I usually buy games in bundles or at deep discounts but this thing was different. I saw the gameplay (The ‘stag beetle’ part got me. I absolutely adore the megasoma. The Polish name for rhinoceros beetle is ‘rohatyniec nosorożec’ and I think that’s beautiful) and decided this game may be too unique to just watch. Plus, I’m old enough now to buy horror games on a whim, on Sunday, 15 minutes to midnight. The first puzzle was getting the game started since it launches in Japanese. I’ve managed since it only has two items inside the options menu: language and fullscreen setting. Also, the windowed option proved unplayable on my computer. The game offered no way of changing the window resolution, so the game still covered the entire screen only now with the title bar saying ‘Project Shiawase’ displayed on top. Right next to the Unity icon. I admired the diligence with which Seven managed to inform me that the game was running on Unity about three times before I even got to start playing. I don’t look like a, uh… ghost, do I? The gameplay is extremely basic. Each day, the player is given a list of objects to find around the apartment where the protagonist is staying. At the same time, the ghost randomly spawns and homes in slowly on the player. There is a high pitch sound informing the player that they are being followed and if they manage to look at the ghost before it reaches them, it disappears. Then, the entire chase sequence starts over until the player is either caught or able to complete the objectives. After that there is a short cinematic, followed by a screen saying “Mission Complete” (sorely lacking the Metal Gear Solid VR mission fanfare). Finally, the player is treated to another ‘Made with Unity’ screen and kicked back to the main menu where they need to start another day manually. There is no saving option available but with each ‘mission’ being only a few minutes long there is no need for one. See? I’m real. It takes less than 2 hours to finish this game for the first time and unlock every achievement. It’s not a long story and it would probably take about 20 minutes to complete when the player already knows what to do. The controls are very basic, graphics are unimpressive, and the sound is nearly nonexistent besides the bare minimal effects and three or four songs playing in the background. Furthermore, for such a short game, there is an extensive number of bugs. None of the options work properly: windowed mode is broken, the English translation is poor (but in a charming way – outside of chapter 6 when the game gives player the instructions on what to do next in a form of a riddle and the quality of translation makes it frustrating) and there’s also a mouse sensitivity slider, but it only appears when the player views the options during the game and not from the main menu. Once or twice, I had the ghost spawn so close to the protagonist that it resulted in an instant chapter restart, and sometimes the chime that is supposed to warn the player that the ghost is approaching did not play. Said ghost is animated very sparsely, and even when she does move, her body notoriously clips through her hair which distracts from enjoying the cutscenes. Do I look like your girlfriend? But while at times Seven indeed felt more like a ‘project’ than a proper game, it did not change the fact that the main gameplay loop is enjoyable. There is a perfect mixture of humor, tension and charm involved. There are two endings. Unexpectedly for a ghost story, both may be classified as happy ones in their own ways. On a philosophical ground, I might contest the claim that the best possible outcome of the Seven’s events would be for the protagonist to spend the rest of his life with a supernatural being that has attempted to kill him before , but that’s probably subjective. Both endings show the player ‘Made with Unity’ screen twice. Having said all that, while I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this game, I can’t bring myself to give it a negative review either. For what it offers, both in terms of length and quality, the price is rather steep and there are plenty of more competent games. It’s not a – despite what Steam reviews may tell you – 9 out of 10 game. It’s a strong 6, an acceptable first effort of TozukuGames and as such it deserves an upvote. I just hope their following games would show a decisively more polish since the - pun intended - spirit is already there. As always, do with this knowledge whatever you will and Try to have a wonderful life.
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