Jehanne
2013
One of the most iconic protagonists in otome history. My girl has one whole braincell and acts like she only has a vague idea of what it means to behave like an actual human being.
Also, there's this moment where she just basically goes: "OH? So people die when they are killed?" and it makes me spit my drink every time.
Anyway, the three stars are for Scarlet, just because the narrative simply forgets about him at some point.
Also, there's this moment where she just basically goes: "OH? So people die when they are killed?" and it makes me spit my drink every time.
Anyway, the three stars are for Scarlet, just because the narrative simply forgets about him at some point.
Granted, this one might not be for everyone.
It describes itself as "a cross between a walking sim and a tarot card reading" but I rather think of it as a short, intense experience, unlike anything I've ever played before.
I am quite fond of titles like these: highly vague, highly stylized, immersed in its own aesthetics. Not much in terms of gameplay but then again, it never claims to be a game at all. It's beautiful to look at, the atmosphere is utterly unique and it stayed with me for a while after I found all the endings.
It describes itself as "a cross between a walking sim and a tarot card reading" but I rather think of it as a short, intense experience, unlike anything I've ever played before.
I am quite fond of titles like these: highly vague, highly stylized, immersed in its own aesthetics. Not much in terms of gameplay but then again, it never claims to be a game at all. It's beautiful to look at, the atmosphere is utterly unique and it stayed with me for a while after I found all the endings.
2018
Sure, your girlfriend looks - and behaves - like a semi-molten barbie. The evil voice in your head sounds like a 12-year-old with a voice changer in a CoD lobby. The story makes little sense, unless you're equipped with a brain wielding the power of a thousand burning suns. Yeah, even the credits are utterly bizarre and a bit of a fever dream.
But perhaps you're not supposed to take this seriously. At least that's what I'm hoping for. More of a comedy than actual horror. Absolute masterpiece of a game. Truly, the best one I've ever played.
But perhaps you're not supposed to take this seriously. At least that's what I'm hoping for. More of a comedy than actual horror. Absolute masterpiece of a game. Truly, the best one I've ever played.
2020
I assume this game is an allegory for what happens when society does not support those who need it the most. A tribute to everyone who suffers in deafening silence; alone in their giant, yet sparsely furnished homes.
The antagonist of "Escape Until Friday" clearly shows how hardships can change a person and turn them into monsters.
The kidnapper is a character that invokes disgust, anger and yet, sympathy. Indeed, he is just a little dude. A normal guy. Someone you wouldn't pay attention to when you saw him in the streets.
All he has are some beans and an otherwise empty fridge. His kitchen drawers proved to be as desolate as his heart. Conversations are certainly not one of his strong points - in fact, I think this is where the effects of social alienation come into play.
Maybe this feeling of not belonging was what drove him to commit the crime of robbing another person of their freedom. Perhaps this is his final, desperate cry for help, for attention, for human company.
So what does this mean for the player? Should we fear his presence? Should we curse his name, his blank expressions, his funky animations? Or should we cry for him, our tormentor?
Or: Perhaps this game just isn't very good. Maybe this is poorly written, poorly programmed, just a huge mess. Yeah. Yeah, I think that might be it.
The antagonist of "Escape Until Friday" clearly shows how hardships can change a person and turn them into monsters.
The kidnapper is a character that invokes disgust, anger and yet, sympathy. Indeed, he is just a little dude. A normal guy. Someone you wouldn't pay attention to when you saw him in the streets.
All he has are some beans and an otherwise empty fridge. His kitchen drawers proved to be as desolate as his heart. Conversations are certainly not one of his strong points - in fact, I think this is where the effects of social alienation come into play.
Maybe this feeling of not belonging was what drove him to commit the crime of robbing another person of their freedom. Perhaps this is his final, desperate cry for help, for attention, for human company.
So what does this mean for the player? Should we fear his presence? Should we curse his name, his blank expressions, his funky animations? Or should we cry for him, our tormentor?
Or: Perhaps this game just isn't very good. Maybe this is poorly written, poorly programmed, just a huge mess. Yeah. Yeah, I think that might be it.
2020
This game follows the typical Reflect Studios formula: You do stuff on a computer and sometimes, you get jumpscared by a random evil guy.
I guess this one is a bit different because our main character has no sense for interior design. For some unfathomable, she decided to put a weird creepy painting in her hallway and I'm still a bit mad about that. Why are horror protagonists like that?
Anyway, the game itself isn't bad, it has some nice tense moments and a great atmosphere to it. The gameplay seems really interesting at first. Unfortunately, it starts getting repetitive quite quickly and I basically got bored of it after a few hours.
Wonderful game if you're looking for a quick scare but I would recommend playing Welcome to the Game instead of this.
P.S.: I really wish people would stop simping for doctor man. Please.
I guess this one is a bit different because our main character has no sense for interior design. For some unfathomable, she decided to put a weird creepy painting in her hallway and I'm still a bit mad about that. Why are horror protagonists like that?
Anyway, the game itself isn't bad, it has some nice tense moments and a great atmosphere to it. The gameplay seems really interesting at first. Unfortunately, it starts getting repetitive quite quickly and I basically got bored of it after a few hours.
Wonderful game if you're looking for a quick scare but I would recommend playing Welcome to the Game instead of this.
P.S.: I really wish people would stop simping for doctor man. Please.
2012
Admittedly, The Cat Lady has some flaws: Exploration feels clunky, you can't skip dialogues. The plot can be a bit slow as well and has little replay value, unless you just want to experience the story for a second time.
On top of that, it deals with some heavy themes that might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Yet, I still utterly adore this game. It provides an atmosphere of complete isolation, a sense of alienation. Every moment of happiness, human connection feels fragile and brittle, thus becoming a cherished instance of light in a sea of despair and hopelessness.
Susan's tale is not a happy one. There's not much solace to be found. At times, the surreal scenes reminded me of Kafka's works and I was reminded, again and again, of a line from A Country Doctor: “What am I doing in this eternal winter?” Indeed, playing this made me feel as if I was trapped in a November night, the last person awake, just my thoughts to keep me company. Heavy and foreboding and, at the same time, so very kind and comforting.
Just give this a shot. Maybe it won't turn your life upside down but I think it changed me a bit. I am quite sure it saved my life a tiny bit. If someone would ask me what it means to be human, I would point at this game without hesitation.
On top of that, it deals with some heavy themes that might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Yet, I still utterly adore this game. It provides an atmosphere of complete isolation, a sense of alienation. Every moment of happiness, human connection feels fragile and brittle, thus becoming a cherished instance of light in a sea of despair and hopelessness.
Susan's tale is not a happy one. There's not much solace to be found. At times, the surreal scenes reminded me of Kafka's works and I was reminded, again and again, of a line from A Country Doctor: “What am I doing in this eternal winter?” Indeed, playing this made me feel as if I was trapped in a November night, the last person awake, just my thoughts to keep me company. Heavy and foreboding and, at the same time, so very kind and comforting.
Just give this a shot. Maybe it won't turn your life upside down but I think it changed me a bit. I am quite sure it saved my life a tiny bit. If someone would ask me what it means to be human, I would point at this game without hesitation.
2022
Started off okay: Great atmosphere, nice game design, neat little puzzles.
Unfortunately, it fell flat rather quickly. Different story lines scrambled together with no real connection between them, tied to locations that also... have nothing to do with each other.
The game soon managed to destroy the carefully crafted (and honestly, pretty scary!) atmosphere by turning into a jump scare simulator half-way through.
And I guess we should also talk about the protagonist. The voice acting just isn't very good. In fact, he sounds close to tears at any given moment, his comments are annoying and often of little value. The devs seemed to know this, too, since they included an option to mute him. Which is pretty funny, ngl.
This could have been great but in the end, "Madison" is just another forgettable indie horror title.
Unfortunately, it fell flat rather quickly. Different story lines scrambled together with no real connection between them, tied to locations that also... have nothing to do with each other.
The game soon managed to destroy the carefully crafted (and honestly, pretty scary!) atmosphere by turning into a jump scare simulator half-way through.
And I guess we should also talk about the protagonist. The voice acting just isn't very good. In fact, he sounds close to tears at any given moment, his comments are annoying and often of little value. The devs seemed to know this, too, since they included an option to mute him. Which is pretty funny, ngl.
This could have been great but in the end, "Madison" is just another forgettable indie horror title.
2020
The songstress' unholy screeching trigged my fight or flight response.
2018
The fact that this got released (and that you had to pay money for it a while ago) truly amazes me.
The plot is such a mess. I swear, it has to be AI generated. A super computer that analysed tons of indie horror games and came up with this monstrosity.
This would work much better as a comedy: Our lovely protagonist keeps a detailed plan for murdering said friend in a word document and it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. The phone in your hotel room only has four buttons and a couple of numbers are completely missing. The voice acting is text-to-speech.
If you need a good laugh, this might be for you. If you're looking for horror, just find something else to play.
The plot is such a mess. I swear, it has to be AI generated. A super computer that analysed tons of indie horror games and came up with this monstrosity.
This would work much better as a comedy: Our lovely protagonist keeps a detailed plan for murdering said friend in a word document and it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. The phone in your hotel room only has four buttons and a couple of numbers are completely missing. The voice acting is text-to-speech.
If you need a good laugh, this might be for you. If you're looking for horror, just find something else to play.
2020
Beautiful to look at, a nice premise. Unfortunately, the later chapters of the game include nothing but frustrating puzzles and a badly written narrative.
I could forgive all of this, were it not for the main character. She likes to repeat herself - a lot. Her commentary is basically repeating whatever the player just saw.
And oh, yeah, at the end of the game, she suddenly becomes an omniscient narrator. For no reason, might I add. At this point, it's just bad writing.
I could forgive all of this, were it not for the main character. She likes to repeat herself - a lot. Her commentary is basically repeating whatever the player just saw.
And oh, yeah, at the end of the game, she suddenly becomes an omniscient narrator. For no reason, might I add. At this point, it's just bad writing.
2015
All the stars in my rating are for Aloth and Aloth alone.
very weird advertisement for computer parts.
Honestly, though: It's a solid horror title. Not very scary or deep but fun for a couple of hours.
The animations look smooth and the environment is quite detailed. I truly loved the designs of the enemies. Simple, yet effective.
Unfortunately, the visual aspects are overshadowed by the gameplay mechanics. Exploration is slow and rather boring, not much happens except for casual conversations on the way from one point of interest to the next. There are also chase sequences scattered about but they proved to be more frustrating than terrifying since it's hard to figure out where to go while running from an enemy.
Furthermore, the plot and the characters' personalities are all over the place and do not make much sense. The main characters seem to have the memory of a goldfish: They freak out when something supernatural happens but they usually forget about it a few minutes later.
This was based on a movie of some kind - I have never seen it. Mayhaps this might be a lot more interesting for fans of the film.
Honestly, though: It's a solid horror title. Not very scary or deep but fun for a couple of hours.
The animations look smooth and the environment is quite detailed. I truly loved the designs of the enemies. Simple, yet effective.
Unfortunately, the visual aspects are overshadowed by the gameplay mechanics. Exploration is slow and rather boring, not much happens except for casual conversations on the way from one point of interest to the next. There are also chase sequences scattered about but they proved to be more frustrating than terrifying since it's hard to figure out where to go while running from an enemy.
Furthermore, the plot and the characters' personalities are all over the place and do not make much sense. The main characters seem to have the memory of a goldfish: They freak out when something supernatural happens but they usually forget about it a few minutes later.
This was based on a movie of some kind - I have never seen it. Mayhaps this might be a lot more interesting for fans of the film.
2018
Absolutely loved the religious imagery! But that's about it.
Let it be said that I've never played any other games in the series. So I have no idea how this one relates to the other two Dungeon Nightmares. Are they supposed to be funny?
Because Ergastulum sure felt like a comedy. Weird animations, a story that is as wild as it is nonsensical. Granted, I couldn't tell you what this game is about even if I tried really, really hard because it just gives you nothing. No explanations for the different sequences, no context, no coherent story line. You just do stuff to proceed to the next thing on your agenda and never really learn why.
Maybe this is a weird social experiment? Are the developers trying to see how long they can make do actions without cause or consequences? Is this subliminal conditioning?
Let it be said that I've never played any other games in the series. So I have no idea how this one relates to the other two Dungeon Nightmares. Are they supposed to be funny?
Because Ergastulum sure felt like a comedy. Weird animations, a story that is as wild as it is nonsensical. Granted, I couldn't tell you what this game is about even if I tried really, really hard because it just gives you nothing. No explanations for the different sequences, no context, no coherent story line. You just do stuff to proceed to the next thing on your agenda and never really learn why.
Maybe this is a weird social experiment? Are the developers trying to see how long they can make do actions without cause or consequences? Is this subliminal conditioning?
Certainly not the best game in the series but it has an odd kind of charm to it. They just don't make stuff like this anymore.
Let it be said that I don't actually enjoy Backrooms games all that much: I find them dull and mostly repetitive. A lot of them simply drop you off at the world's worst Ikea and throw a bunch of screeching monsters at you which is... not a great concept in my opinion.
However, The Backroom: Lost and Found actually brings something new to the table - interesting mechanics, an unusual plot and a surprisingly endearing cast of miniature giraffes (?). I actually found myself replaying it once to check out the other endings.
Sure, the environment is a bit ugly (in typical Backrooms style) but it is clear that the devs put a lot of thought into this. I never expected to be emotionally invested in a game like this but I was. Granted, this won't change your life but it is a wonderful (free!) experience and a great way to spend a few hours.
However, The Backroom: Lost and Found actually brings something new to the table - interesting mechanics, an unusual plot and a surprisingly endearing cast of miniature giraffes (?). I actually found myself replaying it once to check out the other endings.
Sure, the environment is a bit ugly (in typical Backrooms style) but it is clear that the devs put a lot of thought into this. I never expected to be emotionally invested in a game like this but I was. Granted, this won't change your life but it is a wonderful (free!) experience and a great way to spend a few hours.