The Exit 8 on PS5: repetitive, frustrating, and strangely addictive

The trailer for this game doesn't do much to sell it to you. There really isn't a whole lot that they can do with the trailer because you literally just walk down a hallway looking for what they call "anomalies." When you spot an anomaly or something you think is one, you turn around.

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Some of them are quite obvious, others are so slight that when you do accidentally notice it you seem relieved that you just happened to look at this.

What is fun about endlessly walking down a mostly empty hallway? Well, nothing! What's fun about repetitive scenery, lack of any other characters, no music, and basically a game that may as well be in black and white? Also nothing!

However, somehow, this game just kind of works and I think about it even now after taking a break to give my eyes a rest.

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That above is one of the more obvious anomalies. There is a figure in the wall, but other things could be a misplaced doorknob or in one of the more obscure ones that I have noticed, a security camera on the ceiling that is slightly tinted red instead of black.

The main hallway that is where most of the changes occur is this one

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There is a guy that walks down the hallway and the anomaly could at times be him as well. Is he slightly taller, is he smiling, does he look at you? Well these subtle changes can be what it is that makes the difference between getting it right, or having your count reduced back to zero.

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It can be a bit heartbreaking to round the corner and look at the sign that has your count on it and see that it has been reset to zero. If that is the case, you have to do it all over again. Thus far, the highest I have ever been was to 6 and after that I decided to give it a rest.

I do want to eventually defeat this game though and make it out having seen 8 in a row.

The thing that can throw you for a frustrating loop is that sometimes the hallways contain no anomalies and in order to do it correctly you have to continue walking forward. There isn't always something wrong and sometimes, it is so slight that you can't even fathom what it might have been. I will reference the doorknob that was in the middle of the doors that I rarely look at.

Sometimes the posters are in a different order and it starts to drive you a bit mad as you start memorizing the contents of the posters hoping you will spot what the issue is your next time down.

Apparently the game is based off of a relatively highly rated Japanese psychological horror film of the same name and now I am going to have to watch that.

could you spot the differences in that short trailer? Well, those were the easy ones. For the most part this game is like one of those sets of pictures where you have to spot the differences between them yet you just can't find a few of them.

I'm actually kind of surprised that I stuck with this for as long as I did because a game like this would normally get categorized as "tedious" and "boring" by me. There's just something about it that is a bit terrifying even though there really isn't anything that is out to get you in this.

The entire objective is to leave the subway that you are in with as high of a ranking as possible and I would imagine that if you get to 8 and then walk out, you beat the game.

Will I ever make it to that point without cheating. Well here is the thing: Since the levels appear to be randomized you can't really use an online guide. Their playthrough isn't going to be the same as yours so cheating might not be an option!

I can't imagine anyone paying any money for this game but it will kill a few hours. I got it for "free" as part of my PS-Plus Extra membership.