Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Dec 3, 2021

  It seems that this game does not have many reviews on steam, so I figure I'd better contribute. I do recommend this game, but under normal circumstance (if this game have more reviews), I wouldn't bother to write a review for it. Take home message: [b] nice game, good storyline, but only buy it when there's a discount. [/b] A decent Japanese horror game, point and click visual novel. CGs, character settings, and the storyline are nice. I don't really care about voice acting, but for those who cares, this one does not have much voice acting except for the last chapter. There are reviews saying that the game-play of this game is repetitive. Well, it is, to some extent. But tbh I don't think there is much room to expend in terms of the game-play. I'd say the dev have done their best. I tend to focus on the story line rather than the game-play, and this game does have a great storyline -- as a writer myself, I'm pretty sure of it. The story has decent plot twists, carefully-laid clues, an impressive hidden line (which did surprise me a bit at the end of Chapter 5), so if you're more into story itself than the game-play, this game will be to your liking.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 27, 2021

  The game has potential but is bogged down by so many issues that sour the experience. I'm going to list mine. You cannot click to make text scroll faster, so you have to wait for every single line of dialogue to load in before you can progress to the next line. For a fast reader, this is not fun. "Went to Location A" - prepare to see text like this EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You move from one place to another. If I had 10 cents for every time I saw this line of text, I'd probably make back the money I spent on this game. And you can't skip this text either. One of my biggest issues is with the Live or Die minigames(?). A lot of the time, either the answer is so obvious because the game literally tells you the answer 2 seconds before the minigame triggers, or there is no way for you to know the answer other than by guessing or Googling. I expected to be collecting clues in my investigation and piecing a mystery together in order to be able to survive these little Live or Die moments. But these were a MASSIVE let down. They either tell you the answer, or you just pick an option and hope for the best. There is no actual investigation, no deduction, nothing. A complete waste. They're also extremely random and unnecessary, like they were only included to increase the runtime of the game or justify it being at the price it is. You could be walking through a forest when suddenly a ghost grabs your ankle and triggers a Live or Die for no real reason whatsoever. It's never addressed after the incident, so it's like it never happened. Or you could be walking through a tunnel when a sudden beeping noise triggers another Live or Die, and you have to point at a part of your body in order to... not drop dead? What? Seriously, what is the point of these sections? Did they outsource the writing of these Live or Die sections to a group of writing interns or something? They feel completely out of place and are not even well-written or suspenseful. Confronting the spirits also more or less plays out like this too. You have a load of items in your inventory, with more than 80% of them being completely useless or irrelevant. Like with Live or Die, the game either straight up tells you what you need to do or they don't tell you anything at all and force you to guess or use a guide. And anytime you die to a spirit, you have to restart all the way from the very beginning, sit through multiple unskippable animations of the spirit showing up, making their spooky sound effects or whatever and advancing towards you with the speed of a tortoise. The game really likes wasting your time like this. In doing so, it loses any sort of suspense or tension - it just feels tedious and frustrating and like it wasn't even playtested. By the fifth time the same spirit slowly lumbers towards you, you're not even scared anymore, you just want it over and done with. The spirits' stories are also poorly explained in some cases. I still have no idea what really happened to the spirits in 2 and 4 other than it being mentioned that they were both kinda psycho and unsympathetic (so why am I trying to help them pass on peacefully? Neither of them deserve it). Meanwhile, the stories for spirits 1 and 3 are basically shoved in your face - there's no investigation or putting together of clues, the game just straight-up tells you what their stories are. Character sprites are severely lacking. I love when a character reacts to something with sadness or concern while staring at me with a giant smile on their face. I still have no idea what purpose the Stats screen served in this game. You can see characters' intelligence or dexterity stats or whatever - it serves literally ZERO purpose. Why even include it? And no, it cannot be said that they're meant to help you figure out who to bring with you on a case because the game basically tells you who you need to bring with you anyway. "Oh, this spirit has something to do with music? I sure hope one of your companions knows how to play music!" "Oh, you're about to face the spirit in the final confrontation? Don't pick this lady because she straight up told you she'll be useless in the final fight." The game needs to do less telling and shoving information like this in my face. I'm not figuring anything out for myself, I'm just clicking what the game prompts me to like I'm on Dora the Explorer. Even better, I've just finished Chapter 5 and learned I don't even get to start Chapter 6 unless I save every single Mark Bearer, which means replaying from Chapter 2 onwards and sitting through hours of painful Live or Die segments and fumbling my way through locations at a snail's pace trying to collect all the items I need. I really wish I refunded this game. I've seen reviews saying that the second game is not as good as the first one. Having played this much of the first game and seen the whole of the second game on YouTube, I honestly think the second game is better. The second game has better music, slightly better Live or Die sections, better art, better character sprites etc. It's still not great, but it seems like a more fleshed out experience than this one is. If you want this game... I'd recommend you get the second one. But if you still want this one, WAIT FOR A SALE. A big sale, preferably.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 18, 2022

  [h1][b]"A game I recommend to others regardless of whether they enjoy horror or visual novels, purely because it's such a gem."[/b][/h1] I fell in love with Death Mark, and consequently the Spirit Hunter franchise. I'm looking forward excitedly to future additions. [hr][/hr][h1]Plot - 4/5[/h1] I was immediately drawn in by the premise after reading the synopsis of the game, and as I played through the game, I was not disappointed. Each new spirit was always something to look forward to learning about, along with meeting the new characters that would follow. Some aspects of the story did get rather redundant, such as having to explain the situation with the Mark to each new character, along with not having much character development with side characters, hence being the reason as to why the plot is rated a 4/5. Despite this, the plot continued to draw me in, offering several chapters of traditional Japanese horror. Combined with that, Death Mark is not for the faint of heart, vividly describing events to the point of the player being able to concoct an image for themselves, even before the game's own graphics show it, mentioning topics which some may be uncomfortable with at times such as [spoiler]suicide, rape, child abuse and world wars[/spoiler]. Death Mark does not present horror through the idea of a monster where the player will always have to look over their shoulder, but instead through an enveloping sense of existential dread as the clock continues to tick, building tension as the time for confrontation steadily nears. [h1]Gameplay - 3/5[/h1] As per the trend with visual novels, the game is narrative heavy with dialogue choices that may or may not impact the future. Unlike other visual novels, Death Mark is more interactive, playing out as a point-and-click adventure with exploration, battle sequences and time-limited choice events. Death Mark gives the player the freedom to explore using their mouse as a flashlight to investigate areas of interest, or to pick up and use objects for any puzzles. During this investigatory phase, most of the background of the spirit is uncovered, as well as items which are vital in the final confrontation. I did, however, find the map layouts to be quite finicky and confusing, as I often found myself lost. Luckily the exploration is not time limited allowing the player to be thorough in their investigation. Throughout the game, "Live or Die" situations will present themselves, being multiple choice questions that the player must answer correctly before the time runs out. Not picking the correct answers based on information that has been uncovered throughout the journey leads to a "Game Over" screen. As the game is originally in Japanese, do keep in mind that some of the answers may be a game of probabilities as some answers in the original game are based on word play with kanji. Death Mark is quite generous with Game Overs though, as the player will only be pushed back to the beginning of the Live or Die sequence, therefore trial-and-error is not harmful enough to significantly slow down the gameplay. Throughout the game, the player will be able to pick a partner to bring with them through their investigations and confrontations. Each have different traits, skills and knowledge. Depending on the partner the player has chosen, some choices may be blocked, and they may have to go back and change their partner. When confronting a spirit, the player must figure out what items to use from the information previously gathered. There is not one correct answer, depending on the route taken the ending of that particular chapter, as well as the ending of the game will change. Due to this, it is important to pay attention to what is learnt about the spirit. [h1]Visuals - 4/5[/h1] Death Mark encapsulates the chilling and nerve-wracking environment that is expected from a horror game with it's art style and visual effects, teetering on the edge of showing enough distinct features to bring a sense of dread without revealing too much, letting the darkness in the corners of the screen creep into the players mind to instil fear of the unknown. There is nudity in some of the CGs, seemingly sexualising women. The graphics are without a doubt beautiful and horrifying in one, however the use of nudity, namely of women, both alive and dead may ruin some immersion, resulting in a 4/5. Despite this though, the visuals are without a doubt disturbing, and achieve the goal of shocking the player, leaving memorable images (pleasant or not) that stay in the player's mind long after completing the game. [h1]Audio - 4/5[/h1] The sound design of the game is absolutely bone-chilling. When the game is without any graphics, the audio playing from the game is enough to make the player uneasy. While sound effects can easily grow old if overused, I never found this to be the case. The ambience of the wind, crackling noises, insects, all whilst exploring constantly keeps the player on edge and feeling uneasy. It is not always nerve-wracking, returning to home base provided me with a sense of relief, allowing me to feel safe. The audio design is at the sweet spot of equally alarming and comforting. The game does, however, lack much voice acting, resulting in the rating of 4/5. However, in return, it does allow for the developers to bring more attention to the sound effects and ambience. [h1]Replayability - 3/5[/h1] There are multiple endings to Death Mark, which allows for some interesting replay value, with different endings with each chapter, as well as with the game's conclusion. Even after having reached all the endings, I'm not opposed to playing through the game again, for all it's twists and turns, beautiful art and sound design. However learning the full story, and knowing of the spirits, it does take away the fear of the unknown and the tension that comes with Death Mark's first playthrough. [h1]Overall - 4/5[/h1] Despite the flaws of Death Mark, I love the shit out of this game and I don't see myself forgetting about this game, or dropping it from my Game Showcase anytime soon. My only gripes are in regards to the lack of character development, as it did not allow myself as the player to grow particularly attached to the characters, as well as the sexualisation of females. [code]Due to the cost of Spirit Hunter: Death Mark, do keep in mind that despite the how strongly I recommend this game, I suggest that it is purchased only when it is on sale.[/code]
• gamedeal user

  Mar 20, 2022

  This game lured me in with an interesting plot and polished looking art, but ultimately I have to give up on it because of a combination of frustrating movement and puzzle-solving mechanics, and the incredibly uncomfortable sexualisation of tortured female bodies. To go into more detail, when you move around the map, you move relative to the direction you entered the square from. In Chapter 2 this quickly leads to getting easily turned around as most of the backgrounds for each area look the same, and when you come to a crossroads it's difficult to keep track of which path leads to which area. I nearly put the game down in Chapter 1, where I was convinced that I had soft-locked myself and an event wasn't triggering as it should. It turns out, (spoiler) that I needed to go back to a certain area, and examine and search every single corpse in the room despite the dialogue being the same for each one, except the very last corpse (end spoiler). This and other puzzles were either extremely obtuse or extremely obvious, with characters telling you in highlighted text how to solve it moments before. When I saw the warnings for the game having sexual themes and nudity, I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was in context. I can deal with nakedness, ghosts, and naked ghosts, but what I got was fully rendered CGs of women being in sexual poses, undressed, while being mutilated by thorns or drilled with holes. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and not in the fun way horror media likes to provoke. I felt grossed out by the fanservice-y way these female characters were depicted, especially the underage teenage schoolgirl. Maybe if it had happened once, I could have brushed it off as a way to be deliberately shocking by juxtaposing sex and horror, but it became clear that this was going to be a recurring theme. Naturally, male characters never received the same treatment. I wish I could have liked the game, the visual novel and point and click aspects should have been a fun combination. And it did genuinely spook me at points! I think I would have been more upset if I had bought it at full price, even if I had the patience to deal with the annoying mechanics there's a lack of polish and care in this game's visuals and translation that wouldn't make it worth the money. I can't recommend it even on sale.
• gamedeal user

  May 14, 2022

  Love the game and the artwork, cgi is amazing and voices are very on point ^^ 10/10 would recommend this game to friends
• gamedeal user

  Jul 17, 2022

  Never again. Great visuals, cute story and character designs, but holy guacamole, the skip function needs some serious WORK. Though it's an older game so that work will never happen. I honestly don't want to recommend it due to the skip function being so terrible, but have a play through it if you can pick it up on sale, it's definitely worth at least $10~$20. Holy moly though. I will be playing the next one (that's why I played this one -- the new one looks really good) -- but I pray to god the skip function is better than the one in this one. Also save and load. It's not really free save and load, or even exit -- you have to wait for certain segments of the game to even exit the game. Pretty bad. But the visuals are worth it. Jut buy it if you wanna give it a try!
• Mr Blobby

  Apr 28, 2023

  Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is the first entry into the Spirit Hunter series, and it is a fantastic 10-15 hour long visual novel, investigation and puzzle game. Thematically, visually and in regards to story telling there is much praise to be given. There isn't any spoilers here as to the overarching story, only that of what you learn in the introductory minutes and/or on the steam store. The first and most interesting factor for me (and the reason I picked this game up in the first place) was the visuals and general setting. The game takes place in Tokyo 'H City', meaning expect to see designs and areas that fit this urban Japan aesthetic, throughout areas like sewers, schools, forests, shrines and their associated liminal spaces. The reason I purchased this game was because I love Japanese urban legend, as well as horror games which involve a party or character in a realm or area that is controlled/haunted by a spirit or similar. The avoidance and violence and instead resolving the situation by finding out the nature of the haunting - why the spirit has been tethered to that location and why it's hostile - makes the atmosphere even more tense. This style of horror is my favourite, and it's rare to find any game like it. Corpse Party is the other game which fits this - there's a degree of powerlessness that is present with your characters and that is what I love - combined with some very Japanese style ghosts and demons, both in terms of their visuals reflect famous urban legends and how they operate on the mortal plane. Secondly, the mix of gameplay is that of visual novel, investigation sequences and a pseudo-battle minigame which can be likened to that of Ace Attorney's cross-examinations and Danganronpa's bullet sequences. Whilst it isn't similar in regard to interrogating a statement, it's similar in regards that you have to use items and information you've gathered in your previous investigation in tandem with the correct characters and order to 'win' the fight - achieving either the good or normal ending, which involves either peacefully resolving the spirit's qualms or killing the spirit,respectively. If you achieve the good ending for every case, you will be given the good (and true) ending for the epilogue chapter. The game generally fits into the following flow: gain information on a spirit through some means, possibly meet associated characters, investigate the spirit's area of haunting, find items, information to the spirit's presence and what could be keeping it there. Once you reach the 'battle' sequence, you must figure out how to violently or peacefully purge the spirit by figuring out it's weaknesses and it's grudge against the mortal plane. This could be something like a deep personal hatred for something or deep insecurity, or may involve returning an important item or fulfilling a spirit's wish that it had before becoming one. There are other parts like Life Or Death choices that are present which again, require you to have either general knowledge or memory of previously acquired information or character advice to pass them. This could be as simple as 'Don't say or do a certain thing in front of the spirit' or could be more complex like understanding how a particular name or word is read. Either way, I think the developers have found a good gameplay balance here. The investigations do not feel too long nor too basic, it feels like you are indeed exploring a haunted location and you can slowly piece things together as you do. The overall battle sequence introduces a fine little spin on the climax of the chapter. The partner system is also interesting, though sometimes it feels difficult to predict what partner will be good. Every character has a stat number in things like Strength, Dexterity, Spirit power etc, which decides whether they will succeed in doing certain actions. For example, there is a check where you can ask your partner to pray for you when you get attacked by a lone spirit not the big villains, but just a minor one you can find, and if your partner is particularly attuned to spirit power then they will succeed in praying and removing that spirits threat. As for the third, the story and characters are good. The story is especially intriguing albeit a bit limited in scope. I prefer it like this, as it really makes you feel isolated which is key both to the plot and to the player experience. There are usually 2-3 characters per case, with some permanent names showing up in information. The story starts off with your character showing up to a mansion, with little memories remaining, not even knowing his name. He know's he is there to see someone who works with spirits, but nary else. The main concern of the game is the titular 'Death Mark' that you and the characters have. The death mark is effectively a mark given by a spirit which will kill the person by a certain dawn, unless the spirit is dealt with. The game follows the main character trying to find what spirit gave him the death mark and helping others along the way. This culminates into something larger however, as you realise a consistency between the cases you cover. The characters involved are usually likeable, though some don't get screentime due to the nature of the partner system, in any case, they all had a defined personality, with many having realistic reactions to the death mark situation that they find themselves in. There is little conflict between characters, instead most of that development is left with characters interacting with you. The world and story are particularly interesting, and I am very excited to see what kind of style of ghost story is done in Spirit Hunter NG or Death Mark 2. Overall, I really wish game developers delved into the Japanese supernatural and urban legends more. This also applies to this style of horror game which involves a cast of characters getting stuck or being forced to enter an area that is controlled by a spirit. The puzzle solving that you have to do and the tenseness of some of the scenes, combined with the gruesome and FANTASTIC art design in this game makes it an experience like none other. Just like Corpse Party, I think this game does really well in setting up for a situation for characters to truly show their colours and to show their struggle against the vengeful spirits. I feel like this style of ghost game is much better than the generic Slender 8 Pages (or the Japanese Equivalent) as it doesn't rely on chase sequences or tedious stealth systems to make up it's gameplay, instead, rewarding the players for being investigative and active in their role makes for a very fun experience. My most major complaints with this game are the settings, which to experienced visual novel readers, is such a basic thing. That is, namely, lack of auto-scroll options (such as speed) and, my biggest gripe, the inability to skip a line. Instead, you are forced to watch a line slowly unveil itself - whereas other games you can press A to begin the line, and then press A again to force the entire line of text to appear, meaning you don't have to limit yourself to the system's speed. The only way you can achieve this is with the skip function which skips the entire line, and then, if necessary, reading it via the chat log. To summarise, getting back on topic, Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is a fantastic game for Horror Enjoyers, doubly so for those interested in the Japanese spirit world and urban legends. It's got a great balance of gameplay, visual novel and horror material, and with Spirit Hunter: Death Mark 2 on it's way this year, I find no other time better to play this one. The game is about 10-15 hours (depending if you cover the good and normal endings of each and the overall story), and I picked it up on sale for like 10 pounds I believe. It's one of my favourite purchases of 2023 because the theme and setting really speaks to me, and it made me realise how little Japanese horror titles we have of this nature.
• gamedeal user

  May 17, 2023

  This game was annoying to say the least. While it offered few moments of entertainment and a beautiful art style, the game itself was infuriating. Any moment of tension it built up was subsequently crushed due to random segments in which you had to answer questions to find out if you live or die. Many of these segments were based entirely on things that the average person wouldn't know without googling the answers, as they were not revealed in game to my knowledge. Not to mention, this game loves to introduce characters with no relevance to the plot or the gameplay. Half of the characters you literally cannot use in your party without dying or getting a bad ending. Not just this, it fails to really go more in depth with these characters. For example, Mashita's story is left completely unresolved, we end the game knowing next to nothing about him despite the game seeming to set up all these loose threads with him early on (he's not the only character that they do this with, of course, but he was definitely the most annoying example). The gameplay itself is a mix between a dungeon crawler and visual novel, which in itself isn't terrible, but when most of the game takes place exploring large areas, there should be a more clear map to reference. The minimap was too zoomed in to make heads or tails of where I was a majority of the time. For example, there's a segment where you're going through a school hallway and have to go to specific classrooms, but the minimap is so zoomed in you cant tell which classroom is which. Not to mention, there's no larger map that you can access to orient yourself (as far as I was aware). Overall, I left this game feeling mostly annoyed and frustrated with it's flimsy characters and poor mechanics. Unfortunately, I bought this game many months ago in a bundle with the sequel so I can't receive a refund for this or the sequel, so here's hoping NG is better.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 5, 2019

  If you are into Horror stories, this game is for you. It gives way more dark wibe then Corpse Party
• gamedeal user

  Apr 6, 2019

  Death Mark is a Horror/Puzzle Game that relies on memories (or a piece of Paper and something to write) and requieres a bit of concentration and logic during segments of it's story - The Story of the Game is about 8 - 10 h but depending on your pace it will tak longer to finish. I'd recommend to play rather slowly and to concentrate on the diffrent kinds of clues and information that you'll find since you'll be presented with boss "fights" at the end of each chapter. For these you'll need every bit of information that you found during your investigation or you'll befriend the Game-Over Screen rather fast. - In each chapter you're presented with an "Investigation" Time where you'll need to find information about the Spirit that will be encountered at the end of the Chapter. I want to add on that the fact that characters can die if you don't do your research right so it's important to find as much information as possible or you might end up killing your newly adopted child. - The outcome if the Bossfights depend on how much information you remember / collected because as stated before you can end of killing an character. On the other hand if you give the wrong answer or use the wrong item during an encounter you'll likely end up with a Game-Over Screen. - Based on my personal expirience it's the easiest if you're getting a piece of paper and a pen and write key notes down since you'll find a good amout of information and you might end up in a random encounter where you're presented with a life or death version of "best of 3". (Well or you can just go full Ricardo and embrace your S&M side while setting an world record in Game-Over screens for this Game) - BONUS: Unlike the PS4 Version the Steam release is uncensored as far as information goes and the DLC is included; so you're buying the Main Game + the DLC - The DLC is an additional Chapter starts after you complete the Main Game. All in all if you enjoy Horror / Puzzle Games i'd recommend this since it's well made and got an intresting story line. If you don't mind dying a "few" times then go for it. (I'd also recommend checking out the Soundtrack). [This is my first time attemtping to write a review so if I missed sth tell me and i'll try to answer if i'm capable of doing so]