Distraint 2 (2018)
Jesse Makkonen’s 2015 horror adventure Distraint received a sequel in November 2018. Distraint 2 continues exactly where the first game left off: rock bottom. This time, however, the bailiff Price begins to climb back up and sets out in search of Hope. He confronts greed, guilt, fear, and pain, and finally listens to the voice of Reason. To me, Distraint 2 felt more mature than Distraint in terms of gameplay, visuals, and its horror elements. The story, too, is less naïve and more grounded, even though its dreamlike quality remains strong. In Distraint 2, the calmness of point-and-click adventure design blends effectively with an ominous atmosphere.
Jesse Makkonen is a one-man Finnish game studio. Prior to the Distraint duo, he released Silence of the Sleep, and he is currently working on Heal. Makkonen single-handedly handles the writing, game design, graphics, sound, music, and programming. Distraint, which I have written about on Samooja before, turned out to be a surprising international success. Distraint 2 continues along the same path and has received very positive player reviews.
In Distraint, Mr Price was left teetering on the edge of an abyss — in other words, on the brink of suicide. In Distraint 2, a turning point follows. A painful path towards recovery and healing begins. The story takes Price through his memories and fears, all the way back to childhood. What led him to pursue success while ignoring the voice of his conscience? His work as an efficient and emotionless bailiff for a property company is left behind as Price descends deep into his own psyche.
Audiovisually, the atmosphere is nightmarish. The environment twists and transforms in disorienting ways, vision itself is obscured, and it is impossible to know what lies ahead. So-called psychological immersion was very strong for me. No virtual reality headset or even 3D graphics were required — Distraint 2 achieves this through its two-dimensional, side-scrolling world. I experienced genuine stress when fleeing Fear, which could emerge from the darkness at any moment to chase Price.
In terms of gameplay, Distraint 2 is simple and easy. There were hardly any overlapping tasks, and I never seemed to be carrying more than two items at a time. In addition to inventory-based puzzles, Distraint 2 features so-called mini-games. These are variations on classic, even clichéd puzzle types, though they come with an interesting visual twist. You cannot really make mistakes in the game, but you can get caught. My playthrough took around three hours. It is not a long game, but given its subject matter, I found the length just right.
The story is linear, guiding the player inexorably towards the ending. Still, you need to stay alert, as you never know what might be lurking behind a door or in the darkness. The narrative unfolds through wandering and collapses. Rooms — or rather corridors — are named after different themes. The abstract and the concrete blend together, as they do in dreams and hallucinations.
Distraint 2 can be played in several languages, including Finnish. For me, the Finnish localisation evoked the clumsy text adventures of the 1980s, yet the game’s seriousness and emotional pull clearly won me over. I do not know whether it works better in English, but due to the English names, the Finnish version felt like a translation. Even so, I find it genuinely encouraging that adventure games are being released in Finnish at all.
Distraint 2 may boldly and reassuringly bring the path begun in Distraint to its conclusion. In my view, Makkonen has developed across all aspects of game-making, and this time the subtle psychological horror proved effective for me. I recommend Distraint 2 to those who are not put off by rough edges. I have something of a soft spot for naïvism in games — or perhaps I should say that I know how to appreciate it. I give my overall experience a score of 64 out of 100.
Availability
Distraint 2 is available for Windows and Android.