The Painscreek Killings Reviews

I don't think I've ever been so invested into a detective story. There's just something about this game that really hooks you. Take your time with this though, explore each area thoroughly, and definitely take notes while you play. This game does not hold your hand at all. I had a second monitor with a notes app while I played so that I could write important clues since not ALL the notes you find are saved in your inventory and it'll save you a lot of time of having to backtrack. I went back and forth on who I thought was the killer a bunch of times and when I finally found conclusive evidence, it was super rewarding. Highly recommend this one.

Great mystery detective game that allows you to, mostly, take your own path. There's a mild linearity to it, but there's a lot you can discover off the intended track. As an immersive, detective vibe game it's one of the best to ever do it. My only major gripes are VA work being a bit stiff, and the ended sequence really shines a light on this being an older indie Unity game. Outside of that, any other issue I have is just wanting it to be even more of what it already is. The story was captivating to me and I was stuck in. I beat it in a single 10 hour sitting at 90% complete, and even went back through to 100% it.

Honestly one of the best detective games I've played. The map is great to explore, the story is impeccable and well-pieced together while leaving room to interpretation. The game lets you make your own theories, and gives you the time to disprove/approve them yourself without putting the solution under your nose. The atmosphere stays tense the whole time, without becoming horror. It's a fair 10/10 for me.

I loved this game and couldn't stop playing for hours at a time. The clues were challenging. I definitely recommend this game to people who likes psychological horror genre! One of my favourite and hoping to find another games like this.

Loved this game. Good, but convoluted, storyline and fun all around.

This was challenging enough that I had to start keeping notes and may have had to look for a little bit of help when I missed something totally obvious!! Very fun playtime and I'm still thinking about a couple of things I didn't get before it finished. Had me feeling a little spooked at times!

Yeah, this game's awesome. Shoutout to Vote 4 Holt for introducing it to me via his video series on it. But wow, this'll really stick with you. The characters and the story and the setting. Try to play it as raw as you can, you can only experience this once, and no other game really compares gameplay-wise.

My recommendation comes with a qualification. While the game play was first class for the most, the ending was both a cop out and a big disappointment. Given the evidence at the end of the game, the developers really missed a big opportunity for a classic ironic twist. That coupled with the goofy 'chase scene' at the end really brought this down from a 5 star to a 3 star (at best) game for me. Don't be misled by the number of hours I logged on the game, I have bad habit of forgetting to log out of games when I stop playing, especially if the game doesn't actually end when you select 'Quit'. I only paid $7.99 for the game, so I think I got my money's worth in terms of game play, but that ending really was pretty lame. It felt like the developers got tired/bored at the end and just stopped trying.

Painscreek Killings is an excellent game, i had a very nice time finishing it, the exploration is wonderful, although you explore a town on your own it's like all the other characters described in the notes you find are there and their motive is crystal clear from their point of view. As the story unfolds you can feel a dark secret coming to light and it gets very intense to the point where you cannot leave the game until you find out what really happened. I didn't need to take much notes as i could memorize the places quite easily but anyone finding the need to feel free to do it, it only adds to the detective feeling the game gives. I recommend this game to everyone who likes hardboiled detective mysteries as this game does not hold your hand you are free to discover the world on your own. The only downside to the whole game is the lack of replayability as the true ending is only one so once you get to it the next time you are going to play it is going to feel already spoiled. Nevertheless, i am definitely going to play it again as the atmoshphere is excellent and the feeling remains the same fron start to end.

This game really disappointed me. It tells you to take notes, but gives you so much stuff it becomes impossible to shuffle through them. It doesn't understand how number passwords are usually handled, leading to a lot of confusion in moments where you have the right answer. It doesnt provide enough contrast with some of the story elements, leaving you walking around like a headless chicken looking for the thing you're searching. So much of the gameplay is opening doors and finding nothing, which would be okay if the game was like 2 hours shorter imo I enjoyed a lot of the puzzle solving, but after a certain point it became tedious to move around the city any time something new came up. By far its worse sin is its resolution. It loses any degree of class or elegance and becomes extremely tacky. The final section of the game is by far the worst dip in quality I have ever seen in a game. I don't regret playing it, but I do regret staying up late finishing it. If you're looking for an adventure game, this one is fine enough, I will always appreciate tried and failed over didn't try at all, but if you're looking for a proper detective game with actual interesting and satisfying mysteries, I recommend Return of the Obra Dinn and Paradise Killer instead.