Chilla's Art (CA) games- at this rate, pretty much explain themselves! You want an oldie j-horror vibe? Like stories that are hard to grasp until the end!!? The constant will they-won't they logic when it comes to deciphering the freakish nature of the "supernatural" phenomena!! I may have played a mere three CA games including The Ghost Train (TGT) and Missing Children but they never failed to amuse and scare the bejesus out of me!!

If I had to compare, this follows The Convenience Store’s approach closely whereby a routine is established with a looming discomfort on your tail that spirals out of proportions as times passes. At the time of writing this, I have three other titles just sitting idly on my desktop!! My reasoning; one, if I'm being honest, I'm frightened as to what will be thrown at me (worse still, is when it slowly but surely pursues me). And two, I have a fear of being disappointed! Specifically, that my "CA can do no wrong lens" will be shattered... But I'll just have to deal with it when it does come my way. Speaking of, I see an incoming train- I should probably get off the tracks ~


https://youtu.be/A6_pt0xYdGc

The Gist:
Get reincarnated into the shoes of Kensuke Tanaka, an insurance manager in his 40s who takes the late train home he usually does after work. Only this time, he experiences increasingly disturbing sightings aboard. Missing stops, schedule delays and people being weird... A normal middle age crisis coupled with the stress, dissatisfaction of his tiresome, menial work- or maybe something more soul-rending clawing towards him!?

! The title gave it away! NOT ME!!


(a) Unfinished Business
Survive a series of nights where you must get into your routine of bowel moments, thirst quench and feeding of a sickly habit! Once you get on, it only worsens from there. Chat up some lovely passengers and help those in a bind; this includes rounding up bugs that got loose, reuniting a child with the parents and etc! Then watch as the inside of the train warps into the grotesque and the tasks asked of you grow more simple but precarious, that is if you were inattentive!! As per usual, there are two endings with such drastic extremes and you'd be surprised where the fork presents itself...

(b) Ride for Your Life
The train station is the resting area because nothing can go wrong in a public restroom... r-right!? It's when you step foot on the train that you begin to see it's a world all on its own just living and breathing. Just as the passengers change every night, so do the mood lighting which kept the journey from going stale. Even its length gets deviously manipulated to feel like it spans never-ending! There's an ephemeral quality to the end game location that was so peaceful it came off disturbing and it'll stay with you!!

(c) Soul Survivor
The story is rather original and absolutely terrifying- I mean, you hear such horror tales whereby the tracks or train has a sordid past that people just don't see it the same after that. Then it plunges into tearjerker territory by adding substance and emotional depth if it wasn't already haunting. A little trivia, TGT was most likely inspired by the 2006 Japanese horror film Ghost Train with some major events being similar though not by any means an adaptation!

(d) Flash Before Your Eyes...
Scary: Firstly, the analogy of the transportation... In a lot of popular depictions, the train, car or even boat acts as a carrier of the dead or wayward souls . The single direction and uncertainty of the destination also hint at the sorry fate. Of course, it could also point out the danger of public transport especially if you take one late at night. I've only rode one once under such circumstances when I was in London and I remember it was quite troubling and the shady characters you meet are on point.

Secondly, it was never downright said but implied throughout the game. Disregard the name and there are no other hints as to what the train's exact nature is. This is where things get murky but somehow the main character was on the verge of death or at least contemplating. It's worked into the plot that the characters met are people from his past like a really old teacher from elementary school or a friend who he used to bully. Therefore, he hasn't seen them in a long time so then why now?

Finally, other subtle hints. There was a mini fetch quest where someone's cicadas had escaped and strangely enough, they symbolize a stage of transition in one's life. Then there's the phone at the end which is a window into one's soul where additional lore is revealed about Kensuke's wife who passed away but it has been eating away at him. All these lead to a very dark conclusion but it's all plausible conjecture! :')

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393991115


(i) Going Through The Motions
Not a fan of how the story was conveyed. Obviously, it's fun to piece together but it's all so callous. For instance, neither the protagonist's motive or rather the game's sudden occurrence of events was ever shed light on and it's killing me!! And no- I didn't forget that one odd encounter that had no bearing whatsoever on the ending but instead a mid-game puzzle did!!? Also, in CA games the protagonist has always been essentially nonexistent but I felt as though TGT would've benefited from some dramatization be it voices or just more backstory!!

(ii) Train Wreck!?
The impractical inventory system makes a return but I can live with it. What’s unforgivable is the name. YEH, the friggin’ g-word in the title is a complete dealbreaker and I cannot- for dear life see why it was a good idea to give away such an important plot point!!? Then you know from the start that it’s about g-g-gho and so you venture guesses that just take the tension and mystique out of it! The store page synopsis on the other hand was cunning enough to be vague and so why couldn't it just be called "The Train" like you know how "The Convenience Store" did it?


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393993477

TGT showcases a shocking uncanniness to The Convenience Store's j-horror formula! The singular setting, unexpected turn of events supersede its predecessor above and beyond, arguably a tad too far! I'd even go so far as to say it takes place in the same universe of the latter because it conjures a dread so unrelenting that even when the scare does come- it's much worse than anything you've imagined! The interior design of the train, whose series of hollow, dark and bloody undertones no doubt help paint a twisted picture when you realize what the train represents.

The inventory shortcoming was carried forward from Missing Children but where it crossed the line however, was in the derivation of its name! Including that one noun in between preemptively narrowed the explanation of what forces could be at work and with it a huge chunk of tension pried out! I also found the storytelling more jarring than any of its titles which usually are comprehensive. Then it goes off the rails with a reaching twist. But for $3, I'd gladly run over all these issues and then I'd still catch another one, because I’m gullible like that~


Hmm a crossroad... Where do I go from here?

[code]Curator page here-->[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37670120/] DaRevieweD #68 [/url]<-- [i]New review every Sunday[/i][/code] [b]Chilla's Art (CA) [/b] games- at this rate, pretty much explain themselves! You want an oldie j-horror vibe? Like stories that are hard to grasp until the end!!? The constant will they-won't they logic when it comes to deciphering the freakish nature of the "supernatural" phenomena!! I may have played a mere three CA games including [b]The Ghost Train (TGT)[/b] and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1306620/] Missing Children[/url] but they never failed to amuse and scare the bejesus out of me!! If I had to compare, this follows [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1228520/] The Convenience Store’s[/url] approach closely whereby a routine is established with a looming discomfort on your tail that spirals out of proportions as times passes. At the time of writing this, I have three other titles just sitting idly on my desktop!! My reasoning; one, if I'm being honest, I'm frightened as to what will be thrown at me (worse still, is when it slowly but surely pursues me). And two, I have a fear of being disappointed! Specifically, that my "CA can do no wrong lens" will be shattered... But I'll just have to deal with it when it does come my way. Speaking of, I see an incoming train- I should probably get off the tracks ~ [h1]"Anticipating The Arrival-"[/h1] https://youtu.be/A6_pt0xYdGc [u]The Gist:[/u] Get reincarnated into the shoes of Kensuke Tanaka, an insurance manager in his 40s who takes the late train home he usually does after work. Only this time, he experiences increasingly disturbing sightings aboard. Missing stops, schedule delays and people being weird... A normal middle age crisis coupled with the stress, dissatisfaction of his tiresome, menial work- or maybe something more soul-rending clawing towards him!? [spoiler] ! The title gave it away! NOT ME!! [/spoiler] [h1][+] PROS;[/h1] [b](a) Unfinished Business[/b] Survive a series of nights where you must get into your routine of bowel moments, thirst quench and feeding of a sickly habit! Once you get on, it only worsens from there. Chat up some [i]lovely[/i] passengers and help those in a bind; this includes rounding up bugs that got loose, reuniting a child with the parents and etc! Then watch as the inside of the train warps into the grotesque and the tasks asked of you grow more simple but precarious, that is if you were inattentive!! As per usual, there are two endings with such drastic extremes and you'd be surprised where the fork presents itself... [b](b) Ride for Your Life[/b] The train station is the resting area because nothing can go wrong in a public restroom... r-right!? It's when you step foot on the train that you begin to see it's a world all on its own just living and breathing. Just as the passengers change every night, so do the mood lighting which kept the journey from going stale. Even its length gets deviously manipulated to feel like it spans never-ending! There's an ephemeral quality to the end game location that was so peaceful it came off disturbing and it'll stay with you!! [b](c) Soul Survivor[/b] The story is rather original and absolutely terrifying- I mean, you hear such horror tales whereby the tracks or train [spoiler] has a sordid past[/spoiler] that people just don't see it the same after that. Then it plunges into tearjerker territory by adding substance and emotional depth if it wasn't already haunting. A little trivia, TGT was most likely inspired by the 2006 Japanese horror film [b]Ghost Train[/b] with some major events being similar though not by any means an adaptation! [b](d) Flash Before Your Eyes...[/b] Scary: Firstly, the analogy of the transportation... In a lot of popular depictions, the train, car or even boat acts as a carrier of [spoiler]the dead or wayward souls [/spoiler]. The single direction and uncertainty of the destination also hint at the sorry fate. Of course, it could also point out the danger of public transport especially if you take one late at night. I've only rode one once under such circumstances when I was in London and I remember it was quite troubling and the shady characters you meet are on point. Secondly, it was never downright said but implied throughout the game. Disregard the name and there are no other hints as to what the train's exact nature is. This is where things get murky but somehow the main character was [spoiler]on the verge of death or at least contemplating[/spoiler]. It's worked into the plot that the characters met are people from his past like a really old teacher from elementary school or a friend who he used to bully. Therefore, he hasn't seen them in a long time so then why now? Finally, other subtle hints. There was a mini fetch quest where someone's cicadas had escaped and strangely enough, they symbolize a stage of transition in one's life. Then there's the phone at the end which is a window into one's soul where additional lore is revealed about Kensuke's [spoiler]wife who passed away[/spoiler] but it has been eating away at him. All these lead to a very dark conclusion but it's all plausible conjecture! :') https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393991115 [h1][-] CONS;[/h1] [b](i) Going Through The Motions[/b] Not a fan of how the story was conveyed. Obviously, it's fun to piece together but it's all so callous. For instance, neither the protagonist's motive or rather the game's sudden occurrence of events was ever shed light on and it's killing me!! And no- I didn't forget that one odd encounter that had no bearing whatsoever on the ending but instead a mid-game puzzle did!!? Also, in CA games the protagonist has always been essentially nonexistent but I felt as though TGT would've benefited from some dramatization be it voices or just more backstory!! [b](ii) Train Wreck!?[/b] The impractical inventory system makes a return but I can live with it. What’s unforgivable is the name. YEH, the friggin’ g-word in the title is a complete dealbreaker and I cannot- for dear life see why it was a good idea to give away such an important plot point!!? Then you know from the start that it’s about g-g-gho and so you venture guesses that just take the tension and mystique out of it! The store page synopsis on the other hand was cunning enough to be vague and so why couldn't it just be called "The Train" like you know how "The Convenience Store" did it? [h1]"Fearing The Departure..."[/h1] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393993477 TGT showcases a shocking uncanniness to The Convenience Store's j-horror formula! The singular setting, unexpected turn of events supersede its predecessor above and beyond, arguably a tad too far! I'd even go so far as to say it takes place in the same universe of the latter because it conjures a dread so unrelenting that even when the scare does come- it's much worse than anything you've imagined! The interior design of the train, whose series of hollow, dark and bloody undertones no doubt help paint a twisted picture when you realize what the train represents. The inventory shortcoming was carried forward from [b]Missing Children[/b] but where it crossed the line however, was in the derivation of its name! Including that one noun in between preemptively narrowed the explanation of what forces could be at work and with it a huge chunk of tension pried out! I also found the storytelling more jarring than any of its titles which usually are comprehensive. Then it goes off the rails with a reaching twist. But for $3, I'd gladly run over all these issues and then I'd still catch another one, because I’m gullible like that~ [h1]8.5/10[/h1] [b]Hmm a crossroad... Where do I go from here?[/b]