Having more or less enjoyed Layers of Fear, its Inheritance DLC was something that I didn’t hesitate to pick up once I had finished the painter’s magnum opus. Inheritance sees the twisted artist’s daughter come to the fore as the playable character, pitting the player in the same mansion and with similar nightmarish visions to contend with.
Perhaps I was just was just fatigued from recently completing the main game, but Inheritance was simply too familiar.
The changes in mechanics are small, but interesting enough to raise an eyebrow and the hope that this might be a DLC that doesn’t play it safe. Starting off with a flashlight and a monologue from the painter’s daughter, which continues throughout, Inheritance initially promised to be a big change from the main game before rather disappointingly settling into the same formula.
As the protagonist makes her way through the now vacant, almost rotting mansion, she flashbacks to her childhood, hinting that perhaps insanity is hereditary in her family. The DLC does play with this idea pretty well throughout, making you question whether the daughter is struggling with the same mental turmoil as her father or if it’s just the house itself. Just like the main game, the deeper into Inheritance you go, the more the truth unravels before you, resulting in one of three endings.
The daughter’s perspective shines an interesting light on her father through the different passages of the DLC. At points she seems conflicted, others she seems to respect the man who lurked behind the door, “screaming into the night”. It’s effective from Bloober Team, but the short length of the game means that it can never really ask enough questions or finish delivering on its themes – it can be completed in just under an hour and a half. Some background on her mother is welcomed, however, showing how her parents used to bicker back and forth and that it took a mental toil on her as a result.
Inheritance is non-linear, meaning that you can complete the flashbacks in respective rooms in whichever order you please. While most of them land (the portrait session in particular is just chilling), the two longest ones drag terribly. The sequence involving crayons and a cartoon snake outstays its welcome, despite how impressive the artwork on show is.
In terms of scares, Inheritance is very light on the ground. Apart from one very cheap jumpscare from a dog, the DLC fails to crank up the tension to the same levels as the main game. It’s certainly creepy, but often regurgitates a lot of the same ideas – there’s only so many times you can see China doll babies run across your screen before it elicits nothing but a yawn. Perhaps this ennui comes from playing both in such a short space of time back-to-back, though it’s hard to imagine Inheritance fully delivering nonetheless.
However, for its shortcomings, Inheritance’s price is probably going to be hard to say no to for fans of the original game. If you loved Layers of Fear, by all means check out Inheritance, but don’t let anyone tell you it’s the magnum opus of horror games. It’s fine for what it is, yet ultimately too lightweight to properly recommend.
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