highschool 101 | Tenome
1boys will be boys
REVIEW
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Sometimes, it never hurts to do things bare minimum. That for all the qualities a horror game can provide, so long as the horror can hit "just" right, it's fine to have a low bar to settle with. That is made apparent to me in Nyar's Tenome.
Plot is a case of bullying turned for the worse as Kei Tanaka gets a nice right hook to the face from some punk and awakens trapped in a school at night now being hunted by a yokai called the Tenome. Woes of being a teenage boy.
Gameplay is a combination of exploration and stealth with 1 instance of item hunting where you must traverse the school without getting spotted by the supernatural entity looking for a key to unlock the school entrance.
I don't want to be unfair about this game since I didn't touch upon it much at the end but considering this was made in under 48 hours for a game jam, it pans out quite nicely. A lot of things about the game may be plain but the horror built by a creepy atmosphere, a sinister ambience with a looming enemy that serves as a passive threat and traversing the darkness does not make for a boring experience. It may be easy to meta a lot of things, especially when time constraints factor in, but if it's inviting enough to lose yourself in the horror, then that's all that matters.
Cheesy ending but it was to be expected, not to mention the plot of the game was practically non-existent so the enjoyment of playing it takes more precedence. I'm fine with that although it's a bit weird to build up an in-depth synopsis on the Game Jolt page but have this ending play out.
Overall, a quaint little experience to have for around 10 minutes getting spooked by and immersed in cliché tropes. An interesting thought to have, it's pretty impressive to see a reasonably polished game built in under 2 days; makes you wonder how more fleshed out the same title could be when not restricted by time. Not too shabby Nyar.