The Painscreek Killings

WARNING: This game has unmarked horror/supernatural elements, including at least one jumpscare. Not what I wanted when I bought a "detective" game about solving a cold case in an "abandoned" town. Even if that kind of thing is your jam, you won't enjoy the janky interface, jarring soundtrack, counterintuitive controls and sluggish movement speed. You'll also never turn your flashlight off, because even the buildings with clear windows somehow don't have enough light for you to see while you're in there. In a game that involves this much document reading you'd also hope for a grasp of character voice; you will not find one. Every single letter, diary, note and piece of ephemera reads as if written by the same guy. Letters and diaries read identically, too - do you write the same way in your personal notes as you do to someone you're addressing in a letter? No? Didn't think so. And does the awful scribbly handwriting font intended to make you feel like there's some character variety come with a typed translation for the player? No, no it does not. TL;DR: It's not what you want it to be. Save your money for something that is.

I was kinda disappointed in this if I am being honest. Its hard to follow up the Obra Dinn... The music is repetitive, I found myself pixel hunting far more than I wanted, and the mystery was a tad predictable if you know detective show tropes. I wish the game would let you pick up every note and be able to choose if its needed or not. I also found myself wishing for a hint that would be able to point me in a general direction if I got stuck.

If the game is all reading (which I often enjoy) then the writing needs to be good.

This game was great. i loved that i could walk around town at my own pace and enjoy the beautiful houses. i wish id been able to snoop inside more of them. I don't normally play puzzle or mystery games so it was a bit on the tricky side for me but i would just ask my ChatGPT to give me one line only clues to help me move forward in the game. Id recommend it to people who enjoyed games like Everyone,s Gone To The Rapture and What Remains of Edith Finch. 9/10

that family cray cray

Strange game but it has its virtues.