Recensioni di Slit Mouthed - 口裂け女

I'm always happy when I see indie devs growing up! This is the second game of Nyxtales, who already brought us a nice Japanese horror called Teke Teke. Although I honestly enjoyed that game, I can see why many customers were disappointed, and why it didn't achieve much success. It was pretty fun and atmospheric, but it was also full of flaws. The inventory was clunky, the overall pace of the game was inconsistent, and the monster, the legendary female ghost Teke Teke, was not particularly scary, on the contrary, she was even funny sometimes. But I am glad to say that Kuchisake Onna (the true name of the Slit Mouthed ghost) is way better from all points of view. The inventory is much more intuitive and practical, the graphics are much more pleasant, the pace of the game is well designed, and the monster, another very well known legendary female ghost, is VERY VERY scary and charismatic. There are still some flaws in this game, yes. The puzzles are unsatisfactory, there is not enough interaction with the (very cool!) environment, and the "extremely intelligent enemy AI" we can read about in the store page... well... doesn't exist! Kuchisake Onna is controlled by a very basic AI with a fixed patrol, which is simply triggered by the sight of the player. Her senses are keen, yes, she is very sensitive, but this doesn't make her "extremely intelligent"! Now, don't get me wrong, a basic AI like this is PERFECTLY coherent with the main purpose of the game, which just focuses on the storyline and the creepy atmosphere, and NOT on survival. This game doesn't aim to be a tough and punishing survival experience, so a simple-minded monster is totally ok. But lying to potential customers... this is DEFINITELY wrong! If I may provide some advice to the devs: be careful when you write things on the storepage, try to be as honest as possible. I already read an angry review mainly focussed on this, and, honestly, I can't really blame the author. BUT, despite these few flaws, I think this is a very nice and fun horror, intelligently filled with some truly tense moments. During my first blind run I could clearly feel the fear of the protagonist right on my own skin, and this is priceless! I feel I have to reward this thrilling sensation, so I definitely recommend this little game if you are looking for a very short, but very creepy and intense horror story. And above all, if you, like me, will NEVER get tired of Japanese urban legends, of course! Cheers guys!