Well... An exploration game, I think. With no aim to reach, yet.
This article is in English.
TL;DR
Silent Hill: Little Baroness is a fan-made-game, which is currently available as an exploration game only, with no aims to pursue, yet... I think...
Notice
- This article aimed to review and spread the information about this game.
- There is no copyright infringement intended.
Introduction
I downloaded this game from it's page on itch.io, back in September 2021. I have no prior knowledge of Silent Hill Prior, or even played the game, before this. Prior to read the review below, you could watch the trailer to the game here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4cjWoEGoic
Game Details
Specification
This information is acquired/cited from it's page on itch.io1, and from my own understanding2.
| Developer | Aaron Wise1, and probably Trial by Fire2 (?). There is also Artists and Composers named on the page1, as Espy (Alexander Bruyns), and Paul Caveworks. |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Aaron Wise1, and probably Trial by Fire2 (?). Distributed through itch.io1, and Patreon/Google Drive (I think)2. |
| Released On | 19 September 20211. |
| Platform | Windows1. |
| Genre | All of these are based on the page1: Survival, Adventure, 3D, Atmospheric, Dark, First-Person, Horror, Psychological Horror, Single Player, Survival Horror. |
| Required Specifications | No information. |
| Game Size | 6.46 GB. |
| Available Language on Game | English only. |
| Price | It's a free-to-play game, with no ads at all. You could support the creator through paypal, or patreon. |
| Player | Single player. |
| Connection | I don't think this game needs an internet connection to play2. But it showed a pop-up of firewall which probably means it does the connection? But for what reason then...? |
Game Modes and Areas
Modes
As this looks like a really early development of the game, there is only one mode, which is: "Demo Mode".
Areas
As per my understanding2, there are two areas only (three if you count the outside or the environment), which is:
- An Empty House/Castle. It's an empty house/castle with nothing inside, except some letters here and there and a few furniture/mannequin (?).
- A Wood House. This is another house nearby. It looks like a place intended as a watch/monitoring post, with an electric generator available in the most-top.
My Review
Game Play
Actually I don't know. The creator does state in it's page that this is a development game, and it's still an early representation. So that's probably gonna explain what I feel after playing the game.
Practically, like I stated in the beginning of this article, the game probably still has no objectives implanted into the game, yet. Or probably there is one, and I couldn't see it, as I have zero knowledge on Silent Hill. From my time, playing this game seems like only to explore the areas, collecting some available information, and that's it. Again, I assume that this is probably due to that early development stage of this game.
As for controlling, it's simple: use your keyboard (WSAD) to move yourself, and use the mouse to aim your view/position your head. In my video below, you will see my movement was a little laggy most of the time, as I use my laptop touchpad; and when it's smooth, then I use my portable mouse. Also at the same time, I was amazed that I actually didn't feel simulator sickness when I played this game.
I have recorded myself playing this game in the early stages, for around 20 minutes. I will update this area later.
And that's it. I have no idea on what to do, like objectives/quests to solve, so... I literally do nothing for that 20 minutes.
Pros
- Graphic? Good. The graphics in this game are good, IMO. No blurry areas, no bad shape in the areas, everything looks good and crystal clear. Even the rain looks good. One thing that I didn't understand was... Out of the blue, there is a vision, then a UFO coming down. What was that for....?
- Audio? Mostly Good. It doesn't sound bad and will hurt your ear. The audio when the player moves from a place to another also sounds good. The only questionable moment for me was when I was inside the house, I couldn't hear the rain sound for a while which made me wonder... This was intentional? Or no?
- Movement? Well... Good?. Surprisingly, I didn't feel the simulator sickness when I played this game. I could move well, even if mostly quite laggy as I use my touchpad to move, rather than using a portable mouse.
Cons
- A long intro, with no skip button. Well, the intro is quite long (around 100 seconds).... and there are no skip options available, yet. At least to fast-forward the intro.
- No objectives, yet. As someone who has no knowledge of Silent Hill game prior to this, I have no idea on what am I supposed to do. Do I need to see something? Collect something? Kill something? Solve anything? No instruction available yet on the game. In the end, I only ended up exploring the areas, then left... This feels like I only comes to a virtual exhibition event. I don't think "no prior knowledge" plays a role too here. As a standalone games, I think regardless of what player knew, wouldn't affect their experience on gaming.
- Design for Letters is kinda... Basic. Honestly considering this is still early, I think it's okay for the design to be basic. At least the meaning does reach the player, though...
- No other controls yet, I believe. What I mean here is... I am not sure if there are options to exit the game, aside from in the main menu. I ended up closing the game by pressing F11, which apparently changed the window from fullscreen to windowed mode.
Closing
To conclude, I think...
Hmmm I don't know, I couldn't say this is a good game, nor a bad game. But to play this for long, definitely a no, at least for now. Later, when this game has developed enough, I am probably gonna try it again. If it's possible to do so.
So, my rating for this game is...
Graphics are good, audio is mostly good, movement is good too. Aside from no objectives available, everything is good, for an exploration game.
Thank you for reading this post, and see you on another one :)