With its launch in 2023, The Exit 8 was a breakthrough hit. Despite its rather simple groundhog-day-esque premise, the game has an undeniable allure to it. With the recent release of a Nintendo Switch 2 Upgrade for the base game, I decided to give this game a shot. After several hours of wandering through corridors, I think it’s time to put my thoughts down on paper. Let’s head into a Japanese subway station
So…you are just trying to find the exit?
The idea of the game is simple. Walk through the subway corridors and take exit number 8. Booting up the game, you are only given a few instructions:
So yes, the objective of the game is just to find the exit, but that is far easier said than done. As you walk through the corridors, you will find that you always walk past the same person, the same posters, and essentially the same exact corridor. This is where the instructions regarding anomalies come in. If you are confident that the corridor you find yourself in has absolutely no anomalies, then keep walking; if something is off, turn back. These anomalies can vary greatly, from hard-to-see stains, all the way to power cuts. I really do not want to give more examples because the main gist of the game revolves around the player having to pay attention to their surroundings and figuring out and finding these anomalies with each attempt. Choose the correct path (forward or backward) and you get one step closer to exit 8. Fail, and you are thrown to the beginning, starting at exit 0.
What is the hook?
The premise of the game is very simple. However, what makes The Exit 8 so interesting is how it plays with making the player feel uncomfortable. Humans are pretty good at noticing that something may be off, and that causes us to feel uneasy. The Exit 8 weaponizes your own paranoia and uses it against you to create intense situations and make you doubt yourself.
Players will keep questioning and doubting themselves. Did that man walking past me just look in my direction? Was that poster always here? Did I just hear a slight tap near a door? This game is the definition of unsettling, and it’s incredible.
Performance…scarier than the game
Indie games typically have pretty mixed performance on resource-limited hardware. The Switch 2 is not a PC that can remedy undercooked development with sheer horsepower. Even so, I do not really know what the Switch 2 upgrade even achieves. The game struggles to maintain a solid framerate, and the picture quality is seriously lacking, especially around light sources, which tend to sparkle in a strange way. Check out these screenshots I captured on my Switch 2.
Naturally, the Switch 2 does not compare to a PC. But given this game’s setting, given what it tries to do, performance should be better. The game consistently looks blurry, and even if the varying framerate does not bother me too much (as the game is just a walking simulator), I cannot help but be disappointed by the performance. I shudder to think that this was originally a Switch 1 release.
Should you find Exit 8?
The Exit 8 is a rather interesting game to review. When you boil it down, the game is a walking simulator / horror-puzzler. This is not the game you will be playing for years to come. This is not a game that will give you dozens of hours of enjoyment. It’s very much a one-and-done experience game. I’ve played through the game a half a dozen times now, and it has held my attention for a solid 3-4 hours (the Switch doesn’t record exact times). That may not sound too great for most players. However, the game only cost me 4€ (down from the 5€ base price). It’s a unique and short experience for a budget price. If you are up for a short gaming experience, you can definitely do worse, and I, for one, do not regret buying this game one bit. I just wish the performance were better. I will definitely wait for the Switch 2 edition of its follow-up Platform 8. If you can look past the blurriness, this is definitely one exit I encourage you to find.
