Exit 8 VR leaves you feeling lost in Tokyo's underground

After a couple of months in the UK I recently flew home to Japan, and I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of things I needed to get back to my routine. This meant that I had to take the train a lot and get lost after being away for a while. Lots. The long, tiled corridor of Tokyo’s underground stations seemed to loop endlessly in front of me. I was almost stuck as I searched desperately for an exit. The rudimentary repetition of the never-ending hallways is only revealed when you pay attention. Remember, there’s no smoking allowed in the stations! The concept is simple: you walk down endless corridors while reacting to anomalies and jump scares that deviate from normality to get to your exit. It was an intense but short experience. It’s cheap enough to be picked up by anyone and played for an hour to get to the end. But it is also varied enough to allow repeated attempts, with surprises around every corner. Let’s face it: we all have a fascination for seemingly infinite liminal space that blurs the lines between reality and the unreal. The Tokyo underground train system looks instantly recognizable, but nothing could prepare you for what lurks around the next corner.

MyDearest, best known for

and the upcoming

The Exit 8 VR screenshot - no smoking signs placed all across the station — , has ported the solo development efforts of Kotake Create to VR. Quest is the perfect fit. It enhances this unsettling experience. After spending a lot of time in Tokyo’s train system, the tension only increased when I put on my headset and returned to an area that was instantly familiar but distinctly “off”. You feel as if you’ve ended up in an unexpected place when you are immediately dropped into a desperate search for an escape without any title screen to greet you. In such an immersive space where that’s all you can see, it certainly leaves you uneasy.

The Exit 8 VRKindly exit through Exit 8, if you can

While The Exit 8 was never a scary game per se, it was certainly vivd, and that’s only elevated in this new release. You’ll be able to move freely around to look at the faces and backs of signs and the posters all around. It’s more dramatic, such as black goop oozing from an air vent or a picture of a man that looks like it belongs in a creepypasta. Or, an abundance of posters with warnings that are scattered around the area that raise the hairs on the backs. It’s not that you are scared, but rather looking at the poster of a dog-groomer with a keen eye to see if there is any mistake. You start doubting yourself. It’s a relief to finally escape. The VR experience was so intense that I had to play it again just before a trip. My heart raced as I walked into Tokyo’s Nogizaka Station. I had to travel the entire length of the platform to get to the exit after going up the steps in the wrong direction. At the half-way point I was tense, as I could not see either the exit or entrance, but only the tiled wall that I had seen in VR just hours before. This is not a screenshot of The Exit 8VR, but Nogizaka Station, Tokyo.

I was ready to sprint backwards if someone came towards me. The Exit 8 VR will arrive on the platform Dyschronia: Chronos Alternative on July 11, 2024.