Malice (2022)

I embarked on this journey after the recent update focusing on quality of life and polish, motivated by my brother to participate together. Act 1 has just been finished, giving us a full hour of engaging gameplay. Although it is a short opening chapter, it makes a considerable impression. What Functions Effectively Compelling Puzzle Elements: The puzzles are clever, easy to grasp, and satisfying to complete, steering clear of unnecessary irritation or repetitiveness. Stellar Atmosphere: The integration of art direction, music score, and ambient sound design works together seamlessly to produce a truly disturbing and immersive horror experience. Excellent Cooperative Experience: Engaging in the game with another person feels fluid and adds an exciting aspect to solving the puzzle. Where It Lacks Adequacy Cumbersome UI Navigation: My main issue is the user interface. Shifting between important reference materials—like the brochure with vital puzzle hints—and your journal can be quite inconvenient. Frequent switching between screens interrupts the flow, thus adding a quick-toggle feature or a specific hotkey system would significantly improve the experience. Ruling Act 1 lays a…

I honestly don’t understand the overwhelmingly negative reviews for this game. The story is actually really good, and I can only assume a lot of people got frustrated because they couldn’t solve the puzzles. Malice is a heavily puzzle-focused co-op game for two players, almost like an escape room experience mixed with an old-fashioned Japanese folktale atmosphere. I played it with my boyfriend, and we had a great time. There’s even a really interesting twist at the end. I genuinely enjoyed both the puzzles and the cooperative gameplay. The mechanics are simple, and while the graphics definitely aren’t AAA-level, the game has its own charm and style that I found beautiful in its own way. After reading a lot of the negative reviews, I can’t help but feel like many people expect modern games to hand them every answer on a silver platter. A lot of complaints were about the lack of hints or the number of items you can pick up without immediately knowing what they’re for. Honestly, it just feels like many of these players have never really played older games or true puzzle games before, where figuring things out on your own is part of the experience. If you don’t enjoy puzzle-heavy g…

Me and my partner picked this up to laugh at what, must surely be, a terrible game given the Overwhelmingly Negative review score. What we got was a really good co-op puzzle game. It was difficult at times, with us blind lucking our way through one of the puzzles in Chapter 3 (I still don't understand how to work out the answer for the four spinning discs) but aside that, a little thought and there wasn't anything too painfully taxing. The story was decent enough, yet ambiguous for the most part as to what is the "right" choice. 8/10 - Would sacrifice my partner to allow some ancient shaman to inhabit her body again.

Malice begins as a familiar descent into darkness but quickly grows into something more ambitious, using pacing, environmental storytelling, and psychological tension to build a slow-burning horror experience. Developed and published by Nimbus Games, it places the player in a setting defined by abandonment, memory, and unease, where the architecture itself seems shaped by the fears and regrets of its inhabitants. The game does not overwhelm players with early exposition; instead, it encourages them to observe, interpret, and piece together narrative fragments scattered throughout the world. Every hallway, object, note, and sound effect contributes to a broader mystery, creating the sense that the player is trespassing in a space where they were never meant to be. The tone is oppressive without resorting to constant jump scares, and that restraint makes the dread feel more authentic. Gameplay blends exploration, light puzzle-solving, stealth, and resource management in a way that keeps the player constantly on edge. Malice is not a power fantasy—the protagonist’s vulnerability is deliberately emphasized. Supplies are limited, threats cannot always be confronted directly, and the pl…

Best game 10/10 would not play again 👍🏻

Pretty fun, but there's some bug here and there that makes it impossible to clear. But overall it's still pretty challenging and fun.