The game at a glance

The game starts pretty much right away with you controlling the main character, Youngho. The tutorial gets going as you progress and start by meeting some characters and learning a bit about their background as you do. You also get a glimpse of what the main scenario is going to be about as a worrying ambulance is parked right in front of the school to pick up a student that collapsed without much apparent reason, and you pick up the main key item in the game right next to it: some mysterious pendant. Once all main characters have been introduced, the real game starts very quickly and drops you right into a horror movie: you wake up in class, alone, in the dark, and your beautiful and kind teacher tries to kill you.

This was really a good start for me. It was quick but it still took the time to introduce most of the characters and their situation, but also didn’t waste any time in useless dragged on chatter and brings you quickly to the core of the game. I also love how you instantly switch from the safety of your everyday school life with its perks and problems to an unforgiving and mysterious dark world without a clue as how or why it happened.

The game really doesn’t waste any time throwing you in harm’s way and expects you to react quickly to your first assault. I loved how it puts you in the shoes of the main character as you barely have time to adapt and react to your first dangerous situation, and then expects you to figure it out for yourself. After this you get to explore the school at your leisure (and your own risk) as you find items, hints, objectives, and other characters. Of course, the killer can come back for you at any moment and you will have to run, hide, and heal to survive. Even seemingly safe rooms have danger in them in the form of traps like vines poisoning you, ghosts clawing at you causing bleed, or corpses falling on you.

From beginning to end the game barely lets you catch your breath as all those hazards keep ambushing you, and even when there is nothing you stay on your toes in case there IS something. Combine this with the great visuals that are dar, creepy and gore, plus the nice sound effects that keep you in a worrying mood, the game does a great job at maintaining pressure all throughout the experience, increasing the occurence of danger as you progress throught the story. Going from one room to another to complete an objective, sometimes in another building, makes for stressful and exciting trips figuring out the way while keeping safe. It felt tense from beginning to end, which is a great thing in a horror game.

great chara design and illustrations

I thought the neat illustrations and chara design really added to the general atmosphere of the game. The characters were all unique, had some background, their own agendas, and were brought to life even more through the illustrations you are shown throughout the game. Sometimes it felt a bit like the story was told in the manner of a visual novel, though short, and it was a welcome change of pace from searching the dangerous school. Even the game over screen had really nice illustrations that changed as the game progressed and the killer changed weapons! I found myself dying on purpose from time to time after saving just to see if there was a different illustration upon death. Unlike many horror games i’ve played that have inexistant stories or narrative, this game has a nice story and set of characters, and the art underlines this part beautifully.

My favorite bits in this game

As a horror fan in general, there is a lot to like in this game. The thing i’m most fond of here is the atmosphere. Sure the haunted deserted school setting is nothing new and revolutionary, but I love it and crave this kind of closed off building full of creepy danger at every corner where you have to survive.

While the gameplay is pretty simple and light, there are more actions and items than in most horror games. I like the survival side of the game where you get to find a lot of items by searching every nook and cranny of the school, taking more risks to gain an advantage and having to manage your ressources accordingly.

Finally, I love the art of the game. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the in game representation of the characters and objects has a really nice feel to it.