One of the most immersive mystery game ever. Now that I finished it, it's hard to see mystery games the same anymore.

"Can she run really really REALLY fast in high heels? Then she's a ho." - Riley Freeman

Genuinely the best mystery game I’ve ever played, it’s a shame you can only experience it once due to how the genre works but everyone should play this if you are a fan of mystery games

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

This is a really intricate complex game, and I had to use a guide for it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the diaries and letters I'd find that gave little crumbs of information, and became really invested in the plot. I got attached to the characters even though I never actually met them, and only read about them as I searched through the abandoned town. The ending was SO scary, I had to pause and take a breather lol 10/10 game

The game has an excellent story and when the puzzles are logical the game is a blast, however there is one puzzle that made me quit and without spoiling it, the solution is downright evil. There is a puzzle that gives you every hint to the solution and also presents you with the main target, however the solution is found later in the game through something entirely unrelated. I spent 2 hours losing my mind to this puzzle without even knowing that I was missing something all along.

tldr: this game is one that I would only recommend if you have the patience of a saint and are willing to abandon some puzzles to try other ones.

This game is a good story game with puzzle elements. However, it is not a detective game.
Despite the initial marketing and tutorial implying that you will be doing detective work and that you should take notes on the story elements you uncover to deduce the truth of the murder you're investigating, the only notes that you'll need to be taking are solutions to puzzles on the other side of the town, most of which are incredibly simple or just outright spelled out for you. Despite the somewhat non-linear nature of the game, the story leaves no room for deduction beyond the first half; all the notes and diaries you find are more than clear about exactly what happened, so as long as you properly follow the bread crumbs to the end, you WILL know the answers to every question you may have asked along the course of the game.

Funnily enough, this wasn't actually my experience with the game; I chanced upon the contents of a very revealing late-game story element ( Sofia's Birthday Surprise ) within the first 30 minutes of the game, so I spent pretty much the entire duration of the game having deduced the answers to the initially presented mystery, and was just along for the ride to discover all the peripheral information instead.
I did, however, have the pleasure of watching someone else progress through the game the intended way, so I can say with confidence that I understand how the story is supposed to be structured.

I also found that there are some instances where some mandatory progression elements (keys and interactable objects) blended in or were quite hidden in the environment. These elements are often the same colour of the floor or are well hidden, which can be very frustrating when, unlike many of the better hidden non-mandatory items, these are required to progress to the end of the game. Because of the lack of direction, this can lead to a very frustrating search through the whole town for something that was staring you dead in the face in the corner of a random room. I personally referenced a guide to find such items on two separate occasions.
There was also one particularly frustrating puzzle where the game indicates that you must reference a particular type of object for the solution. There is one such object in the room with you and another elsewhere in the town, but NEITHER of these objects are utilised for the solution of the puzzle, but instead you find the solution later in this game. After trying this puzzle for a good while, I decided to again utilise a guide only to find the solution was inaccessible to me, which I was not happy about.

All the bad aside, the atmosphere and design of the town and its various residences were quite solid. I enjoyed exploring the various rooms of each of the accessible buildings, and the tension built by the music and unnerving environmental and sound design did a good job of setting the stage for the mystery the game was setting. The story surrounding the residents of Painscreek was also quite enthralling and for me was more than enough to put up with all my above complaints.

Overall, I did have fun with this game as a story-heavy eight hour escape room, and I don't feel bad about recommending it. However, if you are looking for a brain-engaging, note taking, pin-boarding detective adventure, this is not the game for you.

Honestly, the first like 2/3rds of this game are amazing. I had tons of notes, literally I have a notebook with about 10 pages of notes. I was building cases, connecting clues, etc. Felt like a real detective.... and then the game just really starts to lore drop you. Like everyone just writes down the whole thing in their journals or notes, or has full on confessionals. It sort of falls apart and then tells you exactly who did what.

I still recommend the game for the first 2/3rds. I really wish they would have just left it a mystery of who really did it and the game ends with you just coming up with your conclusion never telling you if you're wrong or right. Because the last half made all my notes useless. And to be frank, just being last minute told who the killer was sucked.

970 / 1.000

Thank god all the people in Painscreek really like writing their darkest secrets in multiple diaries

Investigate a murder in a ghost town. It's great. And my obsessional note-taking itch is definitely being scratched.