Chilling Silence

The developer clearly has the talent for level design and retro modeling, but it seems to be the only good thing about the game, the story is not good, the sound design is not good, the gameplay is not good, everything else will require more experience, which is fine, I think everyone has to start somewhere, but the game is just not worth playing. It's a 30 minute story so not much of a game to begin with, and a very glitchy one with potential softlocks, poor item interactions, and a ton of clipping into the walls. Even if the developer manages to fix all the bugs, the game is honestly a nothing burger, there was nothing compelling about the narrative or the writing, and the few jump scares it has mostly fail because of poor sound design, or the lack of it. It's not a traditional survival-horror, more of a linear narrative game - it has no combat, just walking and picking up a few items, very rarely you might have to dodge a few monsters that just feel like lifeless 3D models. There is very little suspense building in the game, and when there is, it can't create any tension because it often lacks proper sound Qs and appropriate soundtrack. There is some kind of stress mechanic where you can consume items to reduce it, but honestly it comes up like a few times in the entire game and makes no difference, not to mention that items also seem to be broken in multiple ways. I will say that you got the hardest part down which is the design of the environment, but the devil is in the details, the game has no substance, it has very little character or personality, it just has nothing else going for it. I think there are many little things that can be done here to improve the experience, even something simple like using more sound effects and having more music changes in the game, it can make a big difference. To reference the Silent HIll, that first song is so iconic and it sets the mood for the entire game, if you remove it, the experience is very different, so you really need to have more sound design across the game, using more music, using more sound effects and various changes in how you handle jump scares or set up the monsters. To give you a small but very important advice, pick any popular horror game like something out of Puppet Combo's library or even generic survival horror like something from Capcom, watch and listen to what happen during the scenes when monsters or enemies are introduced, the music changes right, and there are sound effects associated with those enemies, or they are introduced in a cool way, like a zombie turning a head after eating a dude. A 3D model in itself is not immersive, what makes a monster immersive is how you introduce it, and very importantly, the sound effects and change in the soundtrack when it happens. If you can't do that, the game will always feel flat when it comes to tension and immersion, it's all about sound manipulation, that is what makes it feel real. [h1]Pros: [/h1] (+) The retro modeling is actually pretty decent here, the fixed cameras and following cameras are not all that bad, the locations have nice gloomy vibe to them similar to Silent Hill, and overall I think you got the aesthetic down well enough. [h1]Feedback: [/h1] [u] Glitches [/u] - it seems you can pick up multiple copies of consumable items, also they left my inventory when I needed them. Sometimes you can't pick up items because the interaction angle is very funky to find. Some parts of the game are not translated. There are too many clipping issues on the map, phasing into objects or even flying on top of the rooms. I had a softlock with the door in the apartment when you return, and another one near the pipe where I could not move. [u]Some generic gameplay suggestions: [/u] - you could have the character run and turn a little faster, she feels kinda heavy - you need to use music and sound effects more often across the game, perhaps also use more intense music during danger scenes as well - the game looks decent, but the filter(grain) makes it too blurry, it loses too much color, even if you compare it to Silent Hill where you could still make out textures pretty well - the game could use some type of marks for doors, to make it easier to know what you entering [Also, try to have cutscenes to introduce every monster, and the best way to do it is for them to kill someone in the cutscene] [b] Overall Thoughts: 4/10 [/b] Like I said, I think you at least got the visual design down which is arguably the hardest part, but now you need to learn the importance of always using sound effects and soundtrack changes in every relevant scene and making sure you are nurturing that immersion and atmosphere. There wasn't anything in the narrative that stood out to me, one cheap trick you can do to elevate the game is to graphically kill some characters, also gives you a chance to introduce enemy types in a cool way, something you could consider doing next time. There needs to be a little more focus on the characters, maybe some close-up scenes where they get hurt. I hope you improve, but right now there was nothing here to enjoy, just a pretty map. (Review copy was declined, I bought the game a few hours before I got the offer) [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

Why was this released ? English doesn’t work, the character glides around with no walking mechanic, then the game crashed after 5 mins. I get there is bugs to fix, I’ll update this once a patch is out

Even though I think the game is okay, it is not worth $12CAD. It'd be better if it was $3-4CAD or even free. I like the aesthetic and atmosphere. Everything else is either mediocre or just bad. -There is barely any gameplay so it just feels like its a walking sim with the rare e to interact. -The horror is immediately sucked away due to meh sound design, immersion breaking things (awkward pauses that come up before "chase" sequences) , and being unable to see whatever the monster is without having to actively investigate. -The story is fine... I think. I wouldn't be able to tell because sometimes the game would skip dialogue or it would become a word scramble. -I didn't really run into bugs outside of phasing through objects (specific door that is close to school entrance, bookshelves in the school), E not working on doors making me have to reapproach them, and the game stalling during the janitor closet part making me unable to move. I don't really care about bugs but they do break immersion. -The inventory system is only needed to be used once in the entire game so what is the point in having it. You have good vision but just need to work on your execution. And lower the price cause I refuse to believe this is worth more than mcdonalds.