If you appreciate a darker aesthetic, evil organizations, and children being heroes, then you will probably enjoy this game.

I consider myself a fan of the macabre, am not sensitive to the morbid setting, and extremely moved when children face the horrors of life with unwavering fear. Needless to say, by the end of the game I was incredibly pleased with my time investment. It had everything that I love:

+ Story line 10/10 -
Plenty of plot twists and interesting characters. I felt that the story moved quickly and provided plenty of opportunities to find secret treasures. The plot was sectioned into chapters, which made it feel very story-book and helped gap any jumps in time with a 'zero questions asked' mentality.

+ Kids being heroes 10/10 -
Always fun! Children facing adversity and hardship is always heart-wrenching. I appreciate that the children remain relatively innocent as the plot thickens, so the subtitle of Innocence really hammers home the thought and heart that went into the game.

+ Puzzle solving 10/10 -
No, the puzzles aren't going to break you. This isn't Portal. However, there were moments when I was surprised by the stark reality of the surroundings and overwhelmed by the task at hand, that some of the puzzles were not always completely obvious. Juggling my passe to complete certain tasks was fun!

+ Morbidity 10/10 -
This game is in the horror genre. The sights and sounds are creepy, dark, often bloody, and decorated with entrails. Every time Amicia told Hugo not to look I felt the jab at my feels. When he reacts to her actions (defending them) later on, it simply sinks in, over and over again, that these are children and every horror will be etched on their developing minds forever. The horrors become even darker given this mentality.

+ Game Mechanics 10/10 -
This played very well. Using the rock-sling as a weapon was neat! It was a completely childish, and a minimal threat in the beginning, but it was all Amicia knew how to use. As the game progresses, you have the chance to upgrade your ammo capacity, or gear, which was a surprising aspect! This created the air of accomplishment and experience, and I often felt rewarded for my growing skill. I quickly learned the craft-as-you-go mentality so I could continue to pick up crafting materials. That being said, it didn't feel oppressive. There's no upgrade that is absolutely essential to do first. Using distractions to get through tight areas, using the sling to knock things down, etc. was all very entertaining and I never felt like I was running out of ammo. If you are running out of ammo, just restart from the last checkpoint and be more precise with your aiming and also using the correct ammo to get the job done.

+ Graphics 10/10 -
I was able to run this on my 9 yr old PC, disclaimer: with recent video card upgrade, on the highest graphics setting. I had originally had it running on my larger monitor, which is a funky 2560x1600 resolution, and it was a bit 'chuggy' but on 1920x1080 it ran beautifully. The lighting was especially lovely. The foliage in the woods, water in streams and ponds, the mucky-bloody pools, etc. were all a marvel to look at. I was really mad at myself that my controller's screenshot option wasn't working while I streamed to my Steamlink app on my TV.

+ Sound 10/10
Seriously. When you watch the credits and see there's just a few people responsible for the music, and sound, it's absolutely jaw dropping. I commented on the sound and music numerous times while playing, and found myself ramping up when intense moments were happening. The sound definitely lets you know when something stressful is taking place.


I also noticed that at the top of the screen, while controlling Amicia, there were black flutters at the edge of her vision. I had no clue what that was, but it felt like a nice touch. Whether it was part of something else that was happening, or a strange byproduct of shadows not rendering correctly, I attributed it something happening with Amicia. Still not sure if it was intended.

I'm not going to talk about the end boss fight in specifics, but I will say that I was completely irritated by it. It took me maybe 15-20 tries to finally get it down because there's an element of randomness to some of it. It required a lot of spacial awareness and controlling movements, as well as a hopeful-promptness of actions. It was the most awkward part of the game because it plays a bit more briskly than anything else you have to accomplish in this game. The use of the dodge movement helped immensely. Once I figured out what to do, I was able to ignore all of the shining loots around the edges, figuring I had enough ammo that I didn't need to desperately loot. I took my time with positioning my character, and was very prompt when action was required. After I finally beat it, I felt extremely pleased with myself, so I consider the end boss a 10/10 experience despite being so frustrated I wanted to huck my controller through the wall.

Overall, 10/10 - RECOMMENDED! I want more!