Crow Country

This is so good that the only thing I can wish for is more of it.

Crow Country is a very clear love letter to games such as Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil and Silent Hill, but it manages to distinguish itself enough to have its own identity in my opinion. The visual design is insanely charming and gives it a unique identity, especially with the crow theme from funny looking trashcans to even item names. I quite liked the gameplay, even if it was a little more difficult than your average modern game to get used to the controls at first. The core gameplay feels exactly like a classic survival horror game with item management, puzzle solving with a bunch of backtracking, collectibles on subsequent playthroughs along with ng+ unlockables and a bunch of the lore being scattered across notes. Something I particularly liked was the enemy diversity, which all were vastly different visually but still looked twisted enough to make you feel unsettled. While the game isn't trying to scare you with something suddenly appearing in your face around each corner, I still feel it is very good at keeping you on edge. The sound design and atmosphere are great and give you this constant feeling of dread. The story itself is in no way award winning or anything, but I feel like that isn't exactly what anyone would be looking for in a survival horror game anyway. That being said, the story is still better than a good amount of that of other games in the same genre. It manages to convey its plot and the mystery behind what happened in the park nicely, though it also pokes fun at itself every once in a while. The characters, while you don't really get too many interactions with most of them, are also all fairly well written. None of them overstay their welcome, I even feel like involving some more in the plot would've been nice, and all have an important enough role. Spoiler warning for a major plot point: [spoiler] I find the reveal that Mara is in fact Elaine well executed. Playing through the game after finishing it once makes some of the dialogue also feel different, which is a nice bonus. The different ways to approach the final reveal, namely being able to either take the shower or directly speak to Crow through the intercom is also a little detail I really enjoyed. It shows the attention to detail the developers put in quite well. [/spoiler] I obviously went into this game expecting to like it, seeing as I'm a fan of the genre and frankly, would likely eat up the sloppiest of RE clones ever created, but even so I didn't think I would enjoy it this much. It was honestly a great experience, especially going into it blind and just taking in everything the park had to offer. By no means is it a perfect experience, but it's a charming game that will absolutely satisfy anyone that is looking for a retro horror game experience.