Review by Geir Gunnarsson
Re:Turn – One Way Trip is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle adventure horror game. Trapped in a ghostly train, Saki must search the past and present to find and save her friends. More importantly, Saki must use her wits if she is to survive an unspeakable evil, hellbent on avenging unrequited love.
Re:Turn tells the terrifying story of five college friends on a post-graduation vacation. This might be their last trip together before adulthood swallows them whole. Unfortunately for them, a far more sinister force has found them and hungers for their souls.
A 2D side scrolling puzzle horror adventure game is not something I thought would be a good fit but with Re:Turn I was pleasantly surprised. The game starts like many horror movies, with teenagers camping out in a forest telling each other scary stories. The fire goes out and the kids split up to find more firewood. At this point you get to control the protagonist, a girl named Saki. The controls are very simple, use either the arrows or WASD to move and then a button for interacting and a button for your flashlight.
Right away I noticed that the game was oozing charm and the characters were likable, well most of them anyway but that is a sign of good writing. There is no fighting in this game in the traditional sense and the way this game is played it is more like a point and click adventure, without the pointing and clicking since you do not use the mouse at all. You walk around and examine things and sometimes have to solve puzzles to progress.
The atmosphere is very well done, I could feel the terror building with each passing minute. The pacing seems to be very well done as the game kept me hooked the whole time and even had me thinking about it when I stopped playing. The puzzles didn’t seem too difficult and not nearly as obtuse as the classic point and click games, at least I never got stuck on any one puzzle for too long.
The art style is very nice though it did bother me a bit in the beginning as they seem to have 2 art styles: pixel art style that is very pretty and well done and animated, and then a more detailed 2D art style they use for some “cutscenes”. It felt really jarring at first but after about an hour in, it seemed to work and it stopped bothering me, and just felt appropriate. The backgrounds are very detailed and pretty. The sound design creepy and well done, and the music really sells the horror aspect. Because of all these I felt my heartbeat pick up pace a few times and that is definitely a plus for a 2D game that is a bit cutesy. Sound and atmosphere have so much to say about making a good game, be it a horror, action or whatever really.
In conclusion: if you like horror games or story driven games then this game could be for you. I highly enjoyed playing it and the story kept me hooked and thinking about it after I stopped playing. I definitely recommend this game. The price is very reasonable and the game has a playable demo (remember when demos were actually a thing? Thankfully that seems to be making a comeback!) to help you decide before you commit.
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