Hanako
- December 11, 2020
- chill_my_art
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreHanako is a single-player Horror Simulation game set in a Japanese elementary school, where you must evade the vengeful spirit of Hanako and find a way to lift her curse. The game features a save system, multiple endings, and a run time of approximately 1.5-2 hours. With its atmospheric setting and focus on survival, Hanako offers a realistic J-horror experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a creepy atmosphere and unique monster designs that enhance the horror experience.
- It includes engaging boss fights and puzzles, making it one of Chilla's Art's more ambitious titles.
- The story is intriguing, drawing players into a dark narrative filled with mysteries and curses.
- The gameplay is often repetitive, primarily revolving around finding keys and items, which can become tedious.
- The save system is frustratingly limited, requiring rare coins to save progress, leading to potential loss of significant gameplay.
- Many players found the game to be glitchy and poorly optimized, affecting overall enjoyment and immersion.
- gameplay34 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique mechanics, challenging puzzles, and atmospheric elements reminiscent of other horror titles like "Alan Wake" and "Onryo." However, many found the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, particularly due to a cumbersome save system that requires specific items, leading to significant loss of progress during glitches or exploration. Overall, while the atmosphere is praised, the gameplay experience is often described as tedious and annoying.
“It has nice riddles, an Alan Wake-like flashlight mechanic, some good boss fights, and a creepy atmosphere.”
“Actually has very neat mechanics, and hella scary.”
“I think that even without the 'coin-save' mechanic, it would have been sufficiently challenging while maintaining a high degree of 'fun.'”
“I didn't find the gameplay or atmosphere very scary, just annoying.”
“The gameplay itself is standard horror: find key to open door, get item to use, use item, find key, etc. The save system is similar to the original Resident Evil in that you have to have an item to save.”
“Imagine getting lost for 20-40 minutes at a time with no way to save, and exiting the game means losing hours of gameplay.”
- atmosphere32 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its enchanting and creepy qualities, with strong visuals and sound design that enhance the experience. While many players appreciate the moody ambiance and engaging backstory, some feel that the gameplay detracts from the overall experience, leaning too heavily on chase mechanics rather than the atmospheric horror that characterized earlier titles. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, compensating for shortcomings in gameplay and technical aspects.
“The story is filled with mysteries, curses, and rage, and I couldn't help but get drawn into its enchanting atmosphere.”
“Aesthetics and atmosphere are on point, as always, along with great graphics, emphasis on lime green instead of blood red, and huge steps forward in terms of balance, polish, and having fun aside from getting scared.”
“Great sound design, good atmosphere, and a few easy to miss scares make it a really enjoyable game, even for someone like me who usually prefers their more linear games.”
“I didn't find the gameplay or atmosphere very scary, just annoying.”
“Although the visuals definitely help the atmosphere, I can't help but feel like it's a tad overdone.”
“Despite these improvements, along with Chilla's usual moody atmosphere and mostly well-done graphics, I give the game a thumbs down.”
- story26 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players praising its dark and enchanting atmosphere filled with mysteries and curses, while others find it underdeveloped and disappointing as it lacks depth and engagement. Although there are intriguing elements, such as documents to discover, many reviewers feel the gameplay overshadows the narrative, leading to a basic and repetitive experience. Overall, the story garners a range of opinions, from captivating to lackluster, depending on individual expectations.
“The game features a very dark and enchanting story about curses and rage.”
“I loved the atmosphere, the monsters, and backstory.”
“It's like the game just threw away the story and pulled out stock nonsense to hunt you.”
“The game plays super basic, find keys, open doors, find more keys etc. The story is very basic, and the monsters are so underwhelming too, with the fact that you can fight against them with your flashlight.”
“The story is filled with mysteries, curses, and rage, and I couldn't help but get drawn into its enchanting atmosphere.”
- graphics26 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the atmospheric visuals and overall aesthetic, while others criticize the excessive brightness, poor contrast, and lack of meaningful adjustments in the graphics settings. Many users report performance issues, particularly with certain graphics cards, leading to frustration over the game's visual fidelity. Overall, while there are moments of impressive design, the execution leaves much to be desired for a significant portion of the player base.
“Aesthetics and atmosphere are on point, as always, along with great graphics, emphasis on lime green instead of blood red, and huge steps forward in terms of balance, polish, and having fun aside from getting scared!”
“Sound design, visuals, level design, it's all crafted masterfully and is extremely effective.”
“Lovely visuals, great monsters/bosses.”
“The visuals are pretty horrid; it's so bright and in-your-face with excessive contrast, and lowering the gamma hardly helps. Any area that would be blindingly bright will then look fine, but everywhere else looks horrid and mushy like a swamp.”
“The game takes up a lot of FPS for whatever reason, and a lot of people are complaining that it doesn't work with the GTX 1650 graphics card.”
“I've tried to increase the graphic settings in the options menu, but everything just looks the same and nothing changes.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits occasional glitches and bugs, leading to moments of frustration for players; however, none of these issues are game-breaking. Overall, while stability could be improved, it does not significantly detract from the overall experience.
“Look out for occasional glitches, and some moments of frustration as well.”
“There are lots of glitches, but none so far that are game-breaking.”
“Being completely honest; as of right now, it's still a bit buggy, but damned if Chilla's Art haven't done it again with a good horror game.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for the final boss fight, which features poorly designed mechanics that result in unavoidable damage. Additionally, players report long loading times and frequent crashes unless their systems are running at peak performance, necessitating adjustments to settings.
“Everything was pretty great until the ending; the last fight was poorly optimized, and the boss would teleport into you and deal damage that couldn't be countered even with sprinting or shining a light.”
“The loading times are excessive and often result in crashes if I don't have my computer at peak performance, meaning I have to constantly adjust my settings.”
“The loading times are excessive and often result in crashes if I don't have my computer at peak performance, meaning I have to constantly adjust my settings.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a strong emotional connection to the game, likening their experiences to feelings of nostalgia and fear reminiscent of being a schoolgirl lost at night, similar to themes in the anime "Ghost Stories." Successfully overcoming challenges, such as defeating monsters, elicits a sense of triumph and satisfaction.
“It really made me feel like a school girl separated from her friends on the wrong night at school, and it quite reminds me of the anime Ghost Stories.”
“Successfully beating one of the monsters made me feel great.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game offers moderate replayability due to its multiple endings, a common feature in Chilla's Art titles, which encourages players to explore different outcomes while enjoying the unique and eerie aesthetic.
“The game features both a unique look and eerie feeling that Chilla's Art is known for, and like most, if not all, of the other Chilla's Art games, it offers great replayability due to multiple endings.”
“The game features both a unique look and eerie feeling that Chilla's Art is known for, and like most, if not all, of the other Chilla's Art games, replayability is present due to multiple endings.”
- music2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is noted for its presence during critical moments, such as the endings, but technical issues can detract from the experience, as players have reported instances of black screens where only the music plays, preventing them from fully experiencing the conclusion.
“I've encountered few bugs in the two playthroughs I did. One was getting stuck in a box, which forced me to start all over again. The second was getting a black screen during one of the endings [spoiler]ending 2 to be precise,[/spoiler] where I only heard music but never saw the actual ending or credits and never got back to the main menu.”
