Sagebrush

A short psychological horror game about a girl revisting at a camp she stayed for some time with others, indoctrinated by cult with twisted, religious ideals. The story unfold itself quietly and very subtly with notes left by the other campers and voice recordings of the main characters inner monologue. This worked well with creating such a eerie vibe while you explored around the camp, searching for clue on what led the camp to collapse itself, leading to your imagination filling in the gaps! I recommend playing this game in one sitting! This game has one hell of a story to tell!

liked it, but wasnt worth the price. the game never really delivered on its potential, and i wish the cult was more unique instead of being jonestown 2

Sagebrush is not a bad game, but it is a sloppy one, and some of the ways that it lacks attention to detail really compromise its coherence and value for me. The physical realism of exploring the compound is really limited, involving, for example, using wirecutters once and then never again, or the fact that your character seems to be incapable of jumping over a knee high wall. This really breaks immersion, and changes the dynamic from one of actual exploration, and actually attempting to compromise the physical integrity of a fortified area, to something that is a lot more akin to just following a trail of breadcrumbs, often having to double back when you realize you did something wrong. The final twist that reveals that not everything has been as you have seen it is good, but is especially hindered by the inconsistencies in how the environment was previously navigated. This whole dynamic alone is enough for me to say that I don't recommend it, no matter how much I want to. Beyond that, the graphics are great. The low fi setup really accentuates some of the strange features of American geography, and the fact that you're experiencing the ideas of objects, instead of the objects themselves works well. The way that the night progressively falls also makes it work better and better, and the seamless transition in levels of metaphor near the end works astonishingly well. As for the story, and the themes, the overall presentation of the subject matter is...oddly tasteful and matter of fact given how horrifying it is. I just wish there was more effort in characterizing the various characters, since they really fall flat and end up not completely working as anything more than stereotypes. Two more technical issues. At some point I hit a button by mistake, I believe F8, and all text in the game disappeared and I was sent back to a previous scene. I couldn't get text to work again, and didn't want to play through much more of the game again, and could tell I was near the end. So, that bug is weird and frustrating. Additionally, little of the audio is spatially encoded it seems. So, when you activate an audio track that's supposed to be coming from a TV, and you leave the area with the TV too early, the TV continues to play in your soundtrack even after you've left the building.

This was my second time playing through this as I've platinumed before on PS4. It's a short, slow burn narrative experience about a cult, with some light adventure game mechanics. Vibey and well executed.

A fantastic horror walking sim. The religious theme of it was executed greatly, and the atmosphere adds to the immersion. Graphics add a nice retro style.

Even though the game was very short, it had a rich story line that gripped you from beginning to end. The increasing intensity as the game transitioned into night-time paired with the escalating knowledge of Father James/Perfect Heaven and his practises made for a disturbing but fulfilling gameplay experience. The retro and rugged graphics enhanced that unsettling feeling of exploring the ranch, alongside the general ambience provided by the sound effects and audio tapes found in-game. I enjoyed having the ability to do further reading on the lore of Perfect Heaven because of the letters, notes, and diary entries, my only gripe is that there isn't more for me to consume because I'm in love with the worldbuilding. I made sure to 100% the game so I could experience everything Sagebrush had to offer me, thank you for giving me such an amazing game for such a cheap price, I hope the developer continues to make more games with an even bigger budget. You will do wonderful things! <3

the game is awesome, had me on edge the whole time and the old retro style was a refreshing sight!! 10/10

It's been a while since I played a game that's been this haunting and effective. A true slow burn that keeps you on edge. Highly recommend it.

"what she had to offer was free for anyone who wanted it bad enough" this game just shows that desperate people can make themselves believe anything. good game, great message. «те, що вона пропонувала, було безкоштовним для кожного, хто цього дуже хотів». ця гра просто показує, що відчайдушні люди можуть змусити себе повірити в що завгодно. гарна гра, чудове послання.

The cult aspect is pretty cool. Would I call this horror? No. It's got story, just not the described category and very slow paced. Not enjoyable for me but I could see others liking this game.