Update Seven: 13 June 2017

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Do not play this at night.

This is a sicknasty point-n-click adventure game in the same vein as the Cat Lady in terms of color palette, feel, and physical representation of space, but with a much more refined graphical style and a distinctly Taiwanese feel. Which is appropriate, because this game is Taiwanese through and through.

Set in a school sometime in the 60’s, when the hunt for Communists during the Chinese Cultural Revolution was at a fever pitch, two students become stuck at school when the bridge down the hill gets washed out during a typhoon. And then everything gets bonkers.

It’s difficult to talk about the plot because a lot of it is gleaned in pieces through the story. You play through the main part of the story as Ray, a senior, as she wanders a demented landscape through not just the school but her own home life. The puzzles aren’t stupid complicated but are very practical. There are maybe one or two true jump scares, and the real horror comes from the excellent visual and sound design. The first chapter (out of four) is the ‘scariest’ with some truly fuckt up monsters to avoid, and it particularly stressed me out. Luckily, the spirits decline from there, where the final two chapters are focused completely on Ray’s internal story. I wish it were like that from the beginning.

There were a few times I wanted to stop, to take a break for the day and come back later, but the game was impossible to put down. I’d recommend playing through in one sitting - it’s possible! I didn’t get all the achievements - there’s one for getting the bad ending and one for looking at everything that’s look-at-able that I’ll save for another day.

This is a gem - don’t miss it!

Next up: THANK YOU SO MUCH TRENT!!!!

See you soon!