Silver Chains

A flawed haunted-house-style horror adventure. I almost gave it a thumbs up, but after re-reading my review I realized that it's just not quite good enough.

First, an important warning: JUMP SCARES. If you understandably hate those, don't play this game.

There's a very satisfying core to this game. It has an intriguing story with a more psychological horror (they should allow you to disable jump scares, the game would still be fine). The story is neither deep nor original, pretty much what you would expect from this genre, but it has some layering. The graphics and the house's architectural design are pretty good, if not exceptional. After a while you will get to know it quite well...

...because of the backtracking. There are a handful of puzzles. None of them are especially good, some are poorly telegraphed, some are pointless busywork, and almost all involve considerable backtracking. Unfortunately, movement is quite slow and sometimes buggy (I got stuck in the terrain twice), so backtracking is just not fun. I'll avoid spoilers, but mention that there is an action sequence that is unnecessary and frustrating.

A more minor complaint: the English translation quality is very inconsistent. Sometimes it's fine, but sometimes it's riddled with confusing errors, which just makes the whole experience feel unpolished.

I think the team who worked on this game has great potential! But I also think they should spend more time on puzzle design. Make every puzzle count!