Investigate the unexplainable

Opening Up is an adventure video game wherein you must investigate a strange occurrence. Developed by JOD Studios, this 3D first-person game is a short psychological horror experience that focuses on exploration in order to unlock the truth.

Similar to Disco Elysium, Opening Up features detective work due to its protagonist and so you will have to look for clues in order to piece together the events that led up to the odd case you’re handling. However, the pacing of the game—whether from the voice-acting to the numerous item glitches—can be a turn-off at times.

Something is afoot

The story of Opening Up revolves around the activities of Detective Jonah Clay of the Barrenton Police Department. On one exhausting night, he gets assigned at the last minute to investigate the home of a young man involved in a car accident earlier in the evening. The circumstances behind the case are strange and the events he encounters at the house become even stranger.

In terms of gameplay, you’ll mostly be spending your time roaming around and checking whatever objects can be interacted with. This is an exploration-based horror game and the story will only progress if you get enough clues to help make Jonah form his theories and conclusions about the case. Fortunately, there’s no rush in collecting evidence—even though there are some jumpscares out to surprise you.

However, the game mainly fails in trying to keep your interest. This part is mostly due to the uninspiring voice-acting, which often forces the script—and your pace—to slow down. Another issue is that many objects can end up glitching out, getting stuck on surfaces, and not responding to your input. It’s really too bad since the graphics are of high quality.

Badly needs an overhaul

All in all, Opening Up is a nice option if you want a horror game that’s more focused on letting you set the pace with investigations. However, it can become a real drag due to its story and voice-acting, as well as the interactive objects refusing to cooperate with you. There are other horror games that do the exploration gameplay much better.