Shiin

What a blast I had!! I always mistrust anime visual novels because you can smell the poorly veiled porn from a mile away, but this one... well, it also had weird asides, but literally just 3 completely out of place pictures in the whole 8 hours run lol

Mixing very light (almost fake) RPG notes with inventory puzzles and deduction/investigation based choice paths the game manages to feel very fresh and fun to get through. The spooky visuals and creature designs help keep the illusion of mystery through the less-limited than it seems first person static backgrounds. While I wish the partners you choose were more involved in the investigation, I hear this is something improved on the sequel so we'll see!

Having each chapter present new people and end with a "boss fight" of adventure game logic was a fantastic design decision that makes it feel a bit like the horror, gore and exorcism version of Phoenix Wright.

Death Mark is a horror visual novel that caught my attention from the very start. Having played very few games of the same genre, I was waiting for this one to be decent. And it was actually pretty good!

since it worked with the concept of courses and spirits, it pretty much gave the game a good headstart. Which makes it even better is that each part, so to speak, is unique from the last. Which means a linear story but variety in terms of what you encounter. And oh boy, were those things freaky! Every time I encountered them, I was both amazed and horrified at the sight, and even if it was a weird combination, the effect was still there. The visuals, as well as the ambiance and music to go with it actually made me hesitant to keep going, mostly because I was afraid I'd run into something I wasn't expecting at all.

at certain times, the game threw you into literal life-or-death situations where you had to make a decision quickly based on the information you had gathered up until that point. Even if it was very unpredictable at times, I believe that it added to the whole experience and tension at that certain moment. It made you investigate your surroundings from top to bottom, because if you hadn't, you were pretty much screwed.

the story itself had a slow start, but once I got the hang of how things worked and what I needed to do, I just wanted to continue and discover the reasons behind all those paranormal encounters the protagonist had to face. And I must admit that the art and character design were amazing, which added more brownie points to my rating! The backgrounds and general locations were cold, somber, and dark, and most of the time while I was searching or looking around, I got nasty or gross surprises, which in this case was the intended goal, and I believe it exceeded that perfectly.

BUT, I do have to point out something that was just plain weird to me. Even if I have praised this game's art and general design, some of the illustrations that were shown felt... out of place for me. A lot of them were quite spooky, but some others... (and this is putting it simply and spoiler-free) were too suggestive, given the subject of the game. They're not many, but it's still strange given that it's a horror game.

putting all that aside, it gave me quite the spooks due to its uncaniness and eerie atmosphere, as well as its story! So it was definitely worth the time spent on it.

Death Mark is a game about investigating and battling spirits. The characters get death marks from spirits with a grudge. A person with a death mark will start losing their memories, and then they will eventually die. To rid themselves of the death mark, the characters will need to learn about the spirit that gave them the mark and battle them.

The ghost stories are good. I think this game delivers on the horror. It's atmospheric, and there are good use of sound effects that sent shivers down my spine. It creeped me out. There's some good, gross creature designs too.

Each chapter, has the investigation and the battle. The investigation involves going room to room in a location where the spirit was spotted to find clues and tools useful in my upcoming battle with the ghost. The player will be accompanied by a partner chosen from one of the Mark Bearers you meet during the game. During this time, the game will throw these "Live or Die" events at the player. These will ask you a question, and will provide three possible answers to choose from. A wrong answer could mean death. Sometimes these events would ask me questions that I didn't have enough information to answer. It would lead to trial and error which kills the mood. Luckily, the game doesn't really punish the player for wrong answers. I could choose just reset back to the first question asked and answer again.

When battle a spirit, first the player must play defense. The spirit will throw its attack at the player, and the player will need to use tools they found during their investigation to block. After each attack, the spirit will move closer to the player. Once the spirit is close enough, the player will have to deliver the final blow. There are two ways to defeat each enemy spirit: one that destroys the spirit and one that helps the spirit leave in peace. If the player chooses the peaceful option each chapter, they will get the good ending. If the player destroys at least one spirit in the game, they will get the bad ending. Destroying a spirit will also lead to the death of a character. The player will need to learn enough about the ghost during their investigation and put these clues together to find what will pacify the spirit. These battles like the "Live or Die" events can also lead to a lot of trial and error. I had to resort to walkthroughs a couple of times for these because the strategy to battle wasn't clear. Not only does the player need to make sure they are using the right tools, they also need to make sure they have the right partner with them. It sometimes felt like a timewaster when the correct strategy wasn't clear to me.

About the partners. Players will get about three partners to use during each chapter. Each chapter drops some partners and adds new partners for you to choose from. Each character has their own personality that the player will get to know over the chapter. The issue though is if I'm not using a partner, I don't get the know them. There were characters I didn't get to know because I didn't think they would be useful during the investigation or battle. Also, when you switch characters during the chapter, the main character will talk to their new partner as if they had previous conversations that I didn't see since I did not have them as a partner earlier in the chapter. I guess this gives me a reason to replay the game, but there isn't much incentive when I know the story and the puzzles already.

I was looking for a horror game to play this October, and this satisfied me. I will move on to the sequel soon.

Side note: there was a DLC chapter included with the game. There seems to be a bug where I wasn't able to progress to complete the chapter. Luckily, it was a chapter that took place after the end of the game, but it still sucks.