An Open Letter To Sonnori

[Amber-Fox]

I have noticed the developers read the steam forum and as such, I would like to write an open letter to them. Especially since this game had such a profound effect on me. I will get into it in detail. The fact that White Day 2 has been announced has just compounded the huge potential I see within Sonnori.


But let's start by saying this;

Thank you for making this game!

I've had quite the one of a kind experience with this game. It has terrified and amused me, made me cry of sadness and of happiness. And that despite all its flaws. Sonnori, you have by no means made a perfect game. This is one of the most flawed games I have ever played. Thankfully all the flaws are overshadowed hugely by the great moments in the game. This is one gaming experience I will be remembering for quite some time to come! As someone who was never before in contact with Korean folklore, discovering all the ghosts was quite the unique experience.

By making the decision to have a silent protagonist and have most of the game happen in first person, I genuinely felt immersed from start to finish and interested in what happens next.


But now enough gushing! Despite appearances, this is not a post just to praise Sonnori. Mistakes were made during the development of this game. BIG mistakes even. I'd like to compile my thoughts here and invite everyone else (if anyone still reads this forum lol) to chime in and encourage you to add your thoughts. Let's get into that.

SPOILERS MOVING FORWARD

Waypointing / Communicating With The Player

This game seems to have huge communication issues. It may just be due to the fact that it is a remake of a 2001 game, but at times I felt truly lost and having no idea what to do. More hints actively given to the player would be great. You used the text for the main character's thoughts sparsely throughout the game when it would've been sorely needed in some instances!

Examples follow:

1) The picture pieces in Main Building 2. How is the player supposed to know that the 3 pieces should be collected and assembled? Moreover, even when assembled it merely shows the music teacher holding a vase. A small hint saying "I think I've seen a vase like this around here" or even "The teacher kept a vase like this in the Lost & Found room..." would've went a long way.

2) Setting the fuse to alarm in the New Building when being chased by Eun-mi. There is no feasible way for the player to know this in advance. The document describing the woman's sensitivity to alarms does not help either. Yes, it is a good idea for foreshadowing but if the player doesn't know he/she will be chased by Eun-mi after a cutscene, with no way of changing the fuse after she appears, it seems like a rather cheap trial-and-error section. Even the text message (on easy/very easy) only appears after the cutscene, when it is already too late.

3) General locations of items during the timed event. I played it on easy the first time around and even I had issues figuring out what to do at times. A nondescript marker on the map only gets you so far. Especially noticeable during the baby timed event in Main Building 2. Yes, I knew where the sink was and where the kiln was. The game, however did a terrible job giving me hints as to what to do. I knew the baby wants to meet its mother. The cutscene told me it had to do with the wooden statuette in the L&F room. Fine. But I see no way of the player knowing that the statuette has to be heated and then laid in water before walking TOWARDS the baby and interacting with it.

I think you get the gist by now. I do not want the solution to be obvious! Don't get me wrong. I do however want to have a general sense of what I need to do to progress at any given moment with the exact solution being a bit trickier to find. Having to open a guide to progress is quite immersion-killing, which is really sad since I loved being immersed in the game.

The Ghosts

Let me start this section by again saying that I LOVED the ghosts! They all had very interesting backstories that I loved reading way before even meeting them. Just the anticipation of meeting them had me scared and on the edge of my seat. However, I think restricting the written ghost stories to complicated puzzles where backtracking is necessary is a very weird design decision in my opinion. The player should find them around the school and be terrified at what he/she may encounter. This is a bit undercut by some stories being incredibly hard to find. I get what you wanted to do. Make the ghost stories hard to obtain collectibles. But that just takes away from the game in my opinion. Every player should stumble upon them and be able to experience them. Leave the hard to find collectibles for outfit unlocks or other extras (like the figurines).

On that topic, why are most of the ghosts locked away to hard and hell mode? This is probably the worst design decision this game has made. The ghosts are one of the main points of interests in this game. I would assume most players agree on that. I did not know I wouldn't encounter ghosts on easy and was terrified as such. But figuring out I couldn't even have encountered most of them was a serious let down.

And even when you're playing on hard, you have to perform rituals to even have the ghosts appear! Ghosts would be way more fun as random dangers that could appear at any moment and that each have their own mechanics to be dealt with. Why is the peekaboo ghost restricted to the outermost toilet cubicle for example? Making it triggerable on any toilet cubicle would drastically improve the chances of players encountering her. If you are worried about it becoming annoying and happening too often, add a cooldown timer to her.

Most ghosts would be improved a ton if they were way more likely to trigger. As it is at this moment, only people that look at walkthroughs or are VERY thorough on their run will see ghosts. You can add secret ghosts that only "hardcore" fans can figure out with dedication and complicated puzzles but keeping some ghosts for random encounters is almost a must for a game like this!

Again, I love the ghosts, I just wish I could've experienced them naturally without the need for a guide. Plus, they should be more than just a cheap jump scare. The haunted head ghost is the worst offender of all! She is not scary. She is just startling the first time around. After that she is just annoying.

Misleading the player

I will try to keep this short as it coincides with the above section on communicating with the player.

BE CAREFUL WITH WHAT YOU TELL THE PLAYER THROUGH CUTSCENES

The cutscene introducing the mermaid on the rooftop sticks out as one of the worst offenders. The camera zooms in on the door on the other side of the pool and the mermaid reaches out to the border of the pool with one "claw-thingy".

This cutscene tells us two things;

1) You want to get to the door on the other side.
2) Don't get close to the water or you'll get attacked.

This is wrong in both instances. You want to get to the valve on the other side. And you also want to get "into" the water. Even having the L-rods, I didn't know what to do there. How is the player supposed to know that the L-rods show the safe way across? They are described in a document as "reacting to spirits" (something to that effect) which means you want to get away from whatever the rods point to, right?

This is the main instance, but other cutscenes were also slightly misleading, though never to this extreme. Be careful with that.

A Tailing Section Is Almost Never A Good Idea

Especially when it's unavoidable and 8 minutes long. Which you expect me to do 10 times to get all the different endings.

Don't do that Sonnori. Please.

The Soundtrack

I thought the soundtrack was very fitting and ominous. Until I tried to hide from the janitor and the soundtrack suddenly decided I needed a lady doing her best scooby-doo ghost impression right into my ear, drowning out all the in-game noises. Sometimes it's better for the soundtrack to just be silent. Or to just play a background ambient track. Your soundtrack should enhance the experience, not take the player out of it.

The Eun-min end boss theme in the flames is.... unique. I did not enjoy it personally. Her chase music in the New Building was perfect for her, I think it should've been used again in the auditorium. I personally don't like the theme used as it is just noise to my ears. My friends and I did have a good laugh at it at any rate. This is subjective however! I'm not saying everyone that liked the song is wrong.

I did like the dance studio boss music. Yes, I did laugh at it at first because it is so ridiculous. I can now however enjoy it as something funny but also as something thematic. I especially love the buildup that the music creates in the cutscene starting the boss fight. That is some good stuff!

The Story

This is actually something I like without any negative things to say about it! One weak spot is of course that some endings are just more satisfying than others. But that is pretty much unavoidable when you have about 10 endings. The worst part is just that the most emotionally satisfying ending is locked behind a 8 minute tailing section. I really hope I am getting my pain concerning the tailing section across accurately, Sonnori.

It is simple, but cute. The characters were all likeable in their own way. The story and overall "experience" is the best thing about this game! I loved that unconditionally!

So Let's Recap, What Is My "Wishlist" For White Day 2?

- Communicate to the player what he/she needs to do! Confusion and frustration is no good in a game trying to be immersive!

- The ghosts should be more than just one off jumpscares that need a ritual and a full moon to even trigger!

- The janitor should probably not be the main enemy anymore. Players got annoyed more than enough by him now. Focus on the good stuff; ghosts.

- Use cutscenes to communicate with the player. Take care not to give false information. This may lead to frustration!

- Refine the soundtrack. Resort to ambient sounds for exploration and reserve the thematic music for bosses/special events.

- More story moments and character interactions! Despite the budget cutscenes, I LOVED every second of dialogue with the different characters.

- Be very careful with using tailing sections. You had the good idea to remove the janitor when escorting an NPC. Tailing sections shouldn't exist for the same reason.

- Personally I would like more sections with another character following you and talking with you. Depending on choices of course.

Closing Words

Please remember that all of this is coming from a place of passion! You guys made an amazing game despite all its flaws. I'd just love to see White Day 2 become even better than the wonderful game that made a sequel even possible.

I do not expect anyone from Sonnori to read this. This was mostly just me needing to gush and complain about a game that I love with all my heart. However, it would be great if they did. Big thanks to anyone that has read this far. You rock! And judging by the fact that you read this far, I think it's pretty safe to assume you care about this game a lot too! The mutual love for something can be a strong conversation starter. Feel free to leave your own suggestions/hopes/complaints in this thread. I'll read all of it with interest.

I will be waiting for news on White Day 2 while I start my, by now, 50th playthrough.

Again, Thank You Sonnori.

[Verlish]

I REALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!
(I don't agree about the mermaid part tho, but nevermind that)

This game has a big potential to become one of the best horror game i've ever played, the mechanic, A.I behaviour, soundtrack, and ghosts (ignore the cheap jumpscare part), it was really great. However, the level design is very lame, very unintuitive so it often makes players confused, the hints at the easy level are also not quite helpful. Level design of Ji-min route is the worst, there are 7.5 minute unskipable tailing mission, a labyrinth section with enemy that could kill you in one hit but you need to pick 5 "element thing" sequantially, and the unholy QTEs spam (I personally dont mind about this because White Day's QTE is very easy, but i don't think it's good).

I want to make a review but i'm not done with this game (yeah, the achievement is suck, repeating this game over and over made me hate it even though at first I liked it). It's nice to see a decent post that represent my struggle and love-hate relationship for this game, thank you so much. i'd like to discuss more about this game but sadly this game is not that popular.

[Amber-Fox]

Originally posted by Verlish:

I REALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!
(I don't agree about the mermaid part tho, but nevermind that)

This game has a big potential to become one of the best horror game i've ever played, the mechanic, A.I behaviour, soundtrack, and ghosts (ignore the cheap jumpscare part), it was really great. However, the level design is very lame, very unintuitive so it often makes players confused, the hints at the easy level are also not quite helpful. Level design of Ji-min route is the worst, there are 7.5 minute unskipable tailing mission, a labyrinth section with enemy that could kill you in one hit but you need to pick 5 "element thing" sequantially, and the unholy QTEs spam (I personally dont mind about this because White Day's QTE is very easy, but i don't think it's good).

I want to make a review but i'm not done with this game (yeah, the achievement is suck, repeating this game over and over made me hate it even though at first I liked it). It's nice to see a decent post that represent my struggle and love-hate relationship for this game, thank you so much. i'd like to discuss more about this game but sadly this game is not that popular.

Dear Lord, an answer after 5 years haha.

I'm happy to hear that I am not alone in it. Sadly they did no update it in the sequel and very much made it worse. It was also given to another developer to be fair.

It's nice to see that there is at least one other person out there that has a love-hate relationship so intense, that they play it 50 times for all the endings. I even bought it again for PS4 just to do it again.... yeah. I don't know what it is about this game.

I know objectively that I should hate it and be mad at it. But I just love it. And that love has stood the test of time seeing as it is now 2024 and I still feel the same way towards it. I even replay it every now and then.

I'd love to discuss it more with you, and just in general get to know the one other person crazy enough to get sucked into a flawed mess like this. And MY GOD I forgot to mention the labyrinth with the 5 plates. I hated that part every single time. The unholy QTE spam honestly became a guilty pleasure.

Good luck with your completion! If you're planning to go for 100%.