This game was a pleasant surprise and I am so glad that I ended up taking a risk and purchasing it, even though I knew no one on my friend's list had played it. Everything released so far(i think three more episodes are still being developed) was phenomenal and it made me want to play it over and over - which I did. I played it three times.

One of the things I feel like the "Choose your own adventure" narrative style games struggle with sometimes is actually having variety with the different decisions. In this game, things can be drastically changed for you in terms of what you can access, what information you get, and how an interaction goes. Choice really does matter in this game - especially if you're playing in Hardcore mode.

I played it a ton over the few days that I played it. It is a short game, maybe about a hour per chapter(so 4 hours in total right now) when you're playing for the first time and reading everything in depth, but it is well worth it in my opinion between the writing, the art style, and the game in general.

Keep in mind, there is no voice acting, this is just a strictly reading game. So if that's not your thing, I would avoid.

Love it so far! I just finished Chapter 4, the last chapter released as of this review, and I'm absolutely loving it and already looking forward to the next update.

The art style is unique and really lends itself to the horror genre, and in combination with the writing there are some genuinely horrific moments. Even outside of the crescendos, the writing does a great job of maintaining a tense vibe punctuated with some moments of levity. The characters also all feel distinct and consistent, something that I've found can be lost all too easily in the visual novel format.

If your interests intersect at horror and visual novels, I definitely recommend checking it out! You can play the first chapter for free on itch.io and probably Steam.

What I noticed right away is that this is a visual novel (VN) that actually nails the visuals. There's a lot of effort put into having numerous custom backgrounds and sprites and also having characters interact with things in the background. It feels nice to play a VN where the visual aspect is given the attention it deserves.

I also appreciate the amount of choice you are given in your own dialogue. There are a numerous amount of responses that cover what you'd reasonably want to say in response to something in almost all circumstances. Better yet, what you say actually matters. Characters will form lasting opinions of you based on what you say and their perceptions of you will actually effect the story in significant ways. Scarlet Hollow also doesn't flaunt the fact that what you're saying matters: there is no "X will remember that" that pops up, because it'd have to pop up every 30 seconds with how often the things you say matter.

The writing is pretty good, it feels smart and the characters are well done. On the whole I like the story, but it isn't finished yet so its hard to truly judge. That's my biggest complaint really, that the game isn't finished yet.