THE ORIGIN: Blind Maid l DEFINITIVE EDITION

[i]The review key was provided by the developer.[/i] [hr][h2][i]»I'm going to discount a couple of wages for this.«[/i][/h2][hr] [b]This review contains no major story spoilers.[/b] [table][tr][td][h3]🟢 [b]Pros[/b][/h3][/td][td][h3]🔴 [b]Cons[/b][/h3][/td][/tr][tr][td][list] [*]Decent story, atmosphere and graphics [*]Good voice acting [*]Interesting upgrade system [/list][/td][td][list] [*]Assets pop in and out at a very close range [*]Poor (written) localization [*]Terrible audio mixing [*]Badly-designed chase sequences [*]Subpar gunplay [*]Bad sound effects [*]Fake options (disabling "blur" does nothing) [*]No crouch toggle [*]Fake, scripted stealth sequences [*]No way to defend yourself when out of bullets [*]Repetitive score [*]Way too much backtracking [*]Broken, exploitable checkpoint system [*]Half-baked controller support [/list][/td][/tr][/table] [h1]Gameplay[/h1] [quote]Controllers work but cannot be rebound and the prompts are for keyboard only; some keyboard inputs can be rebound. Connected controllers vibrate, which can't be disabled.[/quote] [i]THE ORIGIN: Blind Maid (OBM)[/i] is best described as a first-person horror adventure. You get a gun fairly early, but …

Seemed like an interesting idea but man, the execution. The keys can't be rebound. The mouse sensitivity, even at minimum allows me to do three complete revolutions with a six or so inch movement. Get too close to walls and the camera completely loses focus. At one point, I was grabbed by the guy you can't shoot for some reason, even when he's trying to kill you. To break free, do you mash f (the default "use" button)? No, it's x for some reason, one restart at checkpoint later. I'm now stuck in the basement area where it suddenly floods and the guy you can't shoot ignores you in a scripted sequence where you duck under water to avoid him but you need a crowbar to go out the hatch you just left. So, try to sneak around him "I found you!!!" punchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunchpunch. Think I'm going to take another break from this and try when I'm feeling more generous.

Bad game, Bad controls, Too dark, Not even for free...

I'm going to do my third review here because this game certainly deserves it. Where to start? Exactly, where to start since the game refuses, no matter what I do, to start. It loads, well and dandy, but gets stuck in a girls face until forevermore. So, needlessly to say, I don't even know what the game looks like. Might be nice, or not, I can't tell and the devs mostly certainly can't either because, I'm going on a whim here, it doesn't start for them neither. So, do yourself a favour, skip this or give your money to charity, as I should have done, but no, I bought this instead.

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It does get a little better as it goes along but the game is a prime example why usability testing is so important to make a decent game. There's so much in the game that needs work that most people will not find enjoyment in playing it. As of Jul 22, 2021 when it released, only 7.3% have completed the "game completed" achievement.