The Black Widow

[b] General Gameplay [/b] This has a Her Story vibe that I really like. Typing in words that might be important based on what you hear. The feedback for those guesses—when you type in a word that isn't relevant, nothing happens (really nothing)—is not the greatest and the hint system is slow and a sort of tedious. [b] Results System [/b] Not sure how I feel about the whole numbers system because it's also unclear to me what those numbers relate to. Like if you type in a word and the number 4 pops up, is that part 4 of a particular chapter or what? I really felt a bit lost with that and also with the numbers that pop up next to the topics you've found. One of the words, for example, had a 26 next to it. If there are 26 relevant parts, why can't I access them all? Why can I only access 10? I'm not sure if that's what the number means but... that would be my question if it is. If you CAN access all 26 then I'm not sure why it's not obvious HOW to do this. [b] Atmosphere/Visual [/b] I also found it a bit boring that you only stare at a talking picture the whole time, music also wasn't doing it for me anymore after the first 45 minutes. Without the ability to control speed of the playback or even scroll through the playback, it is easy to get frustrated when you miss something. You can't just rewind, you have to listen to the whole tidbit again and some of them are really long. [b] Concluding Thoughts [/b] Overall, it's eerie and interesting. I don't think it was a bad experience but I'd hesitate to recommend it because I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it so much. Still a really cool idea and a decent execution. I liked the voice acting as well. A few times I was tempted to google the case but didn't want to ruin the suspense of the game. There is definitely something to be said about the historical use of the death penalty and the possibility that many innocents had their lives ruined by hearsay, prejudice and whatever else. As a black American woman, I can certainly think of a few unfortunate tales from my country's history. Would have been nice if there were more cases, I think. But, then again, with stories like this, more would always be better but maybe not the best ;) That being said, if you liked Her Story, you're probably the type of person that is most likely to be entertained by this one. The novelty of a non-fiction story is actually valuable here.

Wish I was good at writing detailed reviews as the others. I didn't have any issues with the mechanics of the game. Although there were times I had to think about what words to put in, I never felt like I needed a guide or was confused where to go next. The voice acting was just top tier. Without spoilers, the desperation in the character's voice at different parts was acute and immersive. There was one portion where the hair on my arms stood on end. The UI does have its issues, but I didn't really feel like it was something that intruded in my experience beyond getting over it initially. I'd consider this more of an immersive story than a game. I really enjoyed it and I felt engaged and like I wanted to focus and see it to the end. I was constantly second guessing my impressions. Worth the cost!

The premise of the game is really brilliant and I found myself wanting to know more and keeping notes on the case, but there are some glaring problems, like the technical issues, that really lets this game down. -Not being able to read transcripts or scroll back like a VN makes it difficult to keep track of what is said and of any potential clues -Progression could be made clearer - Maybe a sort of tally system to show that you've exhausted all clues from a certain word, not just colour added to a frame -More creative use of music would add to the atmosphere, perhaps peaking when a word of interest is mentioned -The deepfake thing with the picture just cuts through all the tension, its janky af -The save feature, or lack there of, is what lets it down the most. The game is a lot of listening and certain parts are drawn out and long, and you can't speed it up or skip lines but you need to listen to them in their entirety for the clue to count; with this in mind losing your progress is soul destroying. I exited the game, came back and was stuck in an infinite loading loop, so I exited again and all of my progress was lost, as the game saves itself when you exit. The first time it happened I was about 1/4 of the way through, so I started again, then its happened again but this time I was over half way through. I just haven't got the patience to sit through everything again, which is a real shame as I'd like to finish the game. The voice actress is absolutely brilliant, can really feel the emotion and the 'rough on rats' bit was really creepy. All in all, this game is not worth £5, there are too many glaring issues that prevent you from investing the time to play it.

VERY INTERESTING!!! Ok so this is definitely worth checking out, but difficult to understand how to get started..... From the beginning when it says Guilty, press the Yes. This gets her talking, you progress thru her dialog by clicking on the darkened numbers. From there pay attention to single words that you can click on the ouija board, then click YES for her to respond...Example (children) click NO to pause her dialog. There is a flower above the YES that keeps track of all dialogs. Clicking on GOODBYE will end the game but save where you left off automatically. This is an interesting case. Def recommend checking out!

So this seems like a normal game. You enter certain key words and then you get to hear certain dialogue from the historical accounts of this accused serial killer who was hanged after having to face several trials with questionable legal tactics from Australian authorities. Is she guilty or was she falsely accused? You investigate. You're using a Ouija board and this seemed like any other normal horror game until late one night. I started hearing voices outside the game. They were saying words that I could not spell in a language that was unintelligible. However, these words that I cannot begin to pronounce were shown on screen and I clicked yes, curious as to what happen. Needless to say, I have not been able to sleep. I feel a presence around me and hear demonic sounds, possibly phrases from a dead language. I have quit the game and dare not open it again. However, I do hear from my PC speakers the following jingle "Rats, Rats, Rats, Rough on Rats, and your dog, and drown your cat." [b]Rate 6.66/10. Interesting game based on a historical event, but you're left with more questions, than answers. [/b]

Super interesting premise and gameplay mechanics, but you can get a bit lost while progressing the game. I had to restart the game and really keep track of some of the stuff to get through some of it.

Strap in for a mystery gang, you'll be in for the long haul with this little seance. Much like a Detective you'll be listening and asking key pieces of information. It's creepy, and it's spooky, and it's got some puzzle mechanics there too. Happy ghost hunting.

I absolutely loved this game and so did my viewers! Such a unique concept and so well done. I was completely enthralled with the story. Even though the game set up was simple, it set a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. The voice acting was great, and I really felt like we were listening to the actual woman telling her side of the story. My only negative was that the hint system does not yet seem to be in place yet and I had almost the whole frame gilded except for figuring out one or two clues. I would love it if this developer could expand on this style of game by incorporating even more old criminal cases maybe such as Lizzie Borden or Jack the Ripper. So much potential for this type of game!