The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
Trigger Warning:
The content in this game may not be appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work.
This is just my impression, therefore, my opinion. I'm only expressing my interest of the games and may have some spoilers. That's all.
About
Platform: PC (so far as I know) Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG, Horror Developer: Yangyang Mobile Publisher: Yangyang Mobile Release Date: 25 Jul 2017
Inspired by Asian horror films, The Letter is a visual horror game that you can easily access from Steam. The game showcases 7 individual characters that came upon a suspicious letter which was rumoured to be cursed. They became victims of the horrors it entails and depending on the choices they make along the way, they might all end up dead or alive after the whole ordeal.
PS: The game is still being fixed but you're welcome to try it out
Graphics/Art/Animation
A lot can be said about this and I'll start with how realistic and pretty it looked. Though it does have some anime ish style to it, the way they coloured their characters, backgrounds and CGs are close to still live. They really put in effort in the details.
Adding on to that is the fact that they added some animation in the character sprites when they change their expression. Even the clothes and flow of hair was considered as well.
Please don't look up;;
The parts where they show the gore and haunting scenes were a no joke as well. Just looking at them in the middle of a silent night could send chills down my spine.
Gameplay
Just like Telltale and Until Dawn, this game has countless butterfly effects where the choices and endings you get for the previous chapters heavily affect how the succeeding chapters will play out.
They provide a branching tree to keep track of the choices you make and also the route you're taking.
Journal entries which are in chronological order will be written down as you progressed through the game, clues in which each character had found out before their chapter ends.
Don't be fooled, however. Even though it states that it's a visual horror game, don't think for a second that you could sit back and relax as you munch on your popcorn. This game even has some quick time events that you need to watch out for. Failing it¡well, you know what'll happen.
Characters
I can't say much about them without spoiling the whole plot itself but what I can say is that the seven characters in the game are playable in each chapter. They give the players each of their point of views on the whole occurrence of the curse, plausibly giving some hints on how the mystery comes together in the end. And yes, they even added some English voice acting into the character's dialogues.
Surprise, surprise. I only watched a gameplay of this from a YouTuber, ManlyBadassHero, and I already have a liking to the game (I'm bad at playing any horror games;;). Who knows? Maybe I'll pick it up when I find the courage to do so. (Which is never)
