[Chilla's Art] The Night Way Home | 帰り道

The Night Way Home isn’t your typical Chilla’s Art experience. For one, it’s third-person—something I don’t recall them doing in any other title—and more than just a walking simulator, it actually pressures you from time to time. It can feel tough if you don’t know where to go, but if you’ve played something like Outlast or Remothered, where constant pursuit is part of the gameplay, this will probably feel like a bit of a warm-up. I recently replayed it a few times to get all the achievements—which, frankly, are pretty annoying. In the city area alone, there are 27 Patreon stickers to collect, and with a tall demon girl on your tail, that becomes more tedious than tense. The panic meter and tripping mechanic also feel a bit off. Oddly enough, tripping in the city doesn’t matter much since you can still deploy the oonusa while you're on the ground, so you’re never really defenseless. While doing the “Die 10 Times” achievement, it became obvious how inconsistent the AI is. If you intentionally walk up to her to trigger a death, she’ll often just swipe at you a few times without ever pushing you into full panic—or even finishing the job. And maybe I’m going insane, but every time I died, I swear the “You Died” text got a little bolder or bigger. No idea if that’s intentional or just my brain playing tricks. Achievement hunting in general was kind of a nightmare. The spirits you’re supposed to interact with can sometimes bug out and not register, which is frustrating when you're already committing to 100% completion. That said, flaws and all, this game means a lot to me. It was the game that lit the fuse for my love of horror. It’s gritty, dark, and occasionally clunky. The flashlight sometimes doesn’t want to work, and yeah, it’s definitely one of Chilla’s more bug-prone titles—but it’s also short, affordable, and delivers a solid hour or so of good chase sequences and atmosphere. If you’re okay with being hunted and don’t mind a few bugs along the way, I’d say it’s absolutely worth a play.