a fast-travel system because i saved the area that teaches you this for last (which would've saved me a lot of tediousness while replaying for completion).
i wish there were some more hints besides chasing the titular static, but outside of that it's definitely worth a try.

Is this the Dark Souls of narrative adventure games?
It isn't that extreme, but there is an inscrutability to this game that you may or may not find appealing. I am someone that usually prefers to have a game hold my hand a bit. I like a quest log and a map and an objective marker. You will find nothing of the sort here in Chasing Static, and that is completely on purpose; you really can tackle your tasks in any order that you would like, and there are several places to get key items. That is an interesting level of freedom, and I understand why the game would forego conveniences like objective markers in order to encourage the player to find their own path.
Once you get your bearings and grasp what it is that you are supposed to be doing, and once you start to learn the landscape and stop getting lost in the sprawling wilderness, this game really turns into something special. I have enormous admiration for games that can feel spooky and unnerving without having to resort to putting the player in mortal danger. As far as I can tell, there is no fail state in this game; nothing is ever going to get you and make you reload your save. And yet it is extremely creepy, atmospheric, and mysterious.
There is a surprising amount of depth here; when I finished the game and got what I thought to be a pretty satisfying ending, I was surprised to find out that not only are there other endings but there are entire mechanics to the game that I never engaged with. I am not exactly eager to dive right back in from the start right away to see what I missed, but it is nice to know that there is a lot more here than meets the eye.
An inscrutable game that does not hold your hand and possesses many secrets for the industrious player. Maybe this is the Dark Souls of narrative adventures / walking sims!

Chasing Static is a standout title and a must play for lovers of horror, narrative and puzzle games.
It's basically a survival horror game, but with less combat and more storytelling + puzzle solving.
The visual and audio design are top notch - rich with dark atmosphere and environmental storytelling. The voice acting and story are both well above average for horror games as well.
Overall, it's an extremely polished and compelling game - there are several secrets and alternate endings to discover too!
(edit: ignore the "1 hour" playtime on this review, it took me more like 3-4 but Steam didn't log them for some reason)