The Music Box is like a visual novel and Resident Evil had crossed paths. The game is very well written with the Mario cast and a set of characters made for the game having great character arcs and storybeats. The mansion itself gives off a very spooky vibe, while also keeping the player wanting to explore more of it as to help Mario find a way out of the mansion. The main part of the gameplay is going around the mansion and exploring every nook and cranny for clues to make progress in Mario’s escape. There are also very many choices that a player can make to to help Mario progress forward in the mansion or get one of many death scenes that are present in the game. So be sure to save often. Despite being an RPG maker game, I could only count two times where a fight would occur. While that would bother me in other games, The Music Box actually brings up tensions during its normal gameplay and uses the two fights to amplify that tension (as they are both placed near two different endings). For a game made in RPG maker, this games visuals are very impressive. The sprite work and lighting are fantastic for this title and really helps in selling that unsettling feeling. Having hand drawn pictures to show case certain scenes and paint a better picture of the surroundings. There is also the music, ranging from very atmospheric, emotional, and that boss fight feeling when it needs to be. My favorite being V.S. Alice, as it is a upbeat/haunting piece to listen to during that encounter. Overall, if there was ever a thought about what a Mario horror game would be, then this game should be tried. Even without the Mario characters I feel that this game could still stand on its own. Shouldn’t need to be said at this point, but at least give it a try.