DreadOut Remastered Collection | PS5 Review

I’m always on the hunt for a compelling survival-horror game. When I saw the trailer for Digital Happiness’ DreadOut Remastered Collection, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. It looked to utilize unique mechanics while being set in an Indonesian environment. This bundle contains the original DreadOut along with its sequel, Keepers of the Dark. These aspects and additions piqued my interest even further. My actual time with both games was a mixed bag, though. 

A Disastrous Field Trip

In the first game, you play as Linda. She and some of her classmates are going on a field trip with their teacher. Unluckily, the car you’re traveling in breaks down in an eerie town in the middle of nowhere. After walking around for a bit, you come across an abandoned school. Of course, your classmates want to investigate it. That was a bad decision, to put it mildly. Linda goes to save them, but she’s set upon by ghosts and demons on her journey. As you progress, you find articles and items that flesh out the backstory of the school and surrounding area. The story is fascinating and creepy, and I always enjoyed finding a new piece of information about the spooky goings-on.

Her only tools to survive? Her smartphone, and later a DSLR camera. If she snaps pictures of the entities, she can defeat them. This evokes Fatal Frame, and it’s an effective method of combat. It’s not perfect, though. Trying to take a snapshot doesn’t always register and I found myself having to spam R2 to get pictures in time. It’s not a deal breaker, but it adds some frustration to a great mechanic.

A major issue that I had with this original title is how obtuse it can be with its puzzles. They mostly involve just wandering around until you find a key object or snapping tons of pictures of seemingly random items until it triggers the game to move forward. I often found myself wondering how I was supposed to have known how to solve the puzzles without just stumbling around. Most players will probably turn to guides to get through the game, just because of this aspect.

Bosses, Am I Right?

Keepers of the Dark is a standalone title that has Linda returning to the series. She’s placed inside a mysterious universe that has eight portals. Each portal has at least one boss, and of course more frustrating puzzles to solve and collectibles to find. It’s essentially a glorified boss rush mode, which I’ve never been a fan of. This was the weakest part of the package for me, and it features the same frustrations as the original game.

Looks Aren’t Everything

DreadOut Remastered Collection doesn’t really look like it’s had a lot of work done visually on the remaster front, but I didn’t mind this actually. The PS3-reminiscent graphics added a unique charm, and the creature designs were creepier in this style. It had a certain amount of jank that I adore (I’m looking at you, Deadly Premonition). Sure, some of the characters walked through the environment, but it’s not a big deal.

I didn’t encounter any performance issues, and the game ran smoothly for me. The sound design is also quite good. Hearing the chilling laughter of a ghoul or the sound of footsteps coming closer kept me on edge.

The Final Verdict

DreadOut Remastered Collection bundles two games together, but it’s a mixed bag. The first game is more interesting than the sequel, but both suffer from obtuse puzzles and frustrating progression. DreadOut kept me going by expanding on its story through found items and articles, and the camera-based combat felt unique (even with its issue with actually taking pictures sometimes). The sequel’s boss rush mode mechanic wasn’t as satisfying for me and left me frustrated far more than I cared to experience. Of course, if you enjoy this gameplay style it’ll appear more to you than it did for me. DreadOut Remastered Collection is worth playing if you’re a fan of the survival-horror genre and have patience, but if this doesn’t apply to you, you’ll want to skip this package.

To hear me talk more about DreadOut Remastered Collection, be sure to listen to the January 31, 2025 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of DreadOut Remastered Collection provided by Evolve PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.