Aetherial

When I first played it, the game felt a bit too guided and easy to rush through, which made the horror lose a lot of its impact. Since then, the developer updated the game so it no longer holds your hand as much, and that’s a very good change. Having to figure things out yourself makes the forest feel more unsettling and gives the experience more room to breathe. It’s still not the scariest game out there, and some of the events feel more paranormal than genuinely frightening, but the atmosphere is solid. The sound design works well too, although it can become a little repetitive after multiple runs. Overall, Aetherial is a decent short atmospheric walk with nice visuals, solid audio, and a developer who is very responsive with fixes and improvements. Worth checking out if you like slower, no-combat horror experiences.

Creepy, and really does provide the atmosphere of being truly lost in the woods. Definitely did not like recording some random trees and finding out I was recording "Something in the Bushes". :) I played it without reading anything from the game description since I like going into things cold. Really enjoyed the video filter and lack of immediate in-game guidance, it made the experience very spooky.

This game has a good premise and I enjoyed the aesthetic but the slow burn of the game is a bit to slow. The path is difficult to find, and that makes it hard to find items in the woods. I enjoyed my time in the game, but wish the mechanics were a bit more fleshed out. If you don't mind vague premises and exploring a seemingly endless sprawl of woods, Give it a try.