SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION

If you love running around an empty house where nothing happens, this game is for you.

4/5

Full Game Ep 1-5 Overview: 8.2 I've found that my appreciation for this has grown quite exponentially. First and foremost this is a 'Point and Click' adventure game through and through, it was pitched to me under survival horror and it 'is' but it is very much firstly a 'Point and Click' game at it's core. The whole haunt aspect and the random things that can happen do somewhat remind me of Eternal Darkness without any wall breaking aspects (along with no monsters to combat). I have each episode reviewed separately at least my first time. Episode 1 is part of this and I wanted to add it after but it's too long for steam! Most of my thoughts are summarised throughout this though. My initial time with this game was originally quite rough but upon beating it, something sat with me and since the other achievements pretty much require multiple playthroughs (some you can backup a save and acquire easily) it's made me go through again. The main initial downer for me with this game is the very punishing deaths and how abrupt they can be. On initially playing they can come out of nowhere and just immediately take your character. I found this frustrating until I kind of realised that characters themselves are generally this games 'life' system. So treat episode 1 as if you have 4 lives etc. This isn't a strict methodology but it is one that worked in my head to help appreciate what it's going for a little more. I touched on some individual episode reviews but I noticed that characters were both barely really given much actual characterisation along with providing some with their examination texts. It's quite interesting to go through the area as one character and then pick another (either replay or death) and see the dialogue from themselves examining the area and such. This plays quite a bit in specifically episode 2 as one of the characters is a tenant of the building so adds a lot of the dynamic of the area. I wasn't hugely into the ending, I won't spoil it here though. It had me simultaneously groan but also nod in appreciation to what it was doing. The game does a lot nuanced things that I ultimately wish was explained a bit more but those little things do really make the whole. Every character has stats but they are barely really explained how they impact the game or it's gameplay. Every character also has their own personal item and they have quite minimal descriptions. Some make sense, with descriptions like "burning these calms me down". But then others are just description texts like "My favourite music, ready to listen to on the go" which, what does that even mean? Upon looking into it they provide a passive bonus that will make certain minigames easier or add extra perks like immediately completing examination puzzles etc. This then extends to the collectibles, my initial playthrough I only got the ones from Ep 1 and had no idea what they did, I never looked at them again. Upon examining them in another ep I realised they were changed and they actually hint towards potential dangers and some almost outright give the answers to some of those 'yes or no' immediate death sequences. I understand that it's obtuse for specifically that reason but it also is so widely without information that it's kind of frustrating until you do find those out albeit it never really said much ingame. The game recommended to play through with controller, I decided to try that on my second play and that was a mistake. Some of the mini-games are extremely difficult when playing by controller than they are with keyboard, Some small control changes and they would be on par but for whatever reason they decided to implement them the way they did and they are just.. rough. In that same vein some of this comes down the awful explanations on some of the minigames. Even after beating the game on the hardest difficulty the actual way you are supposed to 'win' the hiding minigame eludes me to a point that it's 50/50 whether I survive it or not. I guess it also turns out that I did it completely wrong my first playthrough but never died for it also? Reading how to do the silence was so confusing that upon actually attempting it, it made a lot more sense. Some other extra little tidbits of notes: Controlling the character can be rough at time, tapping a direction can mean you have to wait out a step or two before you can turn another direction. Using the mouse/right stick to 'look' around with your character, specifically up and down can be a bit clunky at times. It's annoying when audiologs stop and dismiss themselves immediately upon bringing up the map. There is one specific haunt that I never got the first play that crashed my game twice. Just overall this is a game that initially presents itself to be a little confused in exactly how it wants to approach itself. The puzzles vary in difficulty but generally sit a little more on the more intermediate side to solve at times. If you take the time to let the game breathe and look under the hood with the items and character aspects there's a lot of small appreciations to be seen.

Je suis habituellement très friand de ce type de jeu d'horreur, mêlant subtilement énigmes, exploration et courses-poursuites. Et ce jeu a du potentiel : l'histoire est prenante et donne vraiment envie d'en découvrir davantage. L'ambiance est pesante, oppressante ; on se demande constamment ce qui se cache derrière une porte ou ce qui nous attend au bout d'un couloir, ce qui maintient une tension permanente. Même les jump scares sont plus originaux que le simple fait de vous hurler dans les oreilles ou d'afficher brusquement quelque chose en grand sur votre écran. Malheureusement, les QTE sont extrêmement punitifs et pas intuitifs du tout, quel que soit le niveau de difficulté. Ils peuvent facilement vous faire perdre un personnage. Or, dans ce jeu, mourir ne signifie pas recommencer au dernier point de sauvegarde : c'est la mort définitive du personnage. Et si tous vos personnages meurent, vous devez recommencer le chapitre depuis le début, ce qui peut représenter plusieurs heures de jeu. C'est particulièrement décourageant lorsqu'il faut se retaper trois heures de progression. Les façons de perdre un personnage sont nombreuses. Et même si vous réussissez tous les QTE, votre curiosité est souvent immédiatement punie par le jeu. Ouvrir une porte sans avoir écouté derrière au préalable, soulever un drap recouvrant un miroir dans une remise ou plonger la main au fond d'une baignoire remplie d'eau peuvent entraîner la mort instantanée de votre personnage, voire la fin de votre partie si c'était le dernier encore en vie. Ce système est d'autant plus frustrant que, dans d'autres situations, ces mêmes actions sont parfois nécessaires pour progresser et ne présentent alors aucun danger. Le jeu ne donne pas vraiment de moyen de distinguer une interaction fatale d'une interaction obligatoire, ce qui rend certaines morts très arbitraires. Je n'ai pas terminé le jeu, et c'est dommage, car j'en avais vraiment envie. Mais entre ce système de morts arbitraires et ces QTE particulièrement punitifs, qui me sortent constamment de l'ambiance, j'ai préféré arrêter. L'expérience est devenue beaucoup trop frustrante à mon goût.

Das Spiel hat ein paar Bugs (Färber's Wohnung, wenn man vor dem rausgehen der Wohnung durch das Schlüsselloch schaut und einen gab es noch beim Brunnen in Episode 4, wenn man direkt den Brunnen runtergeht ohne vorher was bestimmtes getan zu haben). Bei einem Rätsel in Episode 5 gibt es leider eine ungünstige deutsche Übersetzung, wodurch man nicht so einfach auf den Perspektivwechsel kommt um das Rätsel zu lösen. Ansonsten hat Spaß gemacht, kann ich sehr empfehlen :)

Pros + visuals + strong atmosphere + engaging story + creepy ambient audio + no permadeath mechanic + no bugs Cons - when you get stuck on a puzzle, you might as well uninstall the game; it provides too little guidance; games like this shouldn’t exist in their current form; they have a design flaw, but the developers don’t seem to care that someone bought the game and can’t actually progress - the ghost/monster encounters are tedious and ruined by silly QTE - annoying jump scares nobody asked for; avoid your headphones - foul language - too much backtracking - the episode-based format is pointless - minimap lacks detail

Surprisingly Good! Father of jumpscares. A bit boring at times but I enjoyed it.