How long has it been? A man sits in a distant getaway cabin waiting for his wife Serena. Where is she? Things in the cabin evoke memories, and the husband comes to a disturbing realization... This short point-and-click adventure is the result of a massive collaborative effort between dozens of fans and designers of adventure games.
First of all you have to be aware it's not really a game - it's more of an interactive (short) story and I loved every minute of it. Nothing breathtaking, but all-in-all very nicely executed. If you've ever been in some worse relationship - you might like it too.. :)
My proper rating would be probably 8.5, but it rounds to 9.. ;)
The graphics are amazing except a shoddy human animation towards the end. Besides that, a nice mystery with a great twist. It is made a little too obvious by you not being allowed to open the dresser. I kind of guessed someone was in there, but I definitely didn't guess it was me.
Serena is a brilliant mystery. Each investigation into your cabin and the contents slowly delve into to a terrible secret about your wife Serena.
The writing and detail behind each clickable object shows such depth of story that helps paint a larger picture about you and why you're at your cabin. Quickly the reason and resolve become more and more maddening and it pieces itself together before you.
The artwork is a nice touch as things stand out and the gloom and decay of the inside of the cabin helps the story progress. The place looks more desolate and abandoned which drives home the feeling of helplessness, despair, confuse and macabre.
The voice acting ranges from decent to fairly good. Each character has a lovingly cute feel to their relationship and thanks to the exploration of the cabin it slowly lets the voice actors showcase not just happiness but also anger, frustration and even torment. The narration throughout the game is pleasant as it gives off a good amount of exposition and small character development all while not giving much away.
I did correctly guess the ending while making a joke but overall this was an excellent little title that shows how much talent there is in the people who worked on it. I'm very eager to see what else will come from these people in the future.
If you enjoy mystery/murder/thriller type of writings I'd highly recommend this for you. I really liked this.
Game Review: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
This game, while taking place in a single location with no obvious changes to the environment, allows the player to merge with the character they play and understand, even share, is feelings as the game goes on.
An initial friendly, warm and loving atmosphere turns into anger, even madness, as the memories of a lost love return and a horrible truth unravels.
This game manages to scare without any true horror elements, and to get to the player in a way few games can. It's a psychological horror, although admittedly the actual feeling of horror was really replaced by a few elements of shock.
All together a great, even though short game and very worth playing.
Playthrough: Youtube.com