Recent reviews by Jinxie

I had a polarizing experience with MADiSON. It's by no means a bad game and it's clear a ton of time and effort went into this project. The game looks great and definitely had some tense moments, but they are unfortunately overshadowed by its rough edges:

Protagonist
It's nice to have a voiced protagonist in a horror game of this type. That being said, the voice acting for our main hero is just plain grating. I don't know what the direction given to the VO actor was, but it seems like they read every line like they were on the verge of tears. When the character speaks it's often ineffective and doesn't gel with what the mood is trying to convey. Other times he doesn't speak at all in situations you feel like he should. The biggest sin is having a character whose motivations and intuition are constantly questioned by the player. If you can't relate to a character, it makes it difficult to root or care for them as they face these horrors.

Puzzles
This is probably the most glaring design problem you'll see echoed in the other reviews for this game. The puzzles are incredibly esoteric and vague. Progression relies on 3 core mechanics:

1) Using your MacGuffin camera to snap photos to reveal clues or trigger essential sequences
2) Interacting with the environment via deliberate puzzles or the items you pick up
3) Triggering events by aimlessly wandering and looking around for longer than you need to

It's not always clear what action is needed in a given moment to move the story along. Sometimes you just have to have a key item, other times you need to take a photo of a certain area after doing a particular task, and other times you're expected to be in a certain location or look at a certain direction for the sake of a spook. This leaves the player frustratingly cycling through a bunch of these mechanics until something sticks.

If you enjoy convoluted escape room puzzles, then I have good news for you. You'll often find yourself on to the right track, only to end up hitting a dead end. This is due to you missing or misunderstanding one asinine aspect of the puzzle. These puzzles truly exist only for the challenge of it and have the thinnest of set dressing to tie them into the narrative. I know this is a larger trope (issue) in games of this caliber, but nothing takes me out of a game faster than having to solve math problems in a horror game to collect a doohickey. As others have stated, don't feel bad if you have to look up a guide at various points in the game.

The Haunts
Madison starts off strong with using its location and scares sparingly. The overall ambiance lends itself well to tension through sound design and shadows. Your first real encounter with an entity in a crime scene-esque area is a particular highlight, but also marks the start of its downfall. Very quickly the liminal halls and overused scares begin to outstay their welcome. I even reached a point where I just walked passed "scares" that were milked 40 times before the one I just experienced. It cheapens the whole experience and puts it ever closer to just another PT derivative hallway crawler.

For its current price of $35 USD I honestly can't recommend it. I'd say wait for a sale or only if you're a glutton for these types of games.

Viscera Cleanup Detail is quaint little game. You're tasked with cleaning up the mess left behind by an unseen protagnist, who rampaged their way through the level. You'll spend hours cleaning up every giblet and drop of blood on the wall. It's a simple tedious, concept, yet strangely cathartic in a way.