Conarium
Conarium is a chilling Lovecraftian game that follows the gripping story of four scientists and their endeavour to challenge what we normally consider to be the "absolute" limits of nature. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness, but largely set after the original story. You, as Frank Gilman, open your eyes inside a room filled with strange, pulsating noises. Patterns of lights executing a Danse Macabre on the walls is presented by a queer device on the table. Having recalled nothing other than that you’re in Upuaut, an Antarctic base located near the South Pole, you find the place deserted and have a distinct feeling of something being terribly wrong. Somehow knowing that your memories cannot guide you enforces a strange feeling of vulnerability, a familiar yet alien sensation of being a part of a peculiar whole…
Steam User 5
The game may tell you it's based on Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", but the game lies. While that may have inspired its setting and scenery on the surface, the core themes here drawn a near exact parallel to "From Beyond", with influences from "Shadow Out of Time" and "Whisperer in Darkness", as well as several other HPL works.
I've spent more time theory crafting and trying to unriddle this game by cross referencing with Lovecraft's work and other Mythos entries than actually playing, because this game will dump a massive pile of immensely interesting leads and questions on you but answer almost none of them. Near the end of the game you'll be told some answers, but again, the game lies. Don't trust anything to be what it looks like on the surface.
And just when you think you're about to finally get some answers, the game just ends and leaves you with your trousers around your ankles and balls bluer than neptune. And if you're anything like me, that's where the madness begins. First, you go back to take a closer look at some things, search for anything you missed, review the clues again. Then you dig through Lovecraft's work again and again, looking for something, anything, that lets you draw a parallel. You may think you have a working theory that ties it all together in a satisfying way, and then you find a new question still left unanswered and start all over again. This game has pushed me to the brink of insanity, I can't stop thinking about it, and I only spent 5 hours actually playing it.
Why are we jumping back and forth through time and space?
What is that thing that keeps trying to kill you, and why?
What does the black cat mean?
Which parts were real, and which were imagined?
Where are the other researchers?
Who is the man in the mirror?
Who or what do all of these different statures represent?
And just what the hell is up with the talking head?
I have transcended my pineal prison, opened my third eye, and wander through superimposed dimensions as a fragment fixed in neither space nor time, my obsolete brain now used by another. The black man with the lotus flower held my hand in my dreams, and now ascended beyond the need for sleep, stalks me on feline paws, betrayed by his own shadow. The one who would deny me the freedom to see the vistas, keep shut the gate beyond, draws ever closer, but my companion simply watches, laughing, taunting. A mind cannot survive without a body, not a human mind. But I am a survivor, and if my humanity is the only price, then I will travel stars forever more. OPEN TO ME THE PATHWAYS, YOG-SOTHOTH, AND I WILL TRAVEL THROUGH YOU!
Steam User 2
Honesty,I didnt really dig the game, but I like these types of games so im having a hard time giving it a thumbs down since it wasnt awful and I was able to stick with it till the end. Id recommend waiting for it to go on sale. I bought it dirt cheap.
Steam User 2
It's basically a horror Myst-like game focusing on exploration and puzzle solving. The chase sequences were unnecessary but I liked everything else.
Steam User 2
Very cool game. Overall about a 8.6! Got foggy in a couple of places but no negative review here!
I loved the Submarine sequence and the game similarity to Subnautica specifically to graphical reference to "Blue Crystals" (no value) but same visual. Glad there was "2" endings though not really tying up all the lose ends necessarily. But for anyone who has ever read H.P. Lovecraft, It was a trip! Thanks.
Steam User 3
Summary:
C+ effort. Just over the line for me to give a recommendation, mostly for the art and atmosphere.
Positives:
- Enjoyably atmospheric Lovecraftian walking simulator + puzzles + a few sections where you have to evade enemies. The more alien the environment, the better the game was.
- Overall, relatively respectful of the Cthulhu Mythos.
- Good art (did a surprisingly good job with the Elder Thing friezes described in AtMoM!).
- Good sound design, serviceable soundtrack.
- Voice actors did as well as they could with the dialog (see below), though the attempted mid-Atlantic accents tended to wander back and forth between Portsmouth and Boston.
Negatives:
- Short (3-5 hrs).
- Puzzles and interaction cues were sometimes opaque.
- I thought the worst aspect was the immersion-shattering level of technological anachronism in all of the more human-occupied areas. Did you know that dot-matrix printers, walkie-talkies, stereo tape recorders, and wax-cylinder phonographs were all in simultaneous use in 1948? I sure didn't! The inside of the submarine looked like something out of Jules Verne with its quilted red upholstery, not like the product of a post-WWII Antarctic expedition.
- The English dialog was often awkward and stilted, with grammatical errors that seemed, perhaps, due to an ESL writer. Should have had a native English speaker look it over for them to remove odd constructions.
- Finally, something unfortunately uncommon with Lovecraftian games, the resolution of the plot is rather unsatisfying. I thought that the way your vision breaks up from time to time, and certain other hints, were meant to suggest a much stranger "real" status of the viewpoint character.
Steam User 3
if im dreaming then why does it hurt so much?
have you ever had a dream where you were in pain or felt death?
perhaps you enjoyed those toilet dreams but in waking life you are soaked in your own urine.
what consciousness becomes in the dream like state is still a mystery because we cannot measure it or create it.
what science knows about our minds is a facade between reality and the imagination.
what i was expecting was a sort of "lovecraftian" experience, yes its based on a story and inspired by that lore.
the story i visited was unique, a different but familiar take on those past ideas.
we are transported visually between many different locations, but are we truely experiencing this place or are we on the cusp of death and our unconscious imagination has entered a dream or is it a hallucination?
there is not an answer, a final truth, about what really happened.
the visuals and voices are very well throught out pieces of your experience.
as the medium of senses go this is all you can accomplish is good audio and acceptable perceptions.
as many stories are narrated by the linear path there is not much you can do to avoid the final conclusions.
a curiosity for exploring the world can be rewarding, i thought i was very thorough in my peeking in every corner.
somehow i missed enough things that would add substance to the background of this expereince.
another artist vision repeated as many times as anyone can afford, the same thing again.
they are becomming commonplace as to feel mundane instead of thoughtfully evoking.horror.
this is the moment i just wanted to end it all.
the moment i wanted to stop the adventure was each time your control was removed for a noisy hallucination cutscene which was indicated by your glove tool.
faux jumpscares were entertaining but the worst is being "chased" for simulated effects of fear.
then after this "horrible death" instead of dying, you are tormented again until you figure out (or visit a guide) what to do to get away from this nightmare.
one of the few last remnants of STEAM FOR LINUX gaming,
UnrealEngine4: good settings/options which means the developers put in effort,
the audio has an issue with popping/crackling/clipping here with me...i am unsure what causes it, i do not experience this elsewhere at any time - currently.
played on GNU/LINUX
Steam User 0
So, after putting the time in for this, and getting 100% completion, I would have to highly, HIGHLY recommend this title.
So first up, achievements. While they are challenging, the devs also made it so you aren’t stressing yourself out to get them. What I mean by this is that for some of the achievements, you don’t have to play through the whole story over again to get them, so long as you are playing on the same save file, and reloading from that same save file, you can get them in any order. And you keep all the collectibles and such that you find throughout that save making it possible to get those achievements.
The story. Holy crap. Is this story absolutely wonderful. It’s dark, it’s creepy, it’s immersive, and the voice acting is pretty great too.
While it’s somewhat short, it’s not super short. I spent a total of 15 hours in this game, replaying the story almost 3 full times and enjoying every minute of it.
Just get this game. Buy it, play it, love it.