Dollhouse

Dollhouse has been a long-awaited horror game for the last six years; having first been announced in 2013. The developer, Creazn Studio, as well as the publisher, SOEDESCO Publishing, had both been extremely quiet about the release in general; no launch dates, and not much information on the gameplay or story. A bit more than a month before its release date, there was an open beta on both PC and PlayStation 4, which seemed to come and go without many critics or fans saying much. So, with all of the surrounding enigma, what exactly is Dollhouse? If you're reading this review before looking at any of the trailers for Dollhouse, I implore you to stop here and go do that now. Notice how NONE of them feature anything about the gameplay? That's because the gameplay is so atrociously boring and embarrassingly broken that the developer doesn't even want to show it off. Hardly anything of relevance in any of the trailers is actually featured in the game. This is one of the most misleading titles that I've ever had to write a review about. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, go into this game expecting anything more than item hunting in a labyrinthe while being stalked. There are no spooky little girls. There are no bodies that raise up out of bathtubs. There is no fog effect. There are no creatures that crawl up the wall/curtains. None of it. To sum the gameplay up, you walk around maze after maze, looking for memory canisters to put into Memory Machines so that you can go and solve a puzzle in order to get a master key to proceed to the next level; all while being stalked by an unrelenting giant doll, being attacked by mannequins, and avoiding deadly traps. There are a bunch of convoluted mechanics as well, such as abilities that are unlocked as you level up, using charges to destroy mannequins and traps, being able to analyze certain things, and marking walls with chalk to know where important locations are. There are even several things in the HUD that are never explained, and missing elements like how many Memory Canisters that you have. Every level looks virtually the same thanks to the black and white style. While I myself am a sucker for noir, there's very little deviation from the black and white theme here; the most you're gonna get is that the objects you need to collect are colored. There are six main chapters, each are a maze, and each take place in a different location; stereotypical hospital, fitting hedge maze, an upscale hotel, back stage of a movie set, etc. These labyrinthes are procedurally generated, although the formula stays the same each time. The puzzle that you have to solve in each of them is different from chapter to chapter, but they're overall very basic. Some levels even have additional puzzles that you can solve to get bonus items. The clincher here is that you're being chased the entire time you're playing Dollhouse by, well, a giant doll. I could not find any way at all to make this thing stop following me once it found me. I tried running around corners, hiding in rooms with the door shut, sprinting until I couldn't sprint anymore, you name it. When you die, you lose everything (including all the memories you've collected) and you have to go find your body, just like in Dark Souls. I eventually got sick of it and turned on Voyeur Mode, which gets rid of all of the threats in the game (doll, mannequins, traps) and just lets you wander around. This proved to be excruciatingly boring, so you'll get to choose boredom versus frustration if you do decide to play this convoluted, broken, unfinished mess. During my 5 hour playthrough, I experienced a plethora of glitches; some of them even game breaking in a major way. My first save file ended up getting stuck loading halfway through, so I had to restart the whole game. Whenever I finished the sixth chapter of the game on my second try at this title, the game glitched and didn't spawn the necessary script book that I needed to examine to be able to continue to the ending. Yep, this game actually glitched so badly that it failed to load an item necessary to being able to continue to the finish line. It should also be noted that at various instances the lighting of the game failed to return to normal after using a Memory Machine and the game was stuck in pitch-dark mode. There were also trap walls that wouldn't disappear no matter how many charges were used on it. So in short, Dollhouse is both a broken and unfinished release. It's filled with game breaking bugs, an overbearing enemy AI that will not lose you no matter what you do, a needlessly complex array of mechanics, a convoluted HUD that isn't ever fully explained, a lackluster leveling system with equally as dull abilities, maps that are the same exact thing over and over again just with new skins, and some of the most uninspired gameplay in horror overall. The noir style and attempt at a 1950's Hollywood theme is special in its own way, especially utilizing things such as scripts, "editing a movie" which is just picking your power-ups for the next chapter, and memories that are actual movie footage, but it's all very, very enigmatic and it's not explained well at all; if it's a thing in this game that even gets a small tutorial. A lot more work needs to be put into this before it's ready for mass consumption, and the false advertising trailers need to be taken down. [h1]Rating: [b]1.5/5.0[/b] - It's Bad.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore [b]The developer provided a free copy of this game for review, through The Horror Network's Curation page.[/b]

Dollhouse is a lacklustre horror game that unfortunately falls victim to its repetitive nature. It does have some interesting aspects weaved into it, but it ultimately left me frustrated and with strained eyes from the low lighting. The developers have been listening to player feedback and added a colour mode, a tutorial and bug fixes, but the actual core game itself is sadly...just boring. [u]Pros[/u] + Voyeur mode which eliminates all enemies and disables player deaths. + Colour mode + Players can see through the enemy’s eyes to track its location and other important items, but at the expense of revealing your own location. + Dedicated developers who are tirelessly listening to player feedback and trying to implement fixes. [u]Cons[/u] - The original black & white mode is very straining on players eyes and everything looks the same. - Constantly running around a dark labyrinth looking for items whilst being chased the entire time. - Extremely stiff controls that lead to myself and 2 other people who I also got to test the game, to feel sick. Possibly also due to the low lighting as well. - Very frustrating to find certain rooms/items. - If players die, they lose everything and must return to their body to retrieve their items. - Small player-base for multi-player mode. - Very dark and when the flashlight runs out of charge, I could not see a thing, but just had to wait until it slowly recharges. [h1]Story[/h1] Play as Marie, a detective who is trying to uncover her memories by delving deeper into her own mind. She has no idea where she, or her niece are. In this cryptic world, Marie begins to piece together her memories and choose which memories to erase and which to include into her overall story. [h1]Gameplay: An Overview [/h1] Unfortunately, this is where it goes downhill. The entire premise of the game is running around in a dark, procedurally generated maze to collect and find memories and place them in a memory machine (which look just like the tonic machines from Bioshock). When you have collected enough, you must enter a room and find the rules of the puzzle. The puzzles in each chapter are different, but the irritating part is that players must go back into the labyrinth and FIND the puzzle components, which I found to be quite frustrating. Whilst players are fetching all these items, there are enemies that stalk and attack the player. If you die, you lose all your XP and items and must try find your body to regain your lost possessions. [h1] Enemies [/h1] One form of enemy are mannequins that stalk players when they aren't watching. In other words, they move when players aren't looking directly at them. If they catch up to you, they slash you in the back, but players can heal if they collect repair kits, which are found scattered throughout the map. To combat the mannequins, players can use items to flash and subdue the enemies, so it is important to always have these items on hand. The main enemy tracks players through each map and is quite deadly. Players can use RMB to look through its eyes and deduce its location, as well as to find and mark other items of interest in the area. I enjoyed this mechanic, of being able to see through the bad guy's eyes, as it helped me find the memory reels. It also acts as a risk to players, this is because the longer we watch through its eyes, the more it is attracted to our location. This risk trade-off was quite interesting and worked nicely in the game, however, [b] constant chasing, did not. [/b] [h1] Movie-clips & Script[/h1] In-between the chapters, there are 'scripts' that tell Marie's story. There are some blank sections in it where players can drag lines of text to alter the story. These aim to give players some backstory but also enables some interaction, rather than just reading a huge chunk of text, which was nice. The memories that are collected each chapter are used between chapters to create a coherent movie of Marie's life. This is where players can choose which memories to erase, and which to keep. Once done, it is then evaluated by critics, if it is coherent then players can get XP and rewards. [h1]Special Powers [/h1] Very early on, players are shown a skill tree of powers and can select 2 to begin with, with more to unlock as the game progresses. Some examples of these power-ups are; being able to see enemies in the vicinity, infinite sprint stamina, see all items in the area etc. This was a nice addition to the game, but it was eerily like the Bioshock franchise and even used the same font. [h1]Puzzles[/h1] The puzzles are OK, they differ each chapter and usually involve things like finding all the TV's and changing them to a certain channel or deducing patterns. The puzzles itself were not bad but having to go back into the dark maze where a deadly creature is forever stalking you, was frustrating. I spent majority of the time running around in circles trying to find where I was supposed to go, rather than doing the puzzle. Most of the time this led to me dying (in normal mode) and having to restart. [h1]Graphics[/h1] The original game was intended to be noir, with gritty black and white art. Unfortunately, this does not pair well in dark maze scenarios where everything looks the same. Luckily, developers listened to feedback and added the colour mode, which is what I played in. The colour mode is better, and I get a better understanding of where I am, however it was still far too dark and this caused strain in myself and my partners eyes when we played. I tried fiddling with the settings but to no avail. Overall, the graphics are decent and give an eerie vibe, but it is not something that I can enjoy in the darkness and with the looming threat of being ever chased. [h1]Bugs & Glitches[/h1] When Dollhouse first released, many players experienced game-breaking glitches and now around 5 months later I am happy to say that I did not experience any glitches. [h1]Price & Content [/h1] Dollhouse has some interesting aspects but is ultimately flawed in its core gameplay, for $AU42.95 I cannot recommend this. I am an avid horror fan and do enjoy chase scenes, however, a game made solely of just that, in a dark maze, is not horror to me. The developers seem to be really trying to add new aspects and are quite honest and accepting of player feedback. I am grateful for their dedication to this project and I see great potential in Dollhouse, I would like to play another title by these dev's, maybe one that is more focused on story rather than chases. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Dollhouse is a horror game that tries very hard to encapsulate the panic and tension that occur during chase scenes, but unfortunately it fails to achieve this goal due to its repetition and confusing labyrinth environment. It’s extremely dark scenes left my eyes feeling strained and quickly lead to me to play in Voyeur and colour mode, which improved the experience, but is not something that I would choose to play. I appreciate the developers releasing patches to fix bugs and to combat some of the lighting issues, but the game itself is not something that I can see myself and other horror enthusiasts enjoying, especially with its high price tag. Sadly, I cannot recommend this game and I advise potential buyers to look up gameplay before purchasing and to be aware that it's dominantly just a chase cat & mouse scenario. This review copy was provided to the OCG-Curations curator. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34936724][quote]Follow my curator page, [b]Cookie Reviews[/b], if you enjoyed this review and want to see more like it.

[quote][h1]Full review (including score): https://youtu.be/Y2yFUj1WcvU Written review below![/h1][/quote] [h1]The rundown:[/h1] [b]Pros:[/b] + Interesting horror mechanics [b]Cons:[/b] - Repetitive gameplay - Wasted thematic potential - Game-breaking bugs As a big fan of film noir, I was really looking forward to checking out Dollhouse, a horror game directly inspired by that style. While the game does have some interesting mechanics to it, it is unfortunately brought down by its repetitive gameplay, wasted thematic potential, and many bugs. [i]Note: This is a review of the singleplayer portion of the game only. I was unable to play multiplayer before the game's official release.[/i] [h1]Pros:[/h1] [list][*][b]Interesting horror mechanics.[/b] For a horror game, Dollhouse brings some pretty cool mechanics to the table, a couple of which I haven't seen in the genre before. The first requires a bit of background. In order to complete each level, you need to locate memory reels scattered about, all while avoiding a spooky big bad chasing you around. However, the game allows you to see through this enemy's eyes at any given time, giving you both its location and any nearby items (including the necessary memory reels). The catch is that, when viewing through its eyes, it is drawn closer to you. It's a cool risk-reward mechanic that definitely made the experience more interesting. Aside from that, there's also the disappearing and reappearing walls that are affected by the player's flashlight, the puzzles that are deceptively simple, and the dolls that only move when you're not looking (a classic in the genre). While these mechanics were pretty cool on their own, the overall gameplay was unfortunately unable to match.[/list] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [list][*][b]Repetitive gameplay.[/b] My main complaint with Dollhouse is just how repetitive the gameplay feels. The entire game takes the form of an extended fetch quest, with a certain number of memory reels needed in order to advance to the next level. Given the genre, this is usually fine, especially when combined with some good writing and a cool aesthetic, but Dollhouse takes it a bit too far. That is because the game simply copy-pastes this gameplay across a bunch of different levels. The scenery may change and a new trap or enemy may be introduced, but other than that, you're doing the exact same thing you just did in the previous level. It loses its appeal very early on as a result and just grew boring to play. For a game that has been in development for so long, this just feels lazy. [*][b]Wasted thematic potential.[/b] Given that the gameplay is repetitive, I had at least hoped that the game's noir theme and storyline could carry it. Unfortunately, I was let down there as well. While the storyline itself is fine, it really felt like the game took the noir theme just for the sake of having one instead of actually using it to its advantage. Take for example the game's "movie clip" mechanic. The memory reels that you gather while playing provide you with clips to use in a movie editing sequence at the end of each level. This movie will then go on to critics who will review it and give you experience points based on if it met their standards or not. However, there really isn't that much of a reason to play around with this mechanic. With minimal effort, you can reach every critic demand and earn just as much XP as you would if you actually spent the time to build a coherent movie. It just felt like wasted potential, especially considering that about a fourth of the game's disk usage is made up of these clips. There was obviously a lot of effort put into gathering and editing them, so it was a shame to see such a feature put to waste like this. [*][b]Game-breaking bugs.[/b] On top of its gameplay issues, Dollhouse also has quite a few bugs, a few of which actually broke the game for me. During one of the game's last couple chapters, I ran into a game-breaking bug that prevented me from progressing. To be specific, an object that was supposed to spawn did not, preventing me from escaping a certain room. I originally had thought I messed up somewhere, but looked at playthroughs of the same area and saw that this was not the case. On top of that, the game would not let me quit out of it while in this room, forcing me to ALT+F4 and try again. However, regardless of how many times I restarted the game and played with its settings, I still ran into the same issue. As such, I had to give up on the game at that point, even though I was very close to beating it. Aside from that specific bug, I also ran into another game-breaking bug with a door not opening and a bunch of other, more minor ones. Again, for a game that's been in development for so long, this was very disappointing to see.[/list] [h1]Overall:[/h1] While Dollhouse does have some cool mechanics, it is unfortunately brought down by its very repetitive gameplay, wasted thematic potential, and game-breaking bugs. A shame really, as I quite liked the noir style that it was trying to go for. Hopefully the bugs are something that can be patched up with time, but even then, I cannot see myself recommending the game. Follow my [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/3215371]Steam Curator Page[/url][/b] for more reviews + videos!

[h1] Sum up[/h1] + Abilities come in a wide variety and are useful. + Choose how to experience the story in four singular modes. + The monster tracks the player, pursuing them instead of randomly showing up. + Voyeur mode for those that want to play the game for the puzzles and atmosphere. + Levels are designed as an elaborated trap with close corridors, puzzles, and monsters. + Dynamic generated maps for both singleplayer and multiplayer keep the maps unique and fresh. +/- Tutorials are too short and lack information. At the same time, the game doesn’t hold your hand. - Black bars can be an eyesore for some. - Controls are stiff, they could be smoother. - The game can get really tiring over time due to its visual effects always changing. -The constant flash, white and black exchange can get sickening and strain the player’s eyes. - While defining itself as a horror game, it features more puzzle features. Creating identity problems. [h1] Introduction [/h1] Dollhouse is a horror game that heavily features elements from puzzles games. It redirects its focus towards atmospheric tension instead of pure fear with an elaborated game of cat and mouse . Players will choose how the story will develop as they play in procedurally generated maps, shaping the experience to be more individual for each player. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] Players must accomplish a set of tasks on each map, these usually present themselves as collectibles and puzzles. However, the player doesn’t know where these are located, nor will they get any hints towards where they are. As such, they must use the mechanic known as “focus” which allows them to peek through the monster’s eyes as the monster can see all sort of things, including the objectives and their location if they are within their field of vision. That being said, “focus” is a double-edged sword as this will allow the monster to get a better grasp on the players current location. The more the player uses their focus, the easier it will be for the monster to catch them. This creates an environment of rapid movement, as the chase goes on the player will need to use the monster vision to see their objectives, collect them, and avoid the monster in quick succession. Sometimes they will have to also resolve puzzles which add layers of depth to these chases. The most common type of collectible known as “memories”. These represent the recollections of events of the protagonist or other characters that are scattered across the level. Once the player collects one, they can use a set of different machines in the level to transform these memories into films. Each machine can edit those films in different ways, and they can also be used to get rid of them as well. Once the player has enough of these, they can enter a special room which will ask them to solve a specific puzzle. The puzzle that that are presented within these rooms tend to be the main ones, and they can be tricky to resolve as the monster continues to chase the player while they must figure out the puzzle or accomplish a set of goals. There are also keys to open locked rooms, optional puzzles, and more. There are a great variety of abilities, resulting in something as simple as generating chalks or stock (chalk is used to keep track of certain locations while stocks are expended to use abilities) to being able to see all doors outlines for a while or pacifying the monster for a couple of seconds. They further enhance the gameplay and give options to the player. Customize your own loadout and make it a part of your own playstyle in order to survive. The player also has access to a camera with a flash and a flashlight. The camera can be used to stun the monster, giving enough time for a quick escape and the flashlight can be used to illuminate your surroundings as well as a deterrent to lesser monsters who attack you when you expose your back or is too dark. There are multiple enemies in each level that will hinder the player in different ways while the main monster chases them. There is also the option to analyze enemies which can net you rewards and give you information about how they behave. This can be useful as it reveals how they react to certain actions as well as they strengths and weaknesses. Knowing your enemy is the first step to overcome them. Those points are the general rule of the thumb. Each level comes up with their own rules and mix-ups. All the pursuers distinguish themselves from one another, for example one will never make any noise while another gets notified of the player location when they collect an item. Levels can shift during the gameplay as they can get flooded by water or re-arrange its hallways in order to obstruct the player. [h1] Story [/h1] The story follows the protagonist Marie, who finds herself in a realm filled with memories and monsters with no idea to how she arrived there. Marie must piece together her past in order to find out what happened to her niece as well as who she is and what’s her story. There are options between remembering or forgetting the past and choosing the genre of your picture will influence how the story plays out. Depending on your actions, the story can also change exponentially. [h1] Some Notes [/h1] The game runs at a smooth 60 FPS and while there is no cap, it doesn’t exactly soar up to 120 or 90 FPS. The only problems that I found were when running the game on the highest setting with a GTX 1060, was it would sometimes drop to 20-30 FPS but would maintain solid 60 FPS on the second highest visual setting. The main strength of the game is its atmosphere and unique ideas/concepts. There were no glitches or crashes during my experience. [h1] What Makes It Special [/h1] What makes Dollhouse so special is its unique take on horror games. Usually, horror games present a story that is left for the player to imagine, creepy monsters that radiate bloodthirst and to a lesser extent puzzles. Is more akin to following a segment from point A to point B. Dollhouse, in contrast, focuses itself on chases while handling multiple tasks. It introduces mechanics that can be the downfall of the player or a cornerstone to rely on as the experience gets tailored by the player as they play. The game story is exceptional as it can be experienced in multiple ways base d on the decisions the player took at the beginning. It can be a story of mystery, a biography, a documentary or even a story about a family. This in addition to in-game choices, creates a huge storyline that invites the player to replay the game or select what kind of story would they want to see. [h1] Conclusion [/h1] Dollhouse adds a new concept to horror games , an idea that takes a risk in exploring uncharted territory but one that I find refreshing. It abandons the classic horror tropes and adopts a game of cat and mouse filled with tension, dread, and adrenaline. The key word for Dollhouse is “chase”. It employs all its elements toward the chases in order to create something that is interesting and new to the genre. I recommend this game to everyone who enjoys horror games and to those that want to enjoy something out of the ordinary. [i] This product was reviewed using a key provided by the developer or publisher. [/i] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/23741321/]Follow our curator page,[b] Alexander's Club Curations[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url]

(Disclaimer: This review pertains only to the single player version of the game. I haven't tried the multiplayer and I'm not liable to, since that's really not my bag.) Well well, this is certainly different: a horror game going for a "jazz era" aesthetic. In the first five minutes of the game, we already have a "prohibition"-style font and an uttering of the phrase "would you kindly". Oh, and look, there's also "audio journals" aplenty to pick up and listen to! So far, so BioShock. Unfortunately, this early on, we also have multiple instances of fairly mediocre voice acting. But still pretty promising, just the same. There's certainly an atmosphere and a genuine air of mystery going on. Unfortunately that word, "mystery" - also the name of the Easy game mode I've chosen - is soon to prove my undoing... Promising starts aside, it isn't long before I'm baffled about what I'm supposed to be doing. I mean, I get that the mannequins move when I'm not eyeballing them, and I get that I can "spy" through the eyes of the main enemy/entity as it stalks me. But what was all that stuff about collecting and extracting "memories", and unlocking skills to be able to clearly see [i]doors[/i] and whatnot? The "cleverness" and complexity of this game seemingly knows no bounds; shame that the tutorial is comparatively lacking. And the graphics are so f-ing dark that I can barely see where I'm going, much less work out what I'm supposed to do when I get there. Here's the problem, in my view: sure, there's plenty of games that require one to slowly learn the ropes and gradually master the mechanics...but [i]horror games[/i] simply don't work this way. A good horror game needs to work on an immediate, visceral level, and get blood pumping to your heart faster than your brain. I was so busy being befuddled by this early portion of the game that I didn't have the time or energy to be "scared". The mannequins whacking me senseless soon proved more irritating than frightening, and the sheer frustration of it all led me to pack it all in quite quickly. I'm sure I'll return to this one, in six months or so, after the inevitable "updating" and "bug-fixing" period so ubiquitous to Steam games these days. Perhaps these devs [i]will[/i] improve the tutorial somewhat, presuming I'm not the only one who moans to this effect. Then again: perhaps I'll be the only person with this complaint? Stranger things have certainly happened. Put simply: I just didn't "get" it, nor did it grab my interest enough for me to persevere right now. And it certainly wasn't much "fun". (I'm just not that much of a getting-lost-in-labyrinths kinda guy, I guess. [i]Especially[/i] when they're "procedurally generated".) In the meantime, I regrettably can't award this a recommendation. I don't believe this is an incompetent game by any stretch, just an unnecessarily convoluted - and somewhat unfinessed - one. For all I know there may be some kind of masterpiece lurking beneath its very murky exterior; only time will tell. (Man, I'm getting tired of this era of barely-finished games being tested on public audiences, then patched in the weeks or months that follow. In the ye olde days, you got what you got, so they made sure it all functioned [i]before[/i] the product hit the store. But again, in this instance, maybe it's just me, and my patience is just wearing increasingly thin...) Verdict: 4.5/10. (PS If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my two Curator pages: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/9284586-ReviewsJustfortheHELLofit/​ http://store.steampowered.com/curator/10868048-Truly-Horrible-Horror-Games/?appid=398210​ Cheers!)

So I purchased this game without reading up on it, because I wanted to start a new survival horror game without knowing what to expect, which is good because all of the trailers completely mis-sold the game. At the start Dollhouse seemed like it was exactly what I was looking for, aside from a few technical issues which unfortunately snowballed to the point where it was pretty much unplayable. TLDR: The game does not properly explain its overly complicated mechanics, a lot of which are broken; the gameplay is boring, repetitive, and far too difficult (even on easy mode) because of a lot of the player abilities don’t work correctly. ***Spoilers*** GIST OF THE GAME: Dollhouse is essentially a game where the player runs around a series of procedurally generated, themed dungeons while being constantly pursued by eerie mannequins which can only move when you’re not looking at them, and one main enemy which constantly searches the map for the player and delivers a one hit KO if it manages to get right next to them for about a second. The aim of the game is to collect film canisters which you then take to a randomly placed machine in order to extract a “memory” and when you get x amount of them you can use them to open door A, which allows you to do a puzzle and receive a key for door B, so you can go play a mini game to reveal a plot point, then run to door C to do one last mini game and finish the level - rinse and repeat for the first seven of the eight levels. Additionally, there are a lot of interesting abilities for the player and the enemies which change as the game goes on. MAIN ISSUES: 1. Tutorial – The tutorial doesn’t explain enough about the game. I got to the end of the game (which took hours) and I’m still unsure about several basic aspects of the game. Furthermore at one point during the tutorial I was supposed to puck up an item but the way-point was stuck in the middle of a hedge pointing at nothing. 2. Main Enemy - The AI for the main enemy is far too aggressive (think Mr X/Tyrant from Resident Evil 2, on steroids) and can kill you far too easily (I was dying pretty much constantly on easy mode). The game does allow you to get back the things you’ve lost after you’ve died but that’s only if you can find the spot where you died in a huge maze where everything looks the same (the game does let you set way-point markers but these disappear for various reasons and there is no map). 3. Chalk – This gets its own section because it’s a big part of what makes the game unplayable. The game allows you to draw chalk doodles on walls to set way points so you can find your way back to points of importance, but these often disappear when you die or if the game has given you the incorrect passive ability which erases them, or if you accidentally erase them yourself because you’ve tried to pick something up while looking in the same direction as the way-point because the same button picks things up, opens/closes doors, and erases doodles if you’re looking towards them. 4. Abilities - In the game the player can select from a plethora of different active and passive skills, which become more necessary as the game goes on, but unfortunately some of these have been mixed up (your passive which allows extra chalk doodles actually just makes your current ones disappear) and others just don’t work at all. 5. Horror – The game loses all value as a horror very quickly because the main enemy catches you so easily. It completely desensitises you to the enemies, and because of the broken mechanics I often found myself letting the main enemy kill me in a location which I knew I could get back to, rather than run from it and risk losing all my items for good. Overall, this game is an unpolished clunky adventure in frustration.

After an hour and a half, this is the most frustrating and annoying game start I've ever played. The controls are barely usable, the introduction is obtuse and confusing, When you die, you are supposed to find your body to recover your pick-ups, but I can't get there without dying again. I still have no idea how the powers are supposed to work... the list goes on. I love the look of the game and the premise, but it is just unplayable.

Cool style, interesting story :) and scary dolls..... O.O

[h1] Introduction [/h1] When i first bought this game, i was really excited seeing the videos & screenshots on the shop page. I decided that should be enough for me to get it, since i didn't wanna spoiler myself too hard. So about 10 Minutes into the game i was really confused and the controls/gameplay didn't feel all too good or inviting at all, after 50 Minutes i've already gave up without even close to beating the first level; (noting that and with in my mind that while playing this game had a review rate of 50% positive 50% negative, most players with short gametime leaving a negative review and vice versa for people that played it longer. ) So i left the game for the day and returned the next one. Everything still felt kinda weird there was no real "handholding" or guideline which i'm not used to. Nonethless i wasn't gonna give up on this game and as i really liked the idea & the setting behind it. Everytime i logged on to play it i've learned something new, and the story kinda bound onto me, i slowly got the grip of it and it started to actually be fun, the story took me into it's binding so that i just had to know what else will come. [h1] Voice acting [/h1] The Voice acting overall is really good, except the pursuer ( "enemy" ) can sometimes repeat itself pretty often which can get annoying over time if you deal with it a little longer. [h1] Soundtrack [/h1] There's not much to say about the Soundtrack except that it fits really well with the atmosphere and has overall a really good taste with it. [h1] Setting [/h1] Interesting ambiente, in 50s-60s film noir style with some maze like rooms. [h1] Graphics [/h1] I mean the graphics are not great, but they are okayish-good, they are fitting to the game, there's not really much more that can be said. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] You have to actually keep going and figure things out yourself, what was annoying in the start got really nice while playing for a while, it's not for every player tho. The levels will change and the enemy KI will swap it's pattern a bit and get a little more difficult every level. There are some puzzles which are often too easy, except one that took some time and was really nice to figure out myself. [h1] Good [/h1] + Amazing Storytelling + Good character&story development + Not much guideline + Ambiente / Setting [h1] Bad [/h1] - Repetitive Voicelines - Not much of a challenge in puzzles - Repetitive Gameplay [h1] Price, Endword & Recommendation [/h1] I bought it on sale for less than 2 Bucks ( 90% off ca. ) which is totally worth it. When i look at the normal price which is currently at around 20 Bucks, i say wait till it goes on sale, even if it's a small % sale, just go for it. This game has alot in it and i would buy it again. [u] Big time recommend for a one-time playthrough. [/u]

At first I was honestly hating this game but I ended up actually liking it. The gameplay is extremely basic and repetitive: you have to walk through eight different labyrinths, pick up items and push some buttons while shooting evil mannequins and running from a creature called "It". I deleted my savings by mistake when midlength and decided to restart in the "Voyeur" mode to recover my progresses quickly; that was the best decision because it allowed me to focus on the story for real. In fact, the plot is the only reason to get "Dollhouse" IMO: it is very intriguing, full of twists and the ending is everything but granted. Collecting ALL of the memories and fragments is essential though and I managed to do this only when I played without physical enemies hunting down the main character. Con is that this way you are gonna finish very soon: I think I completed it in about ten hours. But even in the standard mode it is said to last a very few. Another thing I had to change from the way it was meant to be played originally is the illumination: with the suggested one you get to actually see something only with very low ambient light or in full darkness and that isn't good at all for your eyes; I ignored the options indication and increased it. For the same reason I also suggest to always choose the "Colour" mode, which helps your sight without ruining anything. Conclusion: I'd recommend this game, yes, but only at a very reduced price.