The Painscreek Killings

Exciting mystery walking simulator, but with a few Senters and a technically unsatisfactory Ending. The Painscreek Killings gives you the Task of solving a killing spree that occurred Years ago in a US village. The namesake Painscreek is located in New Jersey, although the Architecture does not suggest that and would rather fit into the British Hinterland. Painscreek is quite idyllic for a Ghost Town and invites you to Explore. However, the vast Majority of the over a hundred Houses are bound to be completed and remain so for the Rest of the Game, which together with the rather homogeneous Look quickly causes the Search to become a bit desolate. On NPCs, you don't encounter any during the Search For the Murder weapon, instead you learn the Story of Painscreek and the Murders of Newspapers, Letters, Notes, Diaries and Flyers. You can find out a lot ... And should definitely take Notes. Even if you can take Snapshots with a Camera at any time and many important Documents remain in The Inventory, you quickly lose sight of important Events, Relationships, Hints and Codes. I came to 3 A4 pages during The GAME, which is quite unusual for me. The Puzzles usually require Codes from specific Documents or Key Objects from specific Locations to solve them. However, they are always relatively easily solvable. However, there are also Moments of Frustration when you have overlooked a tiny Object that was somewhere in the Corner of a Drawer and where the Game has come up and has not indicated the Perspective that you can take it with you. There would be no small Emphasis. After about a Third, I was also in a Place where I didn't know what to do next. The City invites you to Explore, but in doing so you also quickly lose track Of which tasks you have to perform which Requirements and when you should do them. A small Checklist or Similar as a rough guideline Would have been useful. I was about to give up, after all. But The Story is quite thrillingly told and comparatively complex. You always experience new Bits that lead you closer to the Perpetrator ... And then reveal that one was wrong after all. If you take your Time, the Lore of the Game is well worth it. Only the End was then somewhat disappointing. The real Killer is already hinted at before, but before the End begins, there is another Place where all the important Points are presented, so that the detective work Was actually relatively meaningless. At the End, the Gameplay changes significantly, too. I don't want to spoil too much, but it seemed more like bad creepypasta fan games to me than like the thoroughly atmospheric mystery game it was before. I was not satisfied with the Mechanics and the Implementation, it seemed rather involuntarily funny. Graphically, the Game is fine, creating a coherent Mood. Especially the Book covers and Flyers are quite lovingly designed, even if the photos used do not look exactly after 90s. Unfortunately, there are also relatively many grammar or Spelling Errors that keep Immersion somewhat contained again. The Soundtrack is okay, too. The Compositions themselves are quite successful, but a little too short for the long Time they sometimes play at a time. All in all, The Painscreek Killings is quite an interesting Game that has captivated me for a While. I would like to see the Weaknesses ironed out, but nevertheless there is a Recommendation from me for all those who stand on this game genre. Others can take a look at the Demo to the Game.