Summary
- The concluding chapter of a classic-style survival horror trilogy.
- Abramelin Games, a solo developer, crafted a deeply personal experience with unique setting and pacing.
- Gameplay focuses on meticulous exploration, investigation, and tense, vulnerable combat, rather than continuous action.
The world of Injection π23 has been under development for eleven years, exploring themes of fear and its impact on perception. Injection π23 Tabula Rasa marks the culmination of this extensive journey.
Abramelin Games operates as a solo development effort, with its creator having a lifelong background in music. The Injection π23 trilogy originated from a desire to organize specific concepts, ultimately evolving into a tribute to classic survival horror.
Tabula Rasa serves as the third and concluding chapter, bringing into focus all the hints and underlying themes present throughout the two previous games, their symbols, and imagery. It completes a narrative cycle.
The game’s setting is not fictional; it draws inspiration from a real town where the developer resided. This includes its distinctive slopes, plazas, narrow streets, and corners, which gain true meaning only after repeated exploration. Tabula Rasa aims to evoke the sensation of inhabiting a specific, authentic location, rather than a generic game map.
In-game street view inspired by the real town, showing bars and everyday shops under heavy rain.
Initially, the town was recreated with fidelity, then intentionally distorted. The environment players explore in the game blends reality with altered perception: familiar buildings are twisted by anxiety, ordinary spaces become hostile, and locations typically associated with safety feel profoundly strange. Navigating Injection π23 is akin to traversing a mind corrupted by fear.
Superficially, Tabula Rasa presents a narrative involving symbols, experiments, and clandestine societies. It features codes, geometric patterns, and allusions to mind control and shadowy power structures. The protagonist’s psyche attempts to conceptualize something inherently more ordinary and distressing.
Symbolic interior scene with ritual circle, masks and stained glass, suggesting hidden structures and experiments.
The narrative explores themes of broken trust and the mind’s response when reality becomes too perilous to confront directly, leading it to construct a system of symbols and perceived threats for self-preservation. Two conflicting perspectives on the same reality are constantly at play: one seeking protection, the other refusing to conceal underlying pain.
Amidst this turmoil, a distinct presence exists, requiring no symbols, rhetoric, or emotional facades, such as the smile depicted on the character’s shirt.
Joy, the protagonist’s dog, serves as the emotional anchor throughout the trilogy. The dog symbolizes an unblemished connection, offering a sanctuary when all else crumbles. Joy represents the core of a small, cherished world the protagonist strives to preserve.
Cinematic shot of the protagonist as a child hugging Joy in his room, highlighting their emotional bond.
Gameplay in Injection π23 Tabula Rasa caters to enthusiasts of classic survival horror, particularly those who appreciate a deliberate pace as a deliberate design element, rather than a shortcoming.
The game features meticulous exploration, resource management, environmental puzzles, and encounters designed to evoke vulnerability, not power. It encourages players to discover their own path, avoiding constant on-screen guidance, as becoming slightly disoriented is an integral part of the experience.
Simultaneously, efforts have been made to ensure the classic feel does not create unnecessary obstacles. While movement possesses weight, controls are responsive, aligning with modern gaming expectations. The camera provides various options, allowing players to achieve a comfortable balance between tension and playability. On Xbox Series X|S, the hardware is utilized to deliver smooth performance, crisp visuals, and minimal load times, all while preserving the deliberate pacing essential to the genre.
Gameplay shot inside a small bar with arcade machines and a foosball table, showing exploration-focused survival horror.
Puzzles constitute a significant aspect of the game’s design. While some are essential for progression, others are included for players who relish deciphering symbols, numbers, or unusual patterns until a solution emerges.
The game incorporates both overt layers, such as locks, mechanisms, and combinations, and more subtle, hidden layers that link various game areas and even different installments of the trilogy. Multiple endings are available, alongside secrets for thorough explorers and scattered clues for those inclined to construct their own mental map of the Injection π23 universe.
Completing the main story does not require solving every puzzle. However, for players who enjoy theorizing, note-taking, comparing details with others, and seeking deeper meaning in fragmented information, Tabula Rasa is designed to reward such dedication.
This game is not designed for universal appeal.
Players who appreciate titles such as early Silent Hill, classic Resident Evil, or horror experiences that unfold deliberately, will likely find resonance here. The game offers a dense atmosphere, unhurried pacing, memorable environments, and a narrative that encourages player interpretation rather than providing all answers.
Oppressive restroom corridor with graffiti and decay, highlighting the uncomfortable atmosphere of the game’s spaces.
Conversely, if a player seeks continuous action, explicit on-screen guidance, and an experience that avoids challenging comfort zones, Tabula Rasa may not be suitable. This is by design, as the game targets a distinct experience: one that is more introspective, peculiar, and at times, unsettling.
The interpretation of on-screen events is left to the individual player, who brings their unique perspective to the world. The game provides an authentic space, meticulously crafted with patience and attention to detail, inviting players to explore at their own rhythm.
Upon experiencing Injection π23 Tabula Rasa on Xbox Series X|S, the intention is for players to feel they are not merely navigating a map, but rather entering a place that has been the subject of prolonged contemplation. The hope is that this endeavor resonates with players on a personal level.
