Julia Hartsell

Fantastic game. I skipped 4 but played 1-3 and believe it or not, I think it’s my favorite aside from Crimson Butterfly. The plot was incredibly moving; quite the tear-jerker. It’s also genuinely one of the creepiest games I’ve played, and I’ve played the bulk of horror games, from AAA to so small that hardly anyone has heard of them. This one was one of the most shocking and terrifying. There were a couple moments that my heart skipped a beat, and that rarely happens these days. The whole thing had me on edge and I wanted to play it in a single time run, it was that good. The combat was a lot easier and frankly, that’s a good thing in my opinion, as I thought the first couple were stupid hard. Now I can actually see what’s going on and am not total trash at combat. There was one thing that bugged me to no end and that was the ultra-slow animations. From running in water (just why??), to picking up items (because a ghost may attack but it could still be sped up), to opening doors. Way too slow. Please increase the speed for next game, devs! Also the movement was quite strange. Why not just stick to the standard? It’s the standard for a reason (because it’s superior). It doesn’t feel any different than the OG games and others from the 2000s. I would also have liked a bit more content. The story was great but I felt like it was a bit skimpy, especially compared to the previous games. On the flip side, a couple of the games were so info dense that I was having a hard time retaining it all. I feel like there’s a good middle ground though, perhaps as dense as the older games but with a bit more explanation? Another annoying thing was how dumbed down everything was. For Very Easy difficulty… okay… but for most people I think it’s unnecessary. For instance if you find a key, a super slow animation plays out showing you where it goes to… which is usually where you just came from. Sure it makes sense to put it on the map I guess, but why make me sit through something I obviously already know? Also it’ll do things like… say you’re walking into a hallway with two obvious doors… you try one door and it doesn’t work, and then there’s another super slow animation that says “it’s locked but there’s another door over there.” Thanks? I knew that lol. I do wish that there was increased difficulty starting out. I played on normal and I felt like I was swimming in items. That’s not a bad thing on easier difficulties, but I think Normal is way easier than the first couple games were. The graphics could also be improved, as they kind of look 2000s esque, but it’s not something that I need either, just a minor point. All that to say, it was so good that it still gets a 4.5/5 in my book. If the things I mentioned change, it would be an easy 5/5 for me.