[b]My Playtime:[/b] 2.7h (100% achievement, finished the game)
[b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No.
[b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (2 achievements).
[b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No.
[h1]Intro[/h1]
[b]Clandestinity of Elsie[/b] is a horror [i]RPG Maker[/i] game where you have to explore the area and shoot enemies. You need to travel with a flashlight as your light source, limiting your vision to the enemies lurking in the area.
[b]Pros:[/b]
- The eerie background music and lack of supplies help to increase the suspense
- Enemies that appear out of nowhere can surprise you
- Interactable objects are highlighted
[b]Cons:[/b]
- Exploring areas take time due to the limited light source
- Lack of manual save
[b]Specs[/b]
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
[h1]Should you play this game?[/h1]
[b]Yes.[/b]
[i]If you are interested in horror RPG Maker games, this one should be up your alley.[/i]
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[h1]In-Depth Review[/h1]
[h3]Visuals[/h3]
You won't be seeing much of the environment due to the limited visuals. Most areas that are not reachable with your flashlight will either be completely black or dimmed, making it hard to see everything. Luckily, the game designed the areas with this in mind. Areas with almost no light source will be made very narrow, while the ones that are not will be wider. However, since enemies are still hard to see in the dimmed areas, it beats the exploration aspect of the game. I never dared to go beyond the intended paths since I'm afraid of the enemies. On the good side, the game always gives a nice guiding path, especially in the wider areas.
[h3]Story[/h3]
The story is told nicely. It tries to be mysterious at all times while still telling what happened to the main character's past. Everything will make sense in the end, which will also be wrapped "nicely" in the ending. To be honest, I found the ending to be unpredictable, and although it didn't give much impact overall, it's still good enough for me.
[h3]The Game[/h3]
[b]Gameplay[/b]
The game is focused on exploration. You have to explore all areas, interact with all interactable objects, and defeat all enemies that you see to progress the game. You will have a gun to shoot at the enemies, and since ammo is limited, you need to shoot carefully. Luckily, shooting isn't hard to do - you just need to face the enemy and press the shoot button. It's not as easy as it sounds though, and no, it's not about aiming; you don't have to aim to shoot.
It takes time to execute an attack. Your gun can only shoot one bullet before you need to reload, and although enemies only take 2-3 bullets to kill, you need to be ready to kill them. First of all, you need to wait for a while to take out your gun, which is required to shoot the enemies. Reloading will also take some time, so you're bound to either run away from the enemy or shoot the enemy from afar. However, running away will cause another issue since it's hard to see where to go.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=483623067
Areas are usually filled with obstacles and it's easy to get into a dead end before you realize it. Moreover, even if it works out, you can't just shoot the enemy right away since you need to wait for a while before you can turn around and shoot the enemy. Shooting enemies from afar is usually the safest option, although it can be hard to find a straight area for it.
Supplies might be hard to find at the beginning. I found myself having almost no medkits since I kept on getting hit by the enemies. It adds more suspense to the game though since I became more aware of my surroundings. I'm not sure whether it's because I became better at the game or it's because of the terrain, but I didn't have to use them often near the end of the game. As for ammo, you won't have any shortages of it - you can loot it almost everywhere, and as long as you don't miss too often, you should be fine.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=700586836
The lack of light sources can make it hard to explore the areas. Since the flashlight only covers 1-2 tiles wide at most, you are bound to explore the same area several times if you don't want to miss everything. Moreover, enemies tend to hide in vast areas, discouraging exploration. On the good side, the lack of supplies and enemies that "suddenly appear" out of nowhere help to set up the atmosphere, although I would be grateful if there is a way to increase the visibility once you cleared the area from enemies.
[b]Length and Difficulty[/b]
I finished the game in 2.7h. I died a few times, but it doesn't take long to reach where I was at. I didn't like that you need to rely on autosaves to save the game though, and the game never states when the autosave is triggered. There is an item that seem to allow me to return to an area where I could save, but I never used it since that area was far from where I was - I was afraid that I have to walk the long way to where I'm at or get soft locked from using it.
[b]Problems[/b]
It's hard to find walkable doors from up, left, or right sides in the first building. Luckily, these are all fixed in the rest of the areas with the arrow signs.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
[b]Clandestinity of Elsie[/b] might seem like a cheap horror game that relies on a limited light source, but it was performed well. It's not hard to explore the areas since maps were designed with a limited light source in mind, and you can always skip the ones that are too cumbersome to do. It might have some issues like the delay in shooting the enemies apart from the reload, but I believe it was more because of the engine limitation than anything. Besides, the game is free, and the quality is good enough for its "asking price". Those who enjoy horror games made in [i]RPG Maker[/i] will definitely enjoy this one too.
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