Spirit Hunter: NG
Dec. 5th, 2021 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingSpirit Hunter: NG is a 2018 visual horror novel that’s about 15 hours long. I think I’m maybe about halfway through, and I’m enjoying myself.
NG actually has gameplay, but it’s very simple. You investigate your environment by shining your flashlight on various objects, and you collect odds and ends that you can use to solve simple puzzles. You’re occasionally presented with timed dialog choices in scenarios that will result in an instant “game over” if you choose incorrectly.
Because it’s a horror game, you confront several creatures that want to kill you (including the police), and it’s possible to die. You can only save at certain points, meaning that you may have to replay an entire extended sequence if you mess something up. It’s possible to speed through the text, but I got so frustrated by one early-game confrontation (against the police) that I started using a walkthrough just to make the game a bit smoother, and I regret nothing.
The game apparently has “good,” “bad,” and “normal” endings, but there don’t seem to be any branching paths that have anything more than minor cosmetic effects on the story. You can raise or lower the affection that the named NPCs feel toward you, but this doesn’t seem to affect anything besides a few throwaway lines of dialog.
The main story is somewhat silly, as are the characters. The stars of the show are the urban legends that form the core of each chapter. As far as I can tell, these urban legends are all original, and it’s fun to slowly gather the details of each story. The monster artwork is highly gruesome and very creative, and it’s probably the best part of the game. The monster victim artwork is A+ good shit as well, and I was genuinely surprised by some of the deaths.
The story is set in the Tokyo suburb of Kichijoji, and it’s fun to walk around the area late at night when all the sources of light are artificial and vaguely eerie by default. The atmospheric sound design is very good and made me nostalgic for Tokyo.
I’ve been wondering how to talk about the role of gender in this game. NG isn’t misogynistic by any means, but all of the urban legends are extreme perversions of femininity. Still, there’s no sexual violence or lolicon, so I feel comfortable saying that I respect and appreciate these creepy monster women. I mean, I’m only halfway through the game, so fingers crossed the writing doesn’t get stupid.
NG actually has gameplay, but it’s very simple. You investigate your environment by shining your flashlight on various objects, and you collect odds and ends that you can use to solve simple puzzles. You’re occasionally presented with timed dialog choices in scenarios that will result in an instant “game over” if you choose incorrectly.
Because it’s a horror game, you confront several creatures that want to kill you (including the police), and it’s possible to die. You can only save at certain points, meaning that you may have to replay an entire extended sequence if you mess something up. It’s possible to speed through the text, but I got so frustrated by one early-game confrontation (against the police) that I started using a walkthrough just to make the game a bit smoother, and I regret nothing.
The game apparently has “good,” “bad,” and “normal” endings, but there don’t seem to be any branching paths that have anything more than minor cosmetic effects on the story. You can raise or lower the affection that the named NPCs feel toward you, but this doesn’t seem to affect anything besides a few throwaway lines of dialog.
The main story is somewhat silly, as are the characters. The stars of the show are the urban legends that form the core of each chapter. As far as I can tell, these urban legends are all original, and it’s fun to slowly gather the details of each story. The monster artwork is highly gruesome and very creative, and it’s probably the best part of the game. The monster victim artwork is A+ good shit as well, and I was genuinely surprised by some of the deaths.
The story is set in the Tokyo suburb of Kichijoji, and it’s fun to walk around the area late at night when all the sources of light are artificial and vaguely eerie by default. The atmospheric sound design is very good and made me nostalgic for Tokyo.
I’ve been wondering how to talk about the role of gender in this game. NG isn’t misogynistic by any means, but all of the urban legends are extreme perversions of femininity. Still, there’s no sexual violence or lolicon, so I feel comfortable saying that I respect and appreciate these creepy monster women. I mean, I’m only halfway through the game, so fingers crossed the writing doesn’t get stupid.
