‘Exit No. 8’: How a Live Action Movie Could Make or Break The Weirdest Game You've Never Played...
It's not just a walking simulator... it's a movie too!
Exit No. 8 (『８番出口』; hachi-ban deguchi) is weirdly addictive. The set up is simple; a corridor in a Japanese subway station which goes on… And on… And on…
Until something, randomly, kills you.
The rules are simple and placed right at the start (and, as a nice touch, they’re in English and Japanese because that’s how it is in Japanese stations…)
Exit No. 8 is a short, weird little game. You pass through the loop, try and spot Anomalies, which can range from the blindingly obvious like a slew of No Smoking signs, to the frustratingly obtuse like a misplaced doorknob or a tiny change in one of the posters.
As you walk, a salaryman (with his own occasional Anomalies) walks past, carrying a bag and his phone…
Oh and then there are the weird ones, like the red tide which drowns you, the door which leads to a dark void and, oddly, the Stairs Anomaly which allows you out of the loop. That one, honestly, confuses me…
The entire point is to find the eight exit by passing through eight loops, either turning back when you spot an Anomaly. At the end of the eighth loop, stairs appear and you ascend to the sound of the traffic crossing noise for the visually impaired and a sense of euphoria.
Then the game restarts.
I also gave the sequel, Platform No. 8 (『８番のりば』; hachi-ban noriba) which is actually set on an eternally moving, duplicated train car, not an actual platform but I digress. It doesn’t quite hit right. It’s more about avoidance and jumpscares and doesn’t quite have the elegant flow of the original.
I did like the ending where you finally made it to the station, only to walk straight into an Exit No. 8 loop. Genius… Even if it’s a fade out rather than a full sub-game within a game,
So why am I harping on about a walking simulator with jump scares and an obsession with the number ‘8’?
Well, for one thing, I’ve spent a lot of my time getting lost in Tokyo Metro stations. There’s something liminal about such spaces, especially as I’m a visually impaired person with deep feelings about Japan’s plentiful use of Street Braille (the yellow line which runs down the corridor). There is something oddly addictive about each run, especially as you have to turn several corners and leave one loop to see if you made it through clean or are back at 0 again…
I find stations quite calming, even as they do seem go to on forever and there’s something compelling going through a loop and obviously this concept has been done before, on a bigger scale with a horror undertone.
Yes, that is a reference to P.T. (the best game never made…)
The thing is Exit No. 8 has no story, no lore; just those instructions above. And yet. because it’s set in Japan, there are things we can infer.
Eight pops up a lot, in dates, in the dental clinic poster, and even in the local attractions sign which mentions Hachippongi Crossing (a riff on Roppongi with the character 八, the kanji for 8). Said sign also mentions a school, a park and a Buddhist temple called Yonago Temple.
Eight is an important number in Buddhism, and that’s even before you look at how it’s the Western symbol for infinity in a vertical form. There are Eight Noble Paths, Eight Auspicious Objects, Eight Precepts…
This makes me wonder if the game is some kind of purgatory before the ascension to Nirvana or reincarnation. Some of the Anomalies are obvious jump scars (like the wall man) whilst the open door to the void and the red tide are more pointed Anomalies which will end a run if you don’t make a dash in the opposite direction.
The salaryman is also an important part of each run. His normal mode is as a point of reference; eyes focused forward, gait steady, as he completely ignores you. But when his Anomalies change him he will look at you, walk faster or be physically changed. His smile is definitely the creepiest aspect.
The continual loop, for him, sometimes feels like he is evolving as we walk, When he smiles, when he looks at you, it feels like he’s growing from more than just a shadow, only to be wiped clean on the next loop. And then, eventually, you see that he is just an illusion, thanks to an Anomaly where his head glitches out entirely.
(We don’t talk about the Agents…)
Lore-wise, though, the big announcement is that a film adaptation is coming out in, of course, August (the eighth month…)! The first trailer is the literal game; it introduces the loop:
The station corridor is pretty much a one-to-one recreation with the addition of a block of lockers and a photo booth, which just adds to the ‘yes this is a real Japanese station-ness’ of the aesthetic.
The main trailer was released a few days ago in the wake of Cannes (where the film got an EIGHT minute standing ovation) and it’s looking good. We’ve got the obligatory creepy child reciting the rules of the game. We have the Lost Man stuck in the station and the Walking Man with a bun and that creepy grin. But we also have more characters which suggests the lore is about to be expanded. There is also going to be a novel released just before the film’s release and I’m quite excited to read it.
The film is due to be released later this year outside of Japan and I’m very excited to see it. As a rule, anything which gets a standing ovation at Cannes has gotta be good. However, I am curious if the film will enhance the mystique of an indie game with a weird premise or ruin it. I really hope not and you can bet I’ll be talking more about the lore as soon as I can get my hands on the Japanese pamphlet and the novel in August!