I was waiting this game to be released since its announcement, having heard so little about it and only watched the teaser trailer.. After finally two years, the game is released.
The first thing you will notice while playing the game, is its atmosphere. The graphics, from the first menu screen will blow you away. The nature, trees, lakes, water, houses and the general environment look all so great, especially while playing on the PC. The music and sound is also masterfully made, dragging you in from the first moment.
The basic plot line is you are a detective/paranormal investigator of some sort, and are sent to Red Creek Valley (the location where the game takes place) after receiving a letter from a boy, Ethan Carter, asking for your help. You will start investigating as soon as you start the game and shortly enough, the beauty of the forest you are in, the sun shining, the lake passing by and the birds singing, will all brutally "disappear" as you come across the first victim covered in blood a few miles/meters away.
The game play is simple enough and complex at the same time. For stories' sake you have to investigate a crime scene, "restore the peace" of the scene by recovering lost items lying around in a nearby place and then approach the body to figure out what happened by opening portals to the time of the murder and arranging the scenes in the correct chronological order. While this may not be a whole lot of game play (enemies are not present in the game except from a small portion of it) the true beauty lies at the exploration of it. Simply walking around, exploring the nature of this forgotten place, trying to figure out what happened on your own, is simply amazing. It is like you are actually walking there yourself as a player. Not many games achieve this kind of realism nowadays.
As the game notifies you when starting a new game, this is not a "hand-holding" experience. The whole games' premise relies on playing the game on your own. The whole premise of the game is going through the valley and the houses, trying to figure out what happened and getting immersed with this universe.
With this said, this is the time to mention two negatives I found while playing this game. One, you could easily get lost and go further and further ahead without having a clue where you are going or if you are going the right way because the game gives you but a brief hint of where to go next only by solving the previous murder. While I will not spoil anything for you, the end game actually requires you to have solved all the murders you encountered before you can "unlock" it. Keep this in mind because you can easily lose track of where you are going and end up solving so little and have to RE WALK large distances in order to navigate through the game's large area. So, a barrier or notification of some sort should have been into the game, to notify you that you are changing areas and you would have to re walk them in order to solve all the murders for end game requirements. The other negative is simply that the game is short. It is so short that even if you explore all the game's locations and solve the murders and get to the ending, it will take you the longest, 5 to 6 hours. Keep in mind, I started a 2nd play through while mid-game because I did not know where I was going, did all the first half murders all from scratch and finished the game, all of this within 5 hours!! So yes, you can practically finish this game in some hours. This does not mean that you will not have an amazing experience, though.
While this game may not be for everyone, it actually involves an amazing story which at first may not be what it seems. Along with some cart-riding elements, reading notes, going through portals and solving murders, it differentiates from other "exploration" story driven games like going home or Dear Ester.
Long story short: if you love to experience a story by gradually sinking into the games' universe and by exploring, this is perfect. It combine enough game play elements to not get you bored. If you were expecting a shooter or some horror game, then do not play this game. This is a pure adventure story driven exploration game with detective elements added to it that are exceptionally made.
Story: 9/10
Graphics:10/10
Game play: 7/10
Immersion/Experience: 10/10
FINAL SCORE: 9/10