Lost in Vivo Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-03-01
  • Outstanding sound design and haunting soundtrack.
  • Highly atmospheric and tense gameplay environments.
  • Unique and impressive art style and graphics.
  • Poor story and narrative execution.
  • Repetitive and boring gameplay mechanics.
  • Various technical bugs and glitches reported.
Lost in Vivo header

Emotions

Archetypes

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Outstanding sound design: The game features excellent sound design, music, and sound effects that contribute to an immersive and atmospheric experience. Players consistently praise the soundtrack and sound ambiance.

Highly atmospheric gameplay: The game is praised for its immersive and atmospheric gameplay, which enhances the overall experience. The first-person view and detailed environments contribute to this atmosphere.

Silent Hill influence: The game draws heavy inspiration from the Silent Hill franchise, evident in its visual style, gameplay, and atmosphere. It appeals to fans of classic Silent Hill games.

Claustrophobic and tense environments: The game effectively uses claustrophobic and tense environments to create a terrifying and anxiety-inducing atmosphere. This design choice enhances the horror experience.

Psychological horror themes: The game incorporates psychological horror themes, creating a deeply unsettling and atmospheric experience. This aspect is highlighted as one of the game's strengths.

Common complaints

Poor Story and Narrative: The plot is often described as predictable, unclear, and confusing, lacking a coherent and engaging narrative.

Repetitive and Boring Gameplay: The gameplay is often described as repetitive, tedious, and boring, with a lack of variety and excitement.

Lack of Scares and Engagement: The game fails to deliver on horror elements, with many players finding it not scary and the story underwhelming and unengaging.

Short Game Length: The game is criticized for being too short, which limits its replay value and overall satisfaction.

Poor Combat Mechanics: Combat is criticized for being meaningless, messy, and unsatisfying, with some weapons being ineffective.

Gameplay and performance

First-person perspective: The game is played from a first-person perspective, immersing the player directly into the horror experience. This viewpoint enhances the psychological and claustrophobic elements.

Silent Hill-inspired horror: The game draws heavy inspiration from Silent Hill, featuring similar psychological horror elements, atmosphere, and gameplay mechanics. It is often compared to classic survival horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil.

Survival horror gameplay: The game falls within the survival horror genre, featuring elements typical of classic horror games. Players must navigate through terrifying environments and confront various horrors.

Enemy mechanics and interactions: Enemies play a significant role, with mechanics that include chasing and attacking the player. Some enemies can pass through walls, adding to the challenge and horror.

Post-game content and modes: The game offers additional content after the main story, including New Game+ modes and randomized enemy placement. These features enhance replayability.

Various technical bugs and glitches: The game has several technical flaws, including bugs, glitches, and occasional crashes. Some players have also reported clipping through walls and getting stuck.

Performance issues on low-end systems: The game has been reported to run poorly on low-end systems, with some users experiencing as low as 20 FPS. This includes general performance issues and stutters.

Optimization and graphics issues: While some players praise the graphics and optimization, others have reported optimization errors and resolution issues. There are also mentions of FPS problems during specific sections of the game.

Alt-tabbing causes resolution changes: Players have reported that alt-tabbing out of the game causes resolution changes, which can be disruptive to the gaming experience.

Audio and volume issues: There have been reports of audio bugs and issues with volume levels, affecting the overall gaming experience.

Recommendations

Recommended for horror fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of horror, particularly those who enjoy Silent Hill style and survival horror games.

Worth playing and enjoying: Many players find the game worth playing and enjoyable, suggesting it provides a good experience.

Unique and memorable experience: The game is noted for its ability to genuinely freak players out and leave a lasting impression, with some describing it as a fever dream.

Positive mentions of soundtrack: The game's soundtrack is highlighted as beautiful and worth experiencing, especially for fans of ambient music.

Comparisons to other games: The game is compared to other horror games like Cry of Fear and Afraid of Monsters, with some players recommending those over this game.

Buying context

Community fair range: $10.00 - $12.00.

Game completion: 5.0h.

Story completion: 4.0h.

The game is perceived as repetitive and boring with few standout moments, leading to a generally negative player experience.

Friction: Repetitive gameplay loops; Tedious requirements; Lack of engaging story progression.

Unlock drivers: Unique puzzles; Combat moments.

Player profiles

Psychological Horror Enthusiast: Immersive and exploratory, focusing on story and atmosphere. Motivation: Seeking atmospheric and psychological horror experiences. Stance: buy.

Quirky Horror Fan: Exploratory and engaged, looking for unique elements and meta commentary. Motivation: Seeking unique and meta horror experiences with personal touches. Stance: sale.

Indie Horror Supporter: Diverse, enjoying a range of horror experiences with an emphasis on supporting indie developers. Motivation: Supporting indie developers and seeking value in horror games. Stance: buy.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The game has notable issues on Steam Deck, particularly with resolution settings and controller support. While some users have found workarounds, these problems significantly impact the overall experience.

Other review notes

Accessibility issues: Players have reported various accessibility issues in the game.