Players will be thrust into surreal and frequently unsettling scenarios that defy conventional logic.
According to Frictional Games’ Creative Director Thomas Grip, *Ontos* should not be viewed through the lens of traditional horror. While the studio’s legacy titles, such as the original *Amnesia*, focused heavily on primal survival and visceral fear, this new project prioritizes intellectual and existential dread. Players are expected to navigate bizarre and often disturbing dilemmas that require careful analysis and deliberate problem-solving rather than the typical impulse to run and hide.
In *Ontos*, for example, a player might not be hunted by a shadow, but instead come face-to-face with a consciousness trapped inside a computer fashioned from living rats. This entity’s promise to “clarify the reality of the situation” is intended to be deeply unnerving. Grip explains that the game’s ambition is to leave the player perplexed and inquisitive rather than simply cowering in the dark. While “cat-and-mouse” stealth mechanics remain, they have been minimized, often allowing for creative or alternative ways to bypass obstacles.
“The experiments are undoubtedly the focal point of the game. In a sense, they are comparable to the colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, where the core experience revolves around these major encounters. Much of the game’s progression and world-building serve as an elaborate buildup to these events. It involves mastering tools, discovering interactions, managing resources, and understanding the stakes—essentially gathering enough intel to navigate these intricate, multi-layered scenarios. […] A large part of the journey is built on the tension and anticipation of what the next major experiment will demand.”
Source: iXBT.games