In theory, I like a lot of what this is doing in terms of not holding your hand and letting you immerse yourself in the clues, but a lot of it amounts to key hunts and deciphering lock combinations. The end is the biggest let down, throwing the answer in your face and switching genres to something less grounded and kinda silly. Don't go expecting complex human motivations here, either, there's plenty of clichés about mental health and jealousy to throw around here. Still not bad overall, considering the novel structuring and an indie dev's limitations.

A great detective game that really shakes up the walking simulator genre by giving you a relatively open town to explore filled with puzzles to solve and doors to unlock. There is no fast travel and no quest markers. You have to navigate the town on your own (with the help of a static in-game map), take notes to keep track of timelines and characters (if you play the game, make sure to start writing down a timeline of events early on because it helps a lot in keeping the story straight. I had a big revelation when I realized that 1 event took place the same day as a certain diary entry.) Admittedly, beating the game depends on finding a number of keys which can sometimes turn into a bit of a pixel hunt (I got badly stuck on two occasions because I had forgotten to open a drawer). In addition, puzzle solutions are sometimes spelled out for you in some notes (as well as an important revelation later on in the game).

On the whole, this is a great game that really showed what is possible with the walking simulator genre...until the ending. Without spoiling anything, many things about the ending didn't make sense and felt at odds with the tone of the rest of the game. On the whole, I really admire this game and can't wait to see what the team at EQ studios puts out next, and as a debut title this is an outstanding game. It's just the ending (which has proved divisive amongst most players) didn't quite work for me, even though I admire the ambition of the team for trying something unexpected.

If it weren't for the fact that this game was developed by an independent studio who were learning the basics of game development while they were making the game (you can check out their development diaries on their blog), I might have rated it a bit lower. However, as a debut title this is amazing and it is rare for a first-time developer to make a game that is able to mostly deliver on what it promises.

Uma experiência incrível de investigação e mistério, Painscreek Killings me despertou uma vontade enorme de jogar mais jogos do estilo.

Amei a forma como o jogo não segura sua mão em absolutamente nada, ele te explica o básico e o resto cabe a você descobrir. Não existem indicadores na interface ou marcadores de objetivo te dizendo aonde ir, o quanto você descobre acerca dos misteriosos assassinatos depende inteiramente da sua capacidade de notar cada detalhe e de relacionar uma coisa com a outra.

Painscreek Killings até mesmo te recomenda fazer suas próprias anotações da investigação (seja num caderno mesmo ou em algum aplicativo de PC) e eu particularmente acho isso uma excelente ideia, foi uma das experiências mais imersivas que eu tive com um jogo nos últimos anos.

Enfim, bom demais, ir juntando as pecinhas aos poucos do que aconteceu no condado de Painscreek te prende de um jeito absurdo, e a atmosfera quieta e tensa do jogo te deixa alerta o tempo inteiro (a sensação de que tem alguém te observando tá sempre presente, não conto as vezes que fiquei de coração acelerado).

Só não dou 5 estrelas porque teve um puzzle ou outro que a solução era meio estúpida e quase impossível de descobrir sem ser na tentativa e erro, mas de resto é maravilhoso, recomendo demais.