While I still felt like it was leaving some elements to the imagination, I was surprised, amused, and frightened at times at how much I felt like I was personally experiencing what was presently happening in the game that wasn’t limited to the textual descriptions. It’s successful in establishing a sense of depth in the sense that the player is actively experiencing what is being described. Scarlett Hollow is very effective at really placing the player right into the narrative this way without feeling entirely like you’re just reading scrolling text boxes. Later in the woods, she will illuminate dark spots in the woods and the background with her flashlight, revealing what lurks behind it to both she and the player at the same time. The upbeat, cryptic obsessed YouTuber, Stella, chases after her dog when you enter town, and you watch as she appears in the background and actively makes her way toward you frame-by-frame. In fact, in many instances, characters will directly interact with the backgrounds of the scenes. For a point-and-click text-based adventure, there is an impressive feeling of movement, action, and three-dimensional space. The crinkly sound of leaves in the wind echo as you walk outside and examine the garden, watching the tree branches actively shake in the background. Tabitha’s cat Frou Frou growls as you approach her spot. The floorboards creak as you advance through each room. With the “Keen Eye” trait, the narration would often relay certain tidbits of information to me, such as peculiar objects and details that I came across in the house that seemed to tell me more about the history of Tabitha’s family.Īs I explored the looming hallways of Tabitha’s house, and investigated the room that I would be staying in, I was enamored with how well the elements of the game meshed to create a cohesive environment. This enabled me to score brownie points with Tabitha by lying to her about how gorgeous her dilapidated house is. With the “Street Smart” trait, my ability to lie to other characters was bolstered. You can choose to be “Mystical” and “Hot”, “Book Smart” and “Street Wise”, “Powerful Build” with a “Keen Eye”, or any other combination of the six that you can think of. These traits are often used to unlock additional paths, unique dialogue, and sometimes, helpful hints to players. This is one of the first instances where an important gameplay element presents itself: the player’s selected character traits.Īt the beginning of the game, players enter their name, hometown, preferred pronouns, and are prompted to select two of six traits. As you make your way to Tabitha’s home, you’re given the option to explore varying dialogue branches to get to know her better. You learn that you have arrived in town for the funeral of her recently deceased mother-your aunt. Upon arriving in the town of Scarlet Hollow, you’re greeted by the stoic, if not abrasive, cousin Tabitha. This tone kept me engaged from the beginning of the episode to the very end. It demonstrates a keen sense of self-awareness, knowing when to crack jokes about the bizarre characters and interactions that the player encounters, while also maintaining the ever-present possibility of a sudden shift to chilling eeriness, like the bug-eyed stranger casually slipping his casual desire to murder people into conversation. Scarlet Hollow lands in the very precise, sweet spot of horror and humor. Though I had just selected the dialogue option moments before asking what the hell was wrong with the weird guy moments before, I chose to accept the boiled peanuts from him, because why not? This interaction sets the tone of the game very well. The sudden shift in his tone is tremendously eerie, and shortly after, he offers you a dripping bag of boiled peanuts before disembarking and wishing you well on your journey to Scarlet Hollow. The eccentric, beanie-wearing man next to you continues to pelt you with tales of his past, pivoting past your attempts to shut down the conversation (if you try to), before suddenly getting bug-eyed and asking, “You ever just get so mad you just wanna like, KILL someone?!” Jagged scrawls outline the shadows on the bus where you’ve jolted awake in a daze. When the game starts, you find yourself in a primarily monochrome world with crimson shades and hues as accents, gorgeously designed in a way that calls back to the likes of Tim Burton. Scarlet Hollow immediately pulled me into its world by throwing me into a situation that I, among many others as I can imagine, have found myself in plenty of times: stuck listening to the bizarre anecdotes of a stranger on public transportation. Scarlet Hollow Review – Tim Burton Meets Gravity Falls Meets Silent Hillĭeveloped and Published by Black Tabby Games
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