This game is ok, on the narrative side is really solid, pretty classic plot but executed very well: the endings were all consistent (not a common thing in RPG maker games) and the different take on the classic haunted house horror story is really cool.
The gameplay is meh, the puzzles aren't fun, mainly because you have a very generic objective and you're forced to wander at random to find things in order to progress.
It has some good jumpscares but other than that the atmosphere isn't really creepy (partially because there's no music in some parts of the game)

“A Boring RPG-maker Title”

I was suggested to play this game by my girlfriend, who loved it when she played it in middle school. As someone that never really played many RPG-maker titles, I was skeptical of the fun I would have considering their gameplay mechanics are limited in nature. A compelling plot with both quality writing and likable characters is necessary for me with these kinds of games, and pacing is what ties it all together to make it bearable (similar to my needs for point-n-click games). While “Mermaid Swamp” was an interesting and original setting for a horror title, my time with it ended far sooner than I had hoped due to the poor pacing of the story and lackluster cast of characters. It was a creepy experience with some pretty decent writing, but I just felt like it went by so slowly that it became unenjoyable.

The game starts out creepy/interesting enough: a group of friends find themselves stranded in an unknown swamp, and a lonely resident takes them in. However, weird things start to happen as they disappear one by one, and another gets sick with some strange condition. The setting was a highlight, as the isolated swamp house gave a good aesthetic for the mystery and suspense. The music is repetitive but fine overall. Gameplay is normal for RPG-maker titles, with basic functions to move and interact with people/objects. The horror is a mixture of jump-scares and suspense horror, though I felt that the game was always towing the line between being too light on story or too light on horror (never a good balance of the two).

The puzzles weren’t very strong nor compelling, and I found myself wandering around trying to figure out what to do next more often than not. It started feeling like plot points were becoming increasingly drawn out, and instead of moving gameplay along quickly in order to compensate, things became slower and more confusing. The issue lies in that if you wander around looking for something to do, and NOTHING else pops up as a side activity, then the game screeches to a halt and becomes boring. This is exactly what happened right as the plot started to get interesting with its horror and mystery themes, and it rubbed me the wrong way. Why waste my time with stretching out a plot line instead of keeping the energy and intrigue up?

I quit playing this one before what I believed was the halfway point. The puzzles/other gameplay aspects weren’t that fun to interact with, and the story wasn’t captivating enough to keep me interested. The pacing had slowed down to a crawl, and the game wasn’t scary enough to at least keep me around for any creepy moments. I would Not Recommend this one since it's a pretty basic RPG in terms of puzzles and is weak in other gameplay aspects, and the story could be both more interesting and scarier.

Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)

I think this one was better than the last few RPGmaker games I tried. No cheap deaths or any bullshit of the sort, basically all story. The big creepy moments:tm: are chilling, especially in comparison to other titles along these lines.

I guess one thing I really didn't like is how it kind of lures you into the wrong decisions, especially with a certain point in particular where it asks you to light a fireplace, locking you into two of three possible bad endings. Even outside of that, it can sometimes be a little unclear where to find things you need. Still, I find it's better than constantly dying to stupid nonsense like in another chunk of these games. You could argue that's part of the charm for some of them, but after playing so many it just becomes really fucking annoying.