Great narration
I would
Have thought that a “choose your own adventure” decision-based game would have led for a somewhat shallow experience from beginning to end. I would have been wrong. The possibilities are seemingly endless, with varied paths to go through, an inventory system (you can pick up objects and use them), health to look after - to say nothing of the superb narration. This is an author, here, and if I figure out the author’s name, I’ll be disappointed if there aren’t books written by him/her. Well done. Sequel!
Have thought that a “choose your own adventure” decision-based game would have led for a somewhat shallow experience from beginning to end. I would have been wrong. The possibilities are seemingly endless, with varied paths to go through, an inventory system (you can pick up objects and use them), health to look after - to say nothing of the superb narration. This is an author, here, and if I figure out the author’s name, I’ll be disappointed if there aren’t books written by him/her. Well done. Sequel!
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Call of Games
A clear love of the horror genre combined with a very clever game mechanic makes this a fun and self-aware game.
Doesn't really make any sense
I've really enjoyed other games from this developer, but this one missed the mark. The story is creative, ambitious, and intriguing in premise, but something goes wrong in the execution and it just feels messy, repetitive and nonsensical.
Buggy. Give it a pass.
Decent story, but the was so buggy, I found it impossible to complete. Not worth it until this is corrected.
Buggy and frustrating
The game starts out fun and has good pacing and great descriptions. Unfortunately it has serious bugs that can prevent you from winning. For example, your companion tells you we must get to the basement when you're already in the basement; and he needs notes from another room but when you get there nothing happens. Soon you are running in circles with both locations telling you to go to the other location - while the clock ticks and you lose more and more health. I wish the game had been tested more as I really got into the narrative and would love to see how it ends.
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Fun
It wasn't actually that scary on first play through, but the imagery will linger in your mind for a long time. The story was compelling and the author commentary was interesting. An amazing amount of coding must have gone into the game. There are multitudes of choices and (thank heavens) multiple ways to solve puzzles that don't solely depend on finding one specific object. The replay value is decent, and you will be motivated to find all of the different endings. Enjoy!
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A lot of fun
For best results play in the dark
Clever and different.
This isn't one of those linear choice games that uses the same structure. This is in essence a free roam, haunted house text adventure. In my opinion I wouldn't go so far to say the game is scary; likely due to the restrictive format of the game as saying that, if this was a 3D game, it would be scary indeed. Instead the game creates tension and retains a spooky atmosphere throughout, always leaving you wondering if you should, for example, thoroughly read notes or investigating that closet for tools. This is because staying too long in an area or aimlessly exploring will inevitably lead to an encounter which you may, or may not be able to escape alive from.
The game has a brilliant time system with the house you're in changing considerably as it gets darker, meaning every time you walk into a room you get different descriptive texts. Encounters and situations also change depending on the rooms you're in at the time. Seemingly irrelevant items also find logical uses whilst going about solving the mystery with interesting statistics such as narrative bonuses (A bonus for being as horror story cliché as possible). Finally the game allows a lot of freedom on the player with as advertised, the option to ignore the house altogether for a fast but unsatisfying end.
On the negative side the game does feel slightly unfinished or rushed which is not benefitted by the authors optional commentary or the narration. Despite it being often informative, useful and occasionally funny, the author is perhaps too honest about the shortcomings of the game. I respect the honesty however he too readily admits that the save function is somewhat buggy, and that while developing this game he was behind on his writing so had to cut some corners,(He actually admits in game that he cut corners!!) detracting from the experience and leaving you feeling a little half empty about parting with your cash. Also, no matter how you finish the game the author offers bribes (He, himself calls them bribes) to try to encourage you to play the game again, as if admitting that the game may not be worth a second visit without them. The 'bribes' however are fun, but remove the challenge and some of the sense of urgency.
I only encountered one bug where I was using all the 'bribes' and went into many of the story related rooms to do the tasks before I was actually asked to do them (This will make sense if you play the game) resulting in being asked to go into a room to do a task I had already done.
Lastly, the game is rather little with only one puzzle; very limited for this genre, and the house does feel small, but the branching paths, choice and all the text you get, more than make up for it.
In conclusion, the game is fresh and deserves commendation for it's style and depth. I just hope that more people buy this to encourage the developer to further tweak and develop the game in more updates. I would however be surprised at this as they way the author spoke, this game seemed like a project he wanted to rush out and put to one side so he could concentrate on other things.
The game has a brilliant time system with the house you're in changing considerably as it gets darker, meaning every time you walk into a room you get different descriptive texts. Encounters and situations also change depending on the rooms you're in at the time. Seemingly irrelevant items also find logical uses whilst going about solving the mystery with interesting statistics such as narrative bonuses (A bonus for being as horror story cliché as possible). Finally the game allows a lot of freedom on the player with as advertised, the option to ignore the house altogether for a fast but unsatisfying end.
On the negative side the game does feel slightly unfinished or rushed which is not benefitted by the authors optional commentary or the narration. Despite it being often informative, useful and occasionally funny, the author is perhaps too honest about the shortcomings of the game. I respect the honesty however he too readily admits that the save function is somewhat buggy, and that while developing this game he was behind on his writing so had to cut some corners,(He actually admits in game that he cut corners!!) detracting from the experience and leaving you feeling a little half empty about parting with your cash. Also, no matter how you finish the game the author offers bribes (He, himself calls them bribes) to try to encourage you to play the game again, as if admitting that the game may not be worth a second visit without them. The 'bribes' however are fun, but remove the challenge and some of the sense of urgency.
I only encountered one bug where I was using all the 'bribes' and went into many of the story related rooms to do the tasks before I was actually asked to do them (This will make sense if you play the game) resulting in being asked to go into a room to do a task I had already done.
Lastly, the game is rather little with only one puzzle; very limited for this genre, and the house does feel small, but the branching paths, choice and all the text you get, more than make up for it.
In conclusion, the game is fresh and deserves commendation for it's style and depth. I just hope that more people buy this to encourage the developer to further tweak and develop the game in more updates. I would however be surprised at this as they way the author spoke, this game seemed like a project he wanted to rush out and put to one side so he could concentrate on other things.
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A Must Have
There's a lot that could go wrong when buying a game that just came out. There are bugs, typos, or just plain old boring.
But Shadow Horror quickly proves that it was worth the buy. If you're a fan of the Chose Your Own Adventure games this is for you, as it has a very interesting story, and even more interesting endings (even if some feel anticlimactic).
I won't ruin the story, but I encourage you to embrace the Shadows so you can find the golden light at the end.
But Shadow Horror quickly proves that it was worth the buy. If you're a fan of the Chose Your Own Adventure games this is for you, as it has a very interesting story, and even more interesting endings (even if some feel anticlimactic).
I won't ruin the story, but I encourage you to embrace the Shadows so you can find the golden light at the end.
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