True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 1

It's fine. While looking for short horror games to play without a ton of chasing and hiding, gameplay that doesn't really suit me, I was told this was genuinely a little scary despite being a hidden object game. OK, I guess I'm game to try anything once. However ... it's not scary. At all, not even a little bit. There's some decent atmosphere, but this is PG horror at most. I was never tense wondering what I'd find around the next corner. If you're looking for that you won't find it here. It's also not really a hidden object game? At least not the way I played it. In the settings there's a toggle for "adventure" vs "hidden object" which is by default set to "adventure". I don't know what this does because I kept it on "adventure", which is fine by me; I think I'd prefer point-and-click to hidden object anyway. There were some hidden object elements but it's relatively sparing, and for the most part it felt like a traditional point-and-click. How is it as a point-and-click? It's (again) fine. Most of the solutions are relatively logical, though there is a bit of traditional moon logic, and a lot of it verges on hackneyed. For the most part the game is actually quite easy, because it offers a map that tells you which rooms have something you can do at any given point. This really constraints the puzzle-solving space to the point that it would be hard to ever feel too stuck. You could always play without the map if you want extra challenge, but some of the solutions are just obscure enough that it might go from too easy to a bit frustrating without it. As it is, the only time I [i]did[/i] get stuck were a few of the annoying minigame-style puzzles -- stuff like sliding blocks. I don't have much patience for those, but the game does allow you to skip them, at least on the default difficulty, which I made use of once or twice. The hidden object stuff comes into play when some element of a room is in black-and-white. When you click on that element, you're moved into a space that's cut off from the rest of the game in terms of puzzle solving (though you can move back and forth). You don't have access to your normal inventory. Instead, you have to find things in the current view that let you move forward. The reward for this is always a single item that gets added to your permanent inventory. It's still a bit like solving a puzzle, but the goal is never clear when you start and the item location gameplay is amped up. Not my favorite part of the game but I didn't hate it I guess. As far as the narrative ... eh, it served its purpose. The story's just an excuse to set up why it makes sense for your character to go to creepy places and endure creepy things. You won't be thinking for days about this game's plot and its secrets after you exit the game for the last time. I'll admit that the way it kept trying to up the story stakes with new plot curveballs was a bit funny in a soap opera kind of way [spoiler](just how many twin sisters does the protagonist have?)[/spoiler], but I'm not sure it really stands up to scrutiny. The writing was clearly translated into English and some translation oddities pop up here and there, but it's not too bad. I'll add that it's short -- about four hours for me, maybe more or less depending on how much or how little you use the help system -- but it's also pretty cheap. If you want a passable, breezy point-and-click and you dig the seasonal Halloween store vibe, it's not a bad purchase.

Love The Story Of This Game And Solving The Puzzles

Атмосферно

Fun hidden object puzzle game that's perfectly spooky without relying on jumpscares. Interesting story, ready to play the next one! One really confusing puzzle, but the discussion boards can help!

10 головоломок из 10

not to hard and a bit short, but nice

A Puzzle Masterpiece I Played on my Phone in Childhood