The Painscreek Killings

I absoloutly loved this game - MAKE YOUR OWN NOTES AS THEY ADVISE - i felt like a real detective trying to link all the pieces of the puzzle together, figure out who was linked to who - every step of the way you were figuring something else about someone, you were lead in different directions and had you doubting yourself - played all day couldnt stop until i solved it!

One of, if not THE best detective/mystery game I have ever played. Extremely underrated. I will always be looking for another game like this. I love how it's completely open with no quests or guidance. You follow the clues you discover and you better take good notes. One of the games where I wish I could wipe my memory and play again.

Requirements: A notepad or something similar for taking notes.
Caution: Contains horror elements, including jump scares.
- 메모장 필요.
- 깜놀 주의.

This game isn't technically perfect, but in my head it basically created a brand new game genre. Between gaming sessions I could not stop thinking about it and would jot down ideas about motive, places to explore or re-explore now that I'd learned something, or make lists of things I needed to do once I figured out the next step. The gameplay might be mostly walking around opening doors and entering numbers, but the puzzles and plot lived inside my head rent free for the weeks I played this game. The open world aspect, the puzzles, the narrative - this game takes some bold swings and they're almost all home runs. My biggest problem is now I don't know what to play because I just want more of this!

This is possibly one of the best detective games I have ever played. It requires you to step back from viewing tasks from a gamer perspective and actually put yourself in the situation and piece together a plan of action.

The Devs masterfully crafted an atmosphere in this game that has you on edge the entire time. I have never been so anxious in a well lit, airy, open environment. I spent almost the entire game acutely aware of just how many windows and viewing angles there were everywhere. They would let the player steep in this feeling of unease until it became familiar and then like clockwork you would find a journal or note with just the right line to send you right back on edge.

They also did a great job in establishing a level of trust with the player that there was a logical next step. Establishing this crucial component was a choice that I think a lot of puzzle games need to be making. It made it so even when I got lost, I never looked up a guide, because I trusted that the Devs had planned it this way. I did feel lost a few times but that is because I was trying to play the game like a gamer completing a checklist. I had to step back and think of what I had done so far and what I thought the logical next step would be. Not once did I feel like a puzzle/next step was unfair, cruel, or too abstract to figure out. Sometimes they just required patience to let my brain connect the pieces I already had.

I will say, one drawback I felt the game did have was how the information and menus were organised. They felt clunky and it was sometimes hard to find things I had read before, especially when not all notes get "copied" for later. This meant if you didn't catch that a note hadn't been copied and remembered to take a photo, you would have to try and find it again. I do understand some of their choices were to add "realism" to the experience but I do wish they allowed for players themselves to organise the information provided. A murder board style menu where you could organise journal entries, documents, newspapers, and photos all together in the way that works best for you would have been amazing!!

I sat down to try it before bed. It told me to take notes, so I did.

Next thing I know it's 5 hours later and 4AM and the only reason I'm stopping is because my brain's slowing down; if it wasn't I'd keep going just to figure more of it out.

This scratches an itch I haven't had scratched since Gone Home first came out, and it goes much further than that. The feeling of canvasing the different areas searching for details, taking notes, and making connections between something you just found with something you wrote down a few hours ago feels incredible! It does a fantastic job at building dread too as you learn more and more about what's gone on...

My only complaint? Its music needs to be longer. A 20-30sec loop isn't nearly enough to not make it annoying while taking notes. After awhile I muted the music and just had something else playing in my ears.

Give it a shot if you enjoy deduction. The "Aha!" moments this game has is second to none, and I don't think I'm close to being done.

Engaging story and puzzles. The only downside for me is that it requires taking A LOT of notes, I love when a game makes you take notes but this is just too much, an in-game feature similar to the mental palace from Alan Wake II would've been perfect.
Anyway the game is totally worth it for 5€.