Daymare: 1998

The events of Daymare: 1998 begin at Aegis Laboratory, a secret government facility built on the island of North Blue Two, which is part of the Northfall Island archipelago located just off the coast of Washington. Subsequently, the action moves to Keen Sight, a small and peaceful town in Idaho surrounded by an endless forest. The game presents three different, unique perspectives on how the story unfolds: that of the operative code named Liev, an elite soldier of the special unit H.A.D.E.S. (Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search), the helicopter pilot Cpt. David "Raven" Hale and Samuel Walker, a forest ranger from the Vermilion Forest that surrounds the Redcrest Mountains of Keen Sight. A few hours after the latest emergency transmission from Aegis regarding the leak of an extremely lethal experimental BC weapon, the American Department of Defense sends two teams of H.A.D.E.S. operatives, who depart from Hexacore Biogenetics' Keen Sight HQ, to investigate the cause of the accident, recover top-secret research and samples, and erase all evidence of what happened before the automatic security system cleanses the entire compound. The so-called incident in the research center, however, represents only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger conspiracy, which also involves Keen Sight, which despite its peaceful facade will reveal disturbing dark secrets from the past, and of all its residents who were transformed into violent and deadly bloodthirsty monsters. Subsequently, the action moves to Keen Sight, a small and peaceful town in Idaho surrounded by an endless forest. The game presents three different, unique perspectives on how the story unfolds: that of the operative code named Liev, an elite soldier of the special unit H.A.D.E.S. (Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search), the helicopter pilot Cpt. David "Raven" Hale and Samuel Walker, a forest ranger from the Vermilion Forest that surrounds the Redcrest Mountains of Keen Sight. A few hours after the latest emergency transmission from Aegis regarding the leak of an extremely lethal experimental BC weapon, the American Department of Defense sends two teams of H.A.D.E.S. operatives, who depart from Hexacore Biogenetics' Keen Sight HQ, to investigate the cause of the accident, recover top-secret research and samples, and erase all evidence of what happened before the automatic security system cleanses the entire compound. The so-called incident in the research center, however, represents only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger conspiracy, which also involves Keen Sight, which despite its peaceful facade will reveal disturbing dark secrets from the past, and of all its residents who were transformed into violent and deadly bloodthirsty monsters.

• Liev: An elite operative with the special unit H.A.D.E.S. (Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search). Probably born in Russia, his past is shrouded in mystery. Completing the mission at any cost is the only thing that he cares about. Blindly executes any order without delay or second thought. An expert of CQC and firearm techniques.
• Cpt. David "Raven" Hale: An experienced Hexacore Air Force pilot and member of the Crimson Skulls. He is the second pilot of the aircraft code named "4RG0". Despite his young age, he also piloted an experimental NASA aircraft, but was discharged following the failure of a highly classified mission. All we know about him is that his co-pilot lost his life on that occasion. Still, Raven's scar is one of the few signs of what might have happened that day.

• Samuel Walker: : A forest ranger for the Redcrest Mountains, which serve as a backdrop for the Vermilion Forest that surrounds the town of Keen Sight. Like other residents in town, he suffers from a rare disease called "Daymare Syndrome", which causes anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations. Although the details are unclear, there is likely to be a link between Samuel's condition and the presence of Hexacore Biogenetics in the city.

Daymare: 1998 has a rather unusual genesis, given that the project was born from the ashes of Resident Evil 2 Reborn, a fan remake of the Capcom Co. Ltd title developed by the Italian team Invader Studios, initially made with Unity engine and later with Unreal Engine 4. The gameplay trailer of the fan remake, published on YouTube on July 17, 2015, became viral on the Internet shortly after, with more than one million views in a few hours, followed by articles and interviews from across the globe. Given the attention it garnered, the team received a call directly from Capcom who officially invited them to their Osaka HQ in October 2015. Shortly thereafter, work on the fan remake ceased, given the official announcement of Resident Evil 2 Remake. After the meeting, and at the suggestion of the producers of Capcom themselves, the team therefore decided to create an original IP later called Daymare: 1998 and officially announced on September 12, 2016. To finance the project, a campaign via Kickstarter and a special PC demo called Daymare Challenge was announced on February 15, 2017, in which one of the game creatures (Melting Man) was closed off in an area, later part of the final game. Although financing was not secured, the campaign helped make Daymare: 1998 a project even more well-known to the public. After a production of 2 years and 4 months, the title would officially release on September 17, 2019, on Steam and GOG.com, on February 20, 2020, in Japan on the PlayStation 4 and PC platform, and on April 28, 2020, in the rest of the world on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Daymare: 1998 presents numerous homages, easter eggs and references to other iconic works that go beyond video games. The work that contributed most are Capcom's Resident Evil games, in particular the first three titles in the series. Staying in the genre, there are also several interesting references to Dead Space, The Evil Within, Silent Hill, Parasite Eve, Dino Crisis and many more. Also mentioned are films, TV series and cartoons from the 80s and 90s such as Jurassic Park, It, Wrong Turn, X-Files, Tremors, Terminator, The Simpsons, Code name: Broken Arrow, Dante's Peak, Daylight, and many, many more. In addition, among the collectibles there are twenty deer statuettes that the player can destroy, each inspired by a different horror film. While exploring Keen Sight, the office of the development team is present and some areas of the town were inspired by Olevano Romano, a small Italian municipality in the province of Rome and in the Lazio region where the founders of Invader Studios grew up.

Daymare: 1998 was well-received by critics. Alessandra Borgonovo of IGN gave it a 6.8, finding it to be a difficult game, which tried to live up to the hype and ambition of its developers while at the same time presenting very good ideas that deserved greater attention. The experience had flaws that often outweighed the strengths, but despite this, Borgonovo felt rewarded by the developers as a fan of survival horror, pondering the possibility that a sequel to a future series would find its rightful place alongside that of Capcom's Resident Evil series.

Simone Tagliaferri of Multiplayer.it reviewed the PC version, giving it a 7.5, seeing Daymare: 1998 as a well-made survival horror game that, although suffering from limitations imposed production resources, would certainly attract fans of the genre, tracing it back to the golden days of Survival Horror. The reviewer focused on the bosses, finding them not exactly memorable while the style of normal enemies not overly remarkable. His colleague, Massimo Reina, commented instead on the PlayStation 4 editions by lowering his score to 7, confirming the strengths and weaknesses that had been highlighted in the original version, considering it a niche product, especially considering the nature of an independent title, with defects that exponentially lowered the overall assessment. The title was able to faithfully follow the classic styles of the genre, showcasing a strong atmosphere, which would have made fans happy for a few hours even on consoles, despite some technical and structural limitations .

Eurogamer's Lara Arlotta awarded it a 7, stating that the title was focused more on hardcore fans of the horror pursued by Resident Evil and less to the more nostalgic of the more reasoned and less action-focused approach, revealing in its own way a rewarding experience, but not recommended for beginners. Bloody Disgusting saw it as a tribute to the horror games of the past, however showing a short longevity and some technical defects, which according to the reviewer, however, did not significantly impact his judgment, considering also that it was the product of a small studio, he concluded by advising anyone look for a 90s-style survival horror to give it a try.