The Cute Nightmare of Rental
Samantha Trzinski, Contributing Editor
In Lonely House’s horror game Rental, the adorable and nostalgic art style of the original Animal Crossing for the Gamecube meets the suspense of early horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. It is a strange combination, yet the juxtaposition of cuteness and terror works well and results in a unique gameplay experience. The player is lulled into a false sense of comfort by the animal characters in the game who look strikingly similar to Animal Crossing characters. This game is a far cry from Animal Crossing, though. Rather than being greeted at the start of the game by Tom Nook or another kind animal friend, the player is instantly thrown into a life-or-death situation. Though the game is short and can be completed in as little as ten minutes, it presents an interesting story and plays with the cozy and horror genres through its story. In it, a family of bunnies go on a vacation (how sweet, cozy, and happy!), but things quickly go out of control when something horrific appears in the rental home. Its short gameplay and cute art style allows the game to serve as an effective introduction to horror games for a younger audience or for those who are just a little bit spooked by a traditional horror game. It has scary moments, but its adorableness dilutes the fear, making it altogether suitable for people who are inexperienced with jump scares and frights.
The game begins with Umi, a young bunny, and her family arriving at their vacation rental in their “good ol’ Suzuki Carry.” As Umi’s parents unload the car, they ask Umi to find the rental man to get the keys to the house. The game’s opening seems innocent enough. However, it takes a drastic turn when Umi enters the rental house. The door locks behind her, and she is trapped in the house. After pounding on the door and begging for help, Umi decides that she must find the rental man to make it back outside to her parents. Surely, he will have the key and be able to help. This part of the game is tedious as it only offers one line of dialogue whenever the player interacts with an item in the house: “I should find that Dental…Rental? Rental man.” The line is cute at first, though, and asserts Umi’s lack of understanding about the situation at hand. She is sent into this house to find the “rental man” but has no clue what a “rental man” even is.
Image credit: Lonely House via Steam.
Once Umi finds the mysterious rental man, she realizes the situation is worse than she could have imagined. The rental man tells her to forget her parents because there is no escape from the house. Certainly, this game explores many of childhood’s ultimate fears: separation from one’s parents, a new environment, the monster under the bed. If the rental man did not also fear the horrors of the house, it might seem as though this game is just Umi’s imagination run wild. However, the rental man tells her that her only hope to escape is to find an assortment of items to perform an exorcism. She must collect six crosses, three candles, an angry man, and a woman behind bars. This game relies heavily on Christian imagery, of which Umi herself is unaware. When she finds portraits of Mother Mary or Jesus, she is confused by their morose expressions. These holy images and idols should bring Umi comfort, but her lack of knowledge about their meaning and purpose makes them no different than the mundane items that she finds in the house.
After giving Umi a list of required items, the rental man disappears from the house, only to reappear seconds later to inform Umi about a secret room that she also must find before disappearing once more, only to never be seen again. The player must lead Umi throughout the rental to find the required objects. The gameplay is akin to Silent Hill and Resident Evil, with fixed camera angles and unnerving audio which lend to its suspenseful tone. Umi soon discovers that this quest will not be as simple as it sounds, though. There is something lurking in the house that makes its presence known as Umi collects more of the required objects. What is haunting this home? Can Umi stop it? Most importantly, where did the Dental…Rental? Rental man go?
