Horror Hidden In The Mundane: A Terminal 81 Review

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Every so often a game comes along that seems to defy any attempt to describe it in a few words. Enter Terminal 81, a game that you might call a job simulator if not for the fact that it centers on a story that can be quite dark at times. Developed by what I believe is a single person, it recently made its way to consoles by way of publisher Sometimes You. Potential players can grab this right now on just about every major platform, but we're going to be looking at the Nintendo Switch release today. This is going to be quite the game, so let's get right into it!

This sure brings back memories.

This isn't a creepy place to work at all...

Terminal 81 puts you into the shoes of Lorena, a young girl who recently made the decision to move to Sao Paulo, Brazil in the hopes of setting up a better life. The year is 2008, the world is in the middle of a historic financial crisis, and this has hit the country of Brazil very hard. Unfortunately it also has hit her new neighborhood just as bad, as she soon learns that the titular Terminal 81 is anything but safe. A string of kidnappings has plagued the area, and there's all sorts of talk regarding what fate ultimately befalls those who go missing. Some eventually show up murdered, while others simply disappear forever. It's in this setting that Lorena starts her new job, as a cashier in a local supermarket. It doesn't take long for Lorena to learn that the reason the job has opened up is due to the fact that the previous employee was one of the recent victims. Curious to learn what might be behind the string of disappearances, and perhaps to ensure she doesn't become a future target, Lorena does her best to uncover the truth. This turn to amateur detective takes her to people and places that lie in the underbelly of Terminal 81, and the stakes get higher as she inches closer to the truth. Who is behind the recent spike in crime? What are their motives? Just how deeply entwined in local politics is this criminal organization? Which of Lorena's new acquaintances might be involved? These are all questions that will be explored, and hopefully answered, throughout the course of the game. I'll leave the rest of the plot for players to discover on their own, since I truly feel that it's the best part of the game. I'll discuss the strangeness of Terminal 81's core gameplay loop in a bit, but it's the story that pushed me to clear the entire game in one sitting. It's suspenseful, full of twists, and feels like you're playing through a realistic horror movie. I'll circle back around to the plot more throughout the review, but let's move on and discuss gameplay.

A cashier job... just what I wanted to do.

Catching thieves is important.

Discussing gameplay in Terminal 81 is rather difficult, as I don't really think it fully belongs in any one genre. It's part job simulator, part walking simulator, part adventure game, part management sim, and also something of a visual novel. You move around in first person view and interact with people and objects with the use of a single button. Interacting with objects can turn into reading them or examining them more closely, or even picking them up if they're able to be used further. Items that are picked up are either used automatically, or they're added into your inventory. Said inventory is rather limited, with Lorena only being able to carry four items at a time, but most item placement in the game world is permanent. This means you can horde items in your house if you so desire. Inventory management isn't exactly easy or intuitive, but you will use it when completing your tasks in your supermarket day job. That's actually the strangest part of this entire game. More than half of what you'd call "gameplay" in Terminal 81 consists of you completing tasks in a grocery store. You'll ring up customers, stop thieves, and perform general tasks like cleaning or stocking every in-game day. It's during these segments where you'll often get your next clue of what to do next in order to advance the story, but it's best to focus on the current task at hand. Doing well or bad at your daily tasks will affect how much money you receive, with money being used to buy food that increases your stamina (Yeah, that's a thing!), or to buy items that fill up your apartment. I'll admit that the latter aspect of the game really intrigued me, but it's all mostly busy work that runs parallel to the main focus of the game. What's that main part you ask? Well, solving the mystery of what's going on with all the recent disappearances of course!

I actually didn't realize you could talk to any NPC in the game until my second in-game day, this meant that I missed out on a lot of neat Day One dialogue, but most of what the characters have to say involves the current state of the Terminal 81. Some NPCs give you clues as to where you'll want to take your inquiries next, and others will warn you to stop asking questions entirely. I'm not sure if it's possible to miss triggering key events, but there are some characters you'll meet that prove to be more important than others. These tend to come to you directly, usually while you're working in the grocery store. It's here where I think the visual novel aspects take hold, as you're presented with a dialogue tree that affects how the game will play out. I admittedly kept it very safe for my first playthrough, but you can be downright rude to those who are trying to give you information, or even refuse to speak to them at all. I actually wonder what the game's "Bad" ending can be if you choose to ignore the kidnapping situation in its entirety. Though I have to say that the emphasis on day-to-day tasks does take a bit of weight out of the greater story, I do appreciate how Terminal 81 incorporates realistic horror elements into what's otherwise a very mundane setting. I've been a cashier trying to close a store very late at night myself, and I know firsthand how creepy things can get when a customer walks in spilling all sorts of nonsense regarding scary events. Though I once again don't want to give away anything too much when it comes to plot, there's more than enough for you to dive into if you want. That's another great aspect of the game, as you can choose to be as involved in the proceedings as you want. As long as you're willing to accept wherever the story ends up taking you.

The camera goes all weird if you don't eat.

Hell yeah!

That's pretty much it when it comes to gameplay. While gathering clues and working at the supermarket are your main tasks, you can also do other things like buy food, play minigames, get into a dance off, and so on. None of it really matters, and it all pretty much exists only to flesh out the world a bit, but I loved every bit of it. There are also tons of Easter Eggs to discover like memes placed in the background, references to other media or real-life figures, and even a Rick Roll if you turn on the wrong (or right?) TV. I actually found myself wishing that the game had an easier way to get ahold of more money so that I could be play it like an open world game. It's not that there's a lot to see here per se, it's just that I found myself wanting to do everything I could once I realized the amount of freedom the game gives you. Besides some issues I had with the controls that I eventually got over with time, that would have to be my only real complaint with the game: The lack of anything resembling a Free Play Mode. I'm sure that kind of mode is a bit too much to ask for, but even something as simple as an expanded inventory would've added so much to the way the game plays. Oh, and I don't think it can be stressed enough just how unique the setting is for those not familiar with it in the first place. I imagine players from Brazil might not care too much for the cultural references scattered throughout, but I honestly felt like I was stepping into another world. I was actually a bit disappointed to learn that the game's setting is fictional, as it really made me want to learn more about it. I guess what I'm saying is that while Terminal 81 isn't anywhere near a AAA experience, but it makes up for what it lacks by way of sheer charm.

"Never gonna give you up..."

Big Smoke, that you?

Moving on a bit, let's talk visuals. Right off the bat I have to say that Terminal 81 has a look that is going to appeal to some, and put off others. It reminds me a lot of the PS1-style survival horror games that come from indie studio Puppet Combo, but with a few extra touches I don't think you'd ever find in a game from the time its emulating. For starters, most of the world is a single large map that you can move in and out of. I dropped the term "open world" earlier, but I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression. This isn't a world that rivals Tears of the Kingdom or anything like that, but it is neat that so many parts of Terminal 81 are open to exploration that doesn't even require a loading screen. I was still finding new things in the world right up until the very end of the game, and it's that part of the game that makes me want to give it another playthrough or two. My love for the game might also be helped by the fact that I'm a huge fan of this visual style, and I think it's perfectly captured here. Admittedly most of the game's assets have a store-bought look to them, but the sheer level of detail ensures that nothing in this game ever feels like a cheap asset-flip kind of deal. Once again the charm of the game won me over, and I found it hard to be very critical about the game once it had me hooked.

Unfortunately the positive sentiments I have towards the graphics don't extend to the game's sound and music. While Terminal 81 plays up its spooky atmosphere, it often comes at the expense of the sound design. Music isn't heard all too often, and it usually comes through as sort of a stinger that's relevant to events happening on-screen. This does give things a bit of a cinematic touch, but it also means that long stretches of the game will be nearly silent. Also, I was not expecting voice acting at all, but the text-heavy nature of the game doesn't help things either. The funny thing is, I played the game for nearly an hour and felt that I could barely hear anything. I turned my TV up to near max volume, and I still felt like that volume I was hearing is what the game should sound like by default. I'm not sure if the sound was never tested on actual hardware, but I can't understand why the mix is so low. I played the entire game docked on my TV, but I can't help but imagine that it would be impossible to hear much at all if one played in Handheld Mode. I do want to point out that the music and sound in-game is by no means bad, it's just that there's so little of it, and what is there seems to be halfway muted to the point of being nearly non-existent.

He isn't lying...

Beware "Charles of the Joy".

One cool aspect of Terminal 81 is that it features multiple endings. I reached what I believe is the "Good" ending after about two and a half hours of gameplay. I did this without having to resort to a guide, but it was also because I was playing things pretty safe. That said, I do think that most players would have to look online if they want to unlock the other in-game endings. Terminal 81 only has one save slot, and trial and error for different outcomes isn't easy when you have to spend hours to see the results of your work. Though I don't suggest looking up a guide your first time through, I don't know how else players will easily get to see all the game has to offer. Actually, I only know that I got the Good one because I was curious about the multiple endings, and decided to glance at a guide online. I don't know if I ever see myself going through the game simply to see all of its endings, but I do see myself going through it just so I can make a better run of making money and buying all sorts of stuff for my apartment. Pointless it may be, but I'm totally here for that kind of content. I bring all this up to say that there is a decent amount of game here, a surprising amount even, for its rather low $9.99 price point. I do have to be that person and point out that the game can be picked up for half that price on Steam, but it was such a great experience that I honestly don't care about the console tax this time around.

Things get serious fast.

What happened to Fatima?

While the somewhat wonky graphics, music, and dialogue don't really do the game any favors, I do think that Terminal 81 deserves the fullest of recommendations. The story may be a work of fiction, but the setting of the game is just so unique that many gamers will probably be like me and have an experience like no other. I simply can't put into words how unique this game is, and I hope that we get to see more from the developer. Check it out if on whatever platform you can, and watch out for those shoplifters! Oh, and for those kidnappers too!

Check Out Terminal 81 on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/terminal-81-switch/

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Story: B+
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: C
Value: A

Overall: B

Pros:
+ A fun game that defies genre categories.
+ The game's dark story really draws you in, and makes the more mundane aspects of gameplay bearable.
+ Multiple endings add to the overall replayable.
+ The setting of 2008 Brazil is sure to be unique to many players.
+ Players can tackle this as something of an open world experience, with lots of optional things to do and see.
+ The sheer amount of Easter Eggs and references make exploring every nook and cranny of the game world worth it.

Cons:
- Sound is quite lacking, with much of the game being played in silence.
- The controls feel rather wonky when placed onto a controller.
- Since the game features a single save file, you have to replay the game in its entirety if you want to see a different ending.
- Even though I had fun with it, the core gameplay loop is literally working in a grocery store.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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I need a drink!

#Terminal81