[h1]In Short: A hidden gem in the rough. Buggy and short, but has a lot of heart and interesting story that keeps you playing.[/h1]
https://youtu.be/8NsDT13RYMA
I originally purchased and played Pembrey when it first came out, but mistakenly [i]early[/i]. It was only partially done, and I hadn’t even gotten to the good part yet! I could tell there was a decent game there, and eagerly awaited when it would be released in full.
That day has come.
I streamed it, and now that I was able to experience the story in full, I can say I still enjoyed the heart of the game, and found it fun as well as intriguing. Enough to make me want more of the story and more games from this dev.
That isn’t to say this was perfect; in fact, it was a bit far from it. There were several bugs and typos during my playthrough, but the dev is one of those who is attentive and tries their best to fix any issues they notice. In fact, they credited me with helping find and point out several issues when I first played and streamed the game, and told me the second time I did the exact same thing.
There’s no combat; you can’t even really defend yourself as you run from the enemy. A few hits (in some areas it is a one hit kill) and you’re dead. The maps are also maze-like on purpose, with minimal lighting, but thankfully the killed moves slow enough to dodge and fake out.
Even though this is a shorter game (I honestly was able to ‘beat’ it in a little over 2 hours) it takes a bit long to get to the good stuff, then it feels slightly rushed. Whether or not this was the story as it was originally intended, or due to the fact it was accidentially released unfinished early, I can’t say. I will say that even though it felt rushed, I still enjoyed the story quite a bit. Intriguing characters and a decent mystery that kept me playing.
+Interesting horror story, with a mix of supernatural and regular (killer in the woods)
+Investigating items actually provided some good jump scares, in an unintentional way
+Uses the incredibly well done and good-looking POP! Horror City tile/character sets
+Has a New Game+ mode (in a way) but as of my writing this is was heavily bugged and I was unable to fully enjoy it.
=A bit predictable, but still was worth playing
=Multiple choices in the game, but didn’t feel like they affected the game at all. IE: you were given the choice of hiding in a building or running. I chose to run...which led me right into the killer, forcing me into the building anyway :P
=Relies a lot on subtle visual cues, and because I was streaming it both times I played, I actually missed a few things as I spoke with my chat which helped explain the story a bit
=There is a mechanic about interviews and documented items that you find/do each day...but you only end up doing two days worth of these, and it didn’t feel (thanks to the bug I mention below) like they mattered
=I felt the price was fair, but again, the game IS on the short side
=Some actions on screen were confusing. When one character is killed, it isn’t apparent that it happened from the dialog alone, and their sprite on the screen remained unchanged. More a limitation of the engine and the character set used.
-Even though it was officially ‘released’ there are [i]still[/i] several bugs and issues with the game. It’s playable all the way to the end, but they are very noticeable. [b]However, the dev is aware of many issues, and is currently fixing them as they are made aware[/b]
-Takes too long to ‘get started’ and then doesn’t stick around very long once it does.
-Things are ‘explained’ as you play, but it can be very subtle. Also, there is a bug the dev is working on with the engine and one of the scripts he used, causing him to disable the inventory. UNFORTUNATELY, a lot of information is tied to items and documents you find and read from there.
Even with its faults, there is a fun, solid story here, and I would gladly play more in this series or from this dev, without question. If you aren’t a fan of bugs and issues, even though they are being addressed, then I’d say give it a pass, or wait for a sale.
