GESTALT: The Fifth Day
- April 5, 2024
- KINJAKO
"GESTALT: The Fifth Day" is a story-driven, point-and-click horror game where you play as Wicke, navigating through a haunted house that was inherited from a deceased woman. The game features psychological horror, puzzles, and multiple endings based on your choices. With a grainy, black and white aesthetic, and a focus on Wicke's mental health, the game promises a short yet intense experience.
Reviews
- The game features a unique and beautiful black and white visual style reminiscent of Game Boy Camera, combined with realistic pixel gore aesthetics.
- The dialogue is fun and engaging, particularly the interactions between the main characters, which are filled with ironic and acid humor.
- Gestalt offers a mix of novel and puzzle gameplay with high replay value, allowing players to explore different choices and endings.
- The time limit in the game continues to tick during dialogues, which can be frustrating for players.
- Some puzzles are quite difficult and may not be easy to understand, potentially hindering progress.
- The game follows a repetitive five-day cycle, which can feel tedious over multiple playthroughs.
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics are praised for their unique Game Boy-inspired visuals, combining a black-and-white art style with incredible pixelated gore that enhances the game's eerie atmosphere. Reviewers appreciate the rich and terrifying imagery, along with the effective use of sound to create a fun yet unsettling experience. Overall, the art style is a standout feature, despite some noting the game feels a bit short.
“Amazing Game Boy-like visuals with gore and fun dialogue.”
“The events in the game are very rich, with terrifying visuals formed by the black-and-white art style, mild jump scares, and the overall eerie and unsettling sound effects, which work incredibly well together.”
“Love the art style.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a blend of eerie and engaging elements, featuring novel/puzzle mechanics alongside retro Game Boy camera visuals. Players appreciate the fun dialogues and the incredible gore pixel art, contributing to a captivating yet slightly unsettling ambiance. Overall, the atmosphere is described as both enjoyable and intriguing, with a desire for deeper narrative resolution.
“Interesting puzzles, great atmosphere.”
“I like the eerie atmosphere of this game.”
“Atmosphere is scary, but I want to know the true ending.”
“The atmosphere is scary, but I want to know the true ending.”
“The game fails to create a truly immersive atmosphere, leaving me feeling disconnected.”
“Despite the potential for a haunting atmosphere, it often feels flat and uninspired.”
- gameplay3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized as simple and effective, enhancing replayability through daily random events. It combines elements of click-based adventure with deduction mechanics, creating an engaging experience.
“It is a simple and effective gameplay, designed to increase the replay factor, even including a random event factor for each day.”
“The gameplay is essentially a mix of click-based adventure and deduction.”
“It is a simple and effective gameplay, designed to increase the replay factor, even counting with a random event factor for each day.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted as a standout feature, with players praising the witty and ironic dialogues that enhance the experience. Many find the conversations between the characters so enjoyable that they could envision a game focused solely on their interactions.
“When you play her part, don't forget to exhaust the dialogues completely because this is one of the best parts of the game. The dialogues are extremely fun, full of ironic and sharp humor. I could play a game just with conversations between these two characters.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, with each playthrough lasting around half an hour and often resulting in failure, encouraging players to try different strategies and outcomes. Its engaging point-and-click mechanics enhance the desire to replay and explore various scenarios.
“This is a solid point-and-click horror game with a ton of replay value!”
“It's a highly replayable game, with the first playthrough taking only about half an hour, but likely ending in failure.”
- music1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its artistic quality, contributing positively to the overall experience, though some players find the difficulty level challenging, which may hinder their ability to fully enjoy the game and reach different endings.
- story1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The story is praised for its great art, music, and writing, but players find it challenging to reach endings beyond the first, which can hinder their overall experience.
“The story is incredibly engaging, with rich character development and unexpected twists that keep you on the edge of your seat.”
“The narrative is beautifully crafted, intertwining various plot lines that create a captivating experience.”
“I was deeply moved by the story; it explores complex themes and emotions that resonate long after the game is over.”