Parasocial, the latest indie horror game from Chillia's Art, gave me a sobering glimpse into a life I'm unfamiliar with.
Content warning: Parasocial [Chilla's Art] is a psychological horror game that explores stalking and online harrassment.
Chilla's Art gave me a glimpse into the life of a popular female video game streamer with a violent stalker, and I haven't felt so terrified and utterly helpless playing a game all year. I've had to live out, albeit through a completely safe, virtual lens, a horrifying reality many people with an online presence, and particularly women, face every day.
I often split the horror genre into two distinct camps when I'm trying to decide what to play. Am I in the mood to escape into a supernatural world filled with ghosts and otherworldly creatures with abilities I can't begin to comprehend? These games can scare the crap out of me, but it's a more superficial fear that dissipates as soon as I stop playing and I'm reminded that, at least as far a skeptic like myself is concerned, the threat in the game isn't possible in real life. Or would I rather confront a difficult reality? Unfortunately, the real world has plenty of perfectly natural horrors to fuel a lifetime's worth of nightmares. These are the kinds of games that stick with me long after the credits roll, keeping me tossing and turning late into the night.
As you might've guessed by now, Parasocial fits firmly into the latter category. You play as a Vtuber whose face is exposed during a stream by a hacker - itself a highly disturbing thought - and who suddenly has to navigate life knowing every shadow in her home could be a killer. It's clear very quickly that there's no one you can trust, nowhere you can run to for safety, and no way to know that you aren't being watched in your most vulnerable moments. I could feel the elevation in my blood pressure the entire time I played this mercifully brief game.
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Not only are Parasocial's themes themselves incredibly potent, not to mention horrifically plausible, but its scares are inventive as all hell. The scenes where you're playing games on stream are just so unnerving, as not only are these games-within-a-game often pretty darn freaky themselves, but they also distract you from what might be happening behind you - which is usually even freakier. Not to mention the creepy comments from your fans, one of which made clear they themselves were the stalker when they asked, "did you enjoy your bath yesterday?" The night before, you're taking a bath and your clothes are stolen while you aren't looking. Truly chilling stuff.
Like the best Chilla's Art games, the jank that's evident in the in-game dialogue, the uncanny facial models, and the complete lack of any sort of sound aside from ambient noise, only serves to intensify the feeling of anxiety and dread as you move from one area to the next, hoping against hope there isn't something waiting for you around the corner.
A living nightmare
Without spoiling anything, the ending is spectacular, with one of the most stressful hide-and-chase scenes I've ever experienced, culminating in multiple outcomes that vary in how fucked up they are. I left wanting to experience all of the endings, but genuinely in need of a break from the tension.
There's a disclaimer at the end defining a parasocial relationship and serving as a real-world warning of the dangers of online fame. This is my opinion alone and isn't reflective of Chilla's Art or Parasocial, but personally, I hope games like these don't discourage anyone from pursuing streaming as a career, but instead simply educate the gaming community about a serious issue threatening the actual lives of real people that are a part of it.
Parasocial is Chilla's Art's finest work yet, offering important, contemporary social commentary and raising awareness of an issue all too often overlooked in games. As streaming becomes an increasingly popular career path for people with a passion for video games, it's crucial to highlight far and away the biggest danger in doing so, and one that's entirely unique to that profession. It also doesn't hurt that the message is wrapped in a genuinely frightening, well-made horror package that proves one of my favorite indie studios is still firing on all eight cylinders.
Parasocial [Chilla's Art] is out now on PC. For more, check out our Indie Spotlight series.
