Okay, this isn't a conventional horror game, but first dates can be scary!

In Ten Dates, you play the role of both Misha and Ryan. It's an FMV choice-based game where you go on speed dates and choose which potential candidates you want to go on a second and third date with.

This is a sequel to "Five Dates," which came out in 2020 during Covid Quarantine. In Five Dates, you partake in virtual dates instead of seeing each other in person.

I really thought that having the actors together for the "Date" would provide more chemistry between them. Thats unfortunately not the case. All your date choices feel like stereotypes with little to no depth. The writing is not good and the dates suffer for it. At no point could I trick myself into thinking these were actual dates our main character was going on.

I think it was after date #7 when I questioned why I was playing this game. I thought it would be cute to help the protagonists find love, but it wasn't mean to be. The actors did a fine job. I think the acting in the first game was a little stronger, but overall, its not their fault that the writing was lacking.

Neither of the games was a masterpiece, and both are very corny, but I'd rate the first one as better. I wouldn't really recommend this game.

Tale of the Black Forest is an RPG Maker horror game. You play as high school student Kihara Kashin, who has the ability to see ghosts. She wakes up in an abandoned station and meets a mysterious girl named Kiritani Yuki. The story takes off from there.

The game uses Japanese history and folklore to craft its narrative. It's story-driven with puzzle-solving elements. I think this is a really well crafted game! I didn't connect with it as emotionally as I wanted, but I think its worth the price tag. The pixel graphics look wonderful, and the narrative had me reeled in the whole time. All the characters you meet are unique, and some are quirky.

The game takes place in three chapters, and it never overstays its welcome. There isn't much to do gameplay-wise. If you've played games like To The Moon, you know that the story is what drives the game, not the gameplay. It's also not very scary. It uses horror elements, but I wouldn't say it's a scary game at all. It has some dark themes for sure.

Overall, I'd recommend it. The price tag is generous, especially on sale. A lot of work went into this game. There aren't any choices. There are two endings, but both can be done at the end of the game without having to go back, and one is a short non-ending. Basically, with 5 to 6 hours, you can easily complete the whole game.

OFF is a story-driven RPG game created by Mortis Ghost. The original version of the game was released in 2008. 13-year-old me LOOOVED this game. I beat it more than a few times.

OFF is an RPG with turn-based combat. The combat is on a timer, so you take your turn when your meter fills. You can strategize moves this way and use abilities to slow down or increase your or the enemy's timer. The combat is alright, but nothing exciting. It can be very tedious when you have to fight a lot of enemies. The main reason to play the game is the narrative and the oddball characters. It reminds me of games like Undertale, Oneshot, Omori, etc… but much less polished.

Let me just get my only complaint out of the way. The OST. The original soundtrack for OFF was phenomenal. It added so much charm and eerie atmosphere to the game. The atmosphere carried the game and drove the narrative home. The OST was a huge part in making that happen. In this remastered version, all the songs and sounds were changed. I'm sure it was because of legal reasons, but it's very noticeable. Even the iconic battle theme was different. It's not as good, and it's a real shame.

On the other hand, I did notice some improvements. It's been a while since I've played, but the combat is much better. They also added some secret bosses you can find and fight. I'm curious to know what else has been changed, if anything.

Would I recommend it? This might be nostalgia talking, but heck yes. If you don't want to pay for it, there is still a free version with a great soundtrack. Both versions are fun, but I'm very glad this version exists. It's made this game more accessible to everyone, and it brought me back to 2008.

Control is a story-driven third-person shooter game. Its created by Remedy Entertainment and has connections to the games Alan Wake 1 and 2. It's tagged as horror, but it's not scary at all.

In Control, you play as a woman named Jesse Faden. She enters a government building called "The Federal Bureau of Control" in a desperate search for her brother. Once inside, she realizes that something has gone very wrong.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll be vague. The gameplay consists of puzzle-solving and third-person shooting, as well as using abilities that you acquire throughout the game. The story is very mind-bending and lore-heavy. It's a sci-fi thriller that requires a lot of looking around and reading documents to get the full narrative.

I started this game fully invested. I loved how it began, and I wanted to soak up all the lore. About halfway through, I started to feel fatigued. I know this won't be a popular opinion, but the missions started to feel very repetitive. The map could also be frustrating and unclear. I was hoping there would be a huge payoff at the end, but the ending felt rushed. I wasn't a fan of the second half. The ashtray maze though, that was awesome. Remedy always pulls through with their song choices.

The abilities you obtain are really frickin cool. I also love how many side missions there are.

I'm currently playing the DLCS. I just finished AWE. I played Control because I want to follow it up with Alan Wake 2. I loved the easter eggs and references, but that DLC was too hard for me. 😅I got through it, but not without some curse words.

I'm halfway through The Foundation at the moment. I'm not sure if I'll finish it. I'm pretty burnt out.

Honestly? I love Remedy games. I thought this one was very ambitious. I just didn't love it all the way through.

Silent Hill F is the newest game in the Silent Hill franchise. You play as Shimizu Hinako, a shy girl who lives in 1960s Japan. This game has been divisive with Silent Hill fans. I'm a new fan, so I'll just speak on my experience playing this game, not on how it connects the series as a whole.

Firstly, this game is BEAUTIFUL. Every location, every enemy, the color choices… it is perfect. It's a real shame there is no photo mode. It's an even bigger shame that when you go to take a screenshot, it pops up a "Hold to Skip Cutscene" notification that appears in every screenshot you take. It's an EVEN EVEN bigger shame that I accidentally uploaded all my screenshots on private, and I'm too lazy to change them. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Regardless of all that… beautiful game! I sincerely hope they add a photo mode!

You can't think of Silent Hill without thinking about the enemies. I liked the monster designs. I haven't looked into the deeper meaning of the things, but I know there are a lot of Japanese influences on their design and lore. I do wish there was a little more variety of enemies, but they were creepy and grotesque enough.

Reading reviews, it seems that the combat is another thing that is divisive amongst players. Basically, you have an energy bar, and every time you dodge or attack, the energy goes down. You can't do either once it's depleted. There is also a sanity bar, which makes everything move in slow motion so you can attack or dodge better. I keep seeing it compared to Dark Souls combat, but I'm not sure since I've never played it. I really wasn't a fan of the combat. I didn't like waiting for my energy to come up, and I never used the sanity bar since the counters were easy to spot and the enemies moved slowly. It felt like a slog to fight through enemies. The combat is also melee only. No gunplay. There is weapon durability, so your weapons break and you have to find or repair them.

There's not much to say about the puzzles. Some are convoluted; others are easy. None are groundbreaking. It's really nice that you can choose the difficulty of the puzzle and combat difficulty.

Last point (almost)… was the game scary? Nah. Not to me anyway. Everyones different.

I actually thought the remake 2 was scarier. Silent Hill F feels dark. The audio and visuals combine well to set a bleak and dreary atmosphere. I just never felt scared playing it.

I'm about to rant about something that really ruined the game for me personally. It's stated on the store page, but I didn't read it, so I guess… small spoilers on the structure of the endings (not the endings themselves)

The story was fascinating, and the psychological and metaphorical tone of these games let you know there are questions that will be answered as you play. When I was nearing the end, I still had very little idea of what was happening. There were a LOT of unanswered questions. I was excited to get to the end and get that reveal… and then… nothing. Games over. Turns out the first playthrough is a fixed ending. You get half the story and none of the resolution.

You then have to play through the game again following very specific criterias that involve finding multiple items and putting them in multiple places. It's just not for me. I don't replay a game for a long time after beating it, and I'm sure not going to do it five times. I honestly didn't like the game enough the first time.

I've played Silent Hill 1, 3, Shattered Memories, and Silent Hill 2: Remake, and so far no other game has done this. You beat the game, and depending on your actions, you get one of the multiple endings. You aren't locked into half a game that requires four playthroughs to get the full story.

Sooooo… I'm thinking of watching the endings on youtube since its soured my experience a little bit.

Rant Over:

Overall, did I love the game? No. I bought the special edition at full price. I have thrown myself into the Silent Hill franchise recently and loved every second of it. This didn't give me that same feeling.

Is it a bad game? Not at all. It's haunting. The voice acting is fantastic, and it's actually beautiful to look at. I can't comment on the writing because I don't know the full story, but from what I've seen, it is well written. It even lets you choose between Japanese or English voice acting, which is a wonderful touch. I think this is deserving of being a Silent Hill game, but I do regret paying full price on it. The first playthrough did not leave me motivated to play it multiple more times to get another few scenes at the end.

After experiencing the first two Silent Hill games, It was time to bust out the PS2 and play Silent Hill 3!

Silent Hill 3 is a direct sequel of Silent Hill 1. You play as a teenage girl named Heather Mason. Like many others, she gets entangled with the town of Silent Hill.

If you've played the first game, this one has similar themes. The dark and dreary atmosphere is even stronger. The enemies were good, but the main antagonists were nothing exciting. It's hard to follow up Pyramid Head, but they didn't stand out much. Heather stands out as a likable and badass protagonist, though.

I actually had lots of notes on this one, but I forgot to write them down, and its been about two months since I've beaten it now. I do remember the combat being annoying. They throw a lot of enemies at you, and it becomes more tedious than scary. Especially with the clunky controls. The music and sound design shift the game back to super creepy. There were a few moments I felt genuinely unsettled, even though the game is over 20 years old.

I expected a big reveal at the end, but there's nothing like that. It very neatly closes the chapter that the first game started. There were some plot lines I was interested in that never went anywhere, but I did enjoy the ending and what it meant for our main character.

Overall, very good game. Even now. The beginning sets the tone perfectly, and it never wavers from its intended message. Its creepy and bleak. Heather feels like a perfect mix of confused teenage girl, whilst being a force to be reckoned with with a clear mission in mind. I actually enjoyed this more than the first, but I still prefer the second game overall.