Sense - 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story

Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story, developed by Suzaku and published by Top Hat Studios, Inc., stands as an ambitious fusion of cyberpunk aesthetics and traditional ghost story horror, offering a uniquely atmospheric adventure that dares to blend the technological with the supernatural. Set in the neon-drenched sprawl of Neo Hong Kong in 2083, the game follows Mei-Lin Mak, a young woman whose cybernetic eyes begin to malfunction, leading her into a surreal and terrifying descent into a haunted apartment complex known as Chong Sing Apartments. What begins as a futuristic story of technology and perception gradually becomes a chilling journey through history, superstition, and the lingering presence of spirits that refuse to rest. This combination of old-world ghost folklore and sleek, dystopian futurism sets the tone for an experience that feels both familiar and strikingly original. The atmosphere is easily one of the strongest elements of Sense. Its visual design embraces a dark and detailed art style that captures the decaying beauty of a near-future cityscape while emphasizing claustrophobic interiors illuminated by flickering neon lights. The environments are richly hand-drawn, evoking a palpable sense of dread that lingers in every hallway and room. The oppressive silence, punctuated by the occasional creak of metal or faint whisper from unseen spirits, helps maintain tension without resorting to cheap jump scares. The character and ghost designs are particularly noteworthy, often grotesque yet melancholic, embodying a balance between horror and tragedy that lends the supernatural elements a human edge. The sound design reinforces this eerie world, from the ambient hum of machinery to the distant echoes of the haunted building, all creating a sense of immersion that steadily draws the player into Mei’s deteriorating perception of reality. Narratively, Sense attempts to weave a complex tapestry that explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the intersection between human spirituality and technological progress. The story’s foundation lies in the haunting of the apartment building, which is populated by the lingering spirits of the dead, each tied to personal stories of loss and betrayal. As Mei delves deeper into the mystery, her cybernetic enhancements become both a blessing and a curse, allowing her to perceive realities that blur the boundaries between the living and the dead. The writing is steeped in Chinese folklore and superstition, contrasting modern cybernetic society with the persistence of ancient beliefs. This juxtaposition adds cultural depth and emotional weight, presenting a world where ghosts are as real as the machines that sustain daily life. While the lore is rich and intriguing, the storytelling can sometimes feel uneven, with pacing issues and moments where dialogue or plot transitions are less fluid than they could be. Despite this, the underlying narrative ambition remains commendable, and the emotional core of Mei’s journey—one of self-discovery, fear, and redemption—resonates strongly. From a gameplay perspective, Sense functions as a traditional point-and-click horror adventure, emphasizing exploration, environmental puzzles, and item collection over combat or action. Players must scour rooms for clues, interpret symbols, and combine objects to unlock progress through the haunted building. While this setup pays homage to the survival horror classics that inspired it, such as Clock Tower and Fatal Frame, it occasionally falls victim to its own design conventions. Some puzzles are cleverly integrated into the story, requiring careful observation and logical thinking, but others rely too heavily on backtracking and trial-and-error. The player may find themselves wandering between floors to retrieve forgotten items or triggering scripted events that are not always intuitive. This repetition can disrupt immersion, though it also reinforces a feeling of being trapped in a labyrinthine structure where every corridor conceals new secrets. The game occasionally introduces chase or survival sequences, but these moments are sparse and relatively simple compared to its focus on atmosphere and narrative tension. The technical execution of Sense shows both its indie limitations and its artistic ambition. Visually, the hand-drawn environments and character sprites are striking, giving the game a distinct identity that sets it apart from more conventional 3D horror titles. However, this style sometimes comes at a cost to fluidity, with stiff animations or performance hitches appearing on certain platforms. The controls, though functional, can feel somewhat clunky during moments that require quick input or precise navigation. Early versions of the game were also plagued by bugs and stability issues, though post-launch patches have addressed many of these problems, improving quality-of-life features such as autosaving and interface clarity. Even so, a few rough edges remain, reminding players of the game’s independent roots. What compensates for these shortcomings is the sincerity of the project—its attention to atmosphere, lore, and thematic cohesion overshadows much of its technical roughness. Beyond gameplay and visuals, Sense became known for sparking conversation due to its character design and the developers’ open refusal to censor their artistic vision. Mei-Lin’s appearance, featuring exaggerated proportions, attracted controversy and debate, yet the developers defended their work as an expression of artistic freedom rather than pandering. This controversy ironically amplified the game’s visibility, framing it as a symbol of creative independence within the industry. Beneath the surface, however, Mei’s design and character arc serve as a commentary on identity and perception—fitting themes in a story that constantly questions what is real and what is illusion. The game’s treatment of its heroine is more nuanced than it initially appears, and those who look beyond the surface find a protagonist whose vulnerability and courage drive the emotional weight of the story. In total, Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is an experience defined by its mood, ambition, and atmosphere more than by mechanical refinement. It is a haunting exploration of the unseen and the unforgotten, a narrative that fuses neon-lit futurism with the ancient fears that lie beneath human progress. Its slow pacing and sometimes uneven design may deter players seeking a fast or polished horror adventure, but for those drawn to mystery, cultural depth, and eerie introspection, it offers a rewarding and memorable journey. Suzaku’s vision is clear: technology may advance endlessly, but ghosts—both literal and metaphorical—will always follow, haunting the spaces between light and shadow, memory and machine. Rating: 8/10

10/6 or 7

Я не большой любитель играть в подобное, но смотреть люблю.

An awesome little indie horror game, oozing with style and kick-ass music. Easily worth the money!

It's quite a nice game. The artstyle is good, the mix of 2D with 3D is quite nice. The music when it does appear is good as well and voice acting the limited rare times it appears is alright. [b][u]In terms of story[/u][/b], very good, it slowly feeds you the story through journal entries and world building, it does it just enough to not be too little making you confused but also not a lot of it where you can confortably know the story without much effort, runs that fine line where you do have to put in effort and pay attention to understand, by the end of the game I think most questions will be answered, there is however some things here and there that are left vague and confusing so not everything gets cleared, especially with the ending [spoiler]Both normal and NG++, those are left vague[/spoiler]. The characters were pretty good, it was fun learning more about them and their interactions and connections with some of the other tenants too. [spoiler]Mariko and Suk Yi gotta be my favourites.[/spoiler] [b][u]In terms of gameplay[/u][/b], it's pretty good, a bunch of puzzles, some harder then others, sometimes my fault for not understanding, other times it was the game having a bad physics engine or for expecting you to connect 2 unrelated things together. I do like that you can basically play the entire game all the way through with just one hand, that's awesome. The getting the ghost photos being an invisible interaction is an interesting move, at first I thought it was bug but it's most likely intended, I guess it's nice bonus for those doing extra interactions, although it kinda just encourages spamming E everywhere until you get something extra, especially in trying to get the achievement, so maybe it's both a plus and a minus. There was some scares here and there that were nice, although I feel like most were in the cutscenes or creepy photos. [b][u]For the bad[/u][/b], there's some bugs for sure. Typos; Text boxes continuing without pressing E; Text repeating, for example with the bartender, she says one of her lines twice; You are able to get a 3rd Jade Bangle at times, which is definitely a bug as you're meant to only have 2, and sometimes with 3 the Jade Bangle UI breaks and shows only 1, I think maybe after one breaks it goes down to 2 but the UI sometimes thinks it's 1? I don't know, it happened once and then fixed itself. Quite a few things. There's an unused hiding spot in the late game, says I can use it if I put something on it but you have no way of making it and there's nothing chasing you anyway, maybe I'm just missing something but it seems like a leftover. It hints in one of the journals or tutorial notes or something that your PDAs red light will flash to warn you of certain things, but it basically stays flashing 24/7, and I know for a fact that those thing aren't in every single interactable, like it seriously flashes at 90% of interactables, so maybe that's a bug? Idk, it just made me disregard it completely. The puzzles as mentioned above are great but I can think of 2 which are not that great in general. [spoiler]The mirror in 303/304 with the Daotsi, the physics with that ball are... not great, and the puzzle with the hair door, you have to connect that with the cheat code thing from ages back, which let's be honest, that's a bit too out there, the onyl thing possibly connecting them is the message being signed by Mariko but that's definitely not enough, it's the one puzzles that feels like it was just some BS thrown together, it needed some clue on the doors side or something to point towards that cheat code.[/spoiler] Having to complete the game 3 times just to get a little bit extra on the ending is kinda crazy, that's more of a neutral thing though given that it's just a bonus for those that want to play more, well extra lore, not just a normal bonus. [b][u]Overall[/u][/b], a pretty good horror game with mostly great puzzles, nice artstyle, nice characters, some scary moments and a pretty good story. Do note that it does have some bugs.

Deaths in this game are no fun, you restart from recent save. Nice. Saving means running to a distant room and making a save on a recorder. Nice. Oh, you can hide in a room for rhe freaky monster but when it comes near the door you have to play a silly wonky "keep the needle in the middle" game which you fail easily .... Nice. Nope, take out the stupid deaths OR make saving a click and I would consider playing on. And yes, lots of fat titties everywhere.

Sense really reminds me of another similar game series "The Coma" which is also one of my fav horror game series. and i am a sucker for games like this and so far i'm enjoying sense. the game has good atmosphere and great artstyle. i'm still on fifth floor but so far this is a solid 7.5/10 experience.

The kind of game I wish there was a middle 'OK' option on steam. This could easily be a thumbs up, but I stopped playing about half way through because I realised I was just going through the motions. I never really felt I was actually PLAYING a game, just following some hidden instructions. Sort of like a Tutorial, but there was nothing to learn, just do this, do that, now you can do this. It's a walkabout point and click adventure, but seems to be mainly made of all the bad parts of a point and click - namely wandering everywhere and trying every option until you eliminate all possiblilities. Progression seems impossible at times without a guide due to the buggy user interface and insta-kills, and the walking animation is really poor - though adds to the creepiness of the ghosts, I guess. You also have to get in to the habit of 'activating' object more than once, because there's often an extra bit of important dialog or exposition that could have been part of the original click. You may enjoy it, you may not. I could have finished it, and scares were well handled for the most part, but I just decided I'd had enough. The game also features unlockables on the New Game+, which is just beyond arrogant for a game this unpolished and uninteresting. No the game isn't interesting enough to play through once, let alone a 2nd or 3rd time. Plays well on Steam Deck out of the box.