Tales of The Nightmares™ Episode One

I'm going to recommend this, but honestly I feel mixed. There is something cool here that is being bogged down by a lot of rough edges that can hopefully be sanded off. But those edges have left me very unsatisfied for what I paid for. Price is a tricky beast, but I don't believe there is 6 dollars worth of content here. The game will take about 30 minutes, if you end up closer to 60 it is because of an insane difficulty spike in part 2. And while there is alternate paths to take for replayability, Part 2 is so atrocious that you won't want to explore this world. Not to mention the confusing marketing of calling this game "Season 1" so you think you're getting the complete season, but then after an unsatisfying ending you read the about section and learn they intend to make future updates paid DLC instead of free. If they're set on the Life Is Strange episodic model, I think 2$ an episode at this scope would have felt more appropriate. Like LiS episode 1 was so much more substantial and polished for a dollar less at time of release. But let's get into the actual game. Part 1 is great. The intro text blurb goes too fast to read, but you get enough to get this jist. (Just pray you're not a streamer trying to read it aloud) Then there's Intro Cinematic, then you walk in the swamp with the boys while they exposite at you. Before finally meeting up with some monsters you will learn virtually nothing about and getting shot with an arrow and cutting to next scene. The combat doesn't feel great, but it's serviceable. The major flaw is a lack of feedback. Your gun is quieter than your team mates' guns, and when you hit a monster it's not super clear. Also unclear if head shots are more. Part 2 starts nice, having a branching dialogue you could retry a few times to get all the outcomes, though I wager there is no way to change fate here. Eventually leading you into the most frustrating part of the game, where you're given 30 bullets to trek across a swam with 20 monsters who each take an average 2 head shots to put down. Here is where you'll learn you can head shot, because if you don't you'll waste about 6 bullets per monster. Also if the monsters get too close it's an instant game over, so you have to kite them one at a time cause they'll swarm you fast. Also there are invincible monsters that expel harmful gas, and a giant slug who's mostly chill until suddenly they're not. One time I got the gas monsters to stop expelling gas, but I have no clue how or why. I managed to beat that 2nd part after a lot of trial and error, just barely hitting the trigger with no ammo, but it turns out it didn't have to be so hard, cause the crows drop ammo if you shoot them. But I only learned that my 2nd play through when going for all the achievements and one of them is to shoot 25 crows, most of which reside in this part. Although having more ammo doesn't really make this place easier. It still only takes one slip up and it's an instant game over, try again. But! you manage to do all that, you go to part 3, which finally allows you to stealth to avoid monsters. And you'll have to cause now you have no weapon. This part is good again because it's not frustrating to play. Eventually you'll fall into a hole, and then the game ends. It's quite unsatisfying. So to recap, Cinematics are great. Gameplay is serviceable when it's not challenging. Current monetization model is whack.

I like the vibe and the ambition! I can't make it past the second area since I struggle with the sluggish movement and stamina-system. The Presentation is great, very atmospheric! I hope there will be full controller support in the future, I will definitely pick it back up then!