Mysteria ~Occult Shadows~
- September 29, 2020
- U-Secret Studio
- 4h median play time
Get on SteamMysteria ~Occult Shadows~ is a visual novel adventure game where you play as a detective investigating supernatural occurrences in a mysterious city. Uncover the truth behind these events and the shadowy organization known as "Mysteria" while navigating complex relationships and making decisions that affect the story's outcome. With beautiful artwork, an engaging soundtrack, and multiple endings, this game offers a captivating and immersive experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features beautiful graphics and character designs, creating an appealing aesthetic.
- The combat system is fun and engaging, with a variety of weapons and combos to explore.
- The game has a lot of potential and shows promise for future updates and improvements.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, including frame rate drops and crashes.
- The translation and dialogue are often poorly executed, making it difficult to follow the story.
- Many animations feel stiff and unpolished, detracting from the overall gameplay experience.
- graphics162 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful artwork and unique character designs, while others criticize the poor optimization, graphical glitches, and overall low visual fidelity reminiscent of older consoles. Despite the appealing art style, players report significant performance issues, including lag and stuttering, which detract from the overall experience. While some find the visuals charming and vibrant, the technical shortcomings hinder the game's potential.
“The graphics are beautiful and whimsical, full of color, a real treat in the world of grey on grey lunchbox shooters.”
“The graphics, character model, music, and art are all absolutely beautiful, perfect aesthetic for me.”
“For an early access game, the art and the overall look of the game is very beautiful.”
“Bad optimization, bad graphics, translation not finished, game starts in Chinese, clunky movements, bugs and more bugs - getting stuck, portals that don't appear making game progress impossible.”
“The UI/menus honestly look pretty cheap, the optimization is oddly poor considering it's not exactly the most graphically intensive game. You'll just be running through an empty walkway and it'll stutter every second while the lackluster scenery along the side pops in as you catch up to it.”
“I tried changing the graphics options to the lowest and it still lags to the point that it is very hard to play. The frame rate constantly changes in the range of 10-60 every 1 or 2 seconds.”
- story140 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it forgettable, poorly translated, and difficult to follow. While some appreciate the potential and artistic elements of the narrative, others criticize the execution, citing technical issues and a lack of character development. Overall, the storytelling is seen as weak, with many players expressing a preference for the gameplay and visuals over the narrative itself.
“Rather fun and a decently good story.”
“Mysteria Occult Shadows is a beautiful action RPG game, the characters and the storylines set the tone for the game overall.”
“This game has a very intriguing story, and some great looking characters.”
“No, the game feels rushed, gameplay feels broken, the story is forgettable, and character growth is non-existent.”
“Much of the game text is either badly translated or not translated at all, so you can't understand what's going on or what you are supposed to do in several points of the story.”
“The storytelling is weak and poorly presented.”
- gameplay106 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while it has potential and enjoyable elements, it suffers from significant mechanical issues, bugs, and unrefined animations. Critics highlight that combat can range from easy to challenging but often feels clunky and lacks polish, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, while some appreciate the art and story, the gameplay itself is seen as needing substantial improvement to reach its full potential.
“The gameplay is fun, the fighting ranges from easy to challenging but never frustrating (on its own, not factoring the issues with the camera).”
“This game has a lot of potential and I've enjoyed the gameplay and the character designs the most so far.”
“Mechanically it works and although the characters are slightly floaty, it feels fun to play.”
“The gameplay is lacking and the animation is really bad.”
“It is super badly optimized, the camera is weird, the gameplay is rough, the menus are a nightmare, the translation is at a Google Translate level.”
“The one reason people like this game is because of the sexual content 'yuri bait'... marketing for this game is misleading; gameplay is garbage and the models look like they were made using MMD or Blender.”
- optimization94 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 28 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, frequent bugs, and inconsistent frame rates even on low settings. Many users express frustration over the game's graphical fidelity not matching its performance demands, leading to stuttering and crashes. Overall, the consensus is that significant improvements are needed in optimization and bug fixing to enhance the gaming experience.
“The game also has a lot of good options for performance.”
“Honestly, if everything was just more optimized and FPS friendly, this would be a game I'd spend hours into.”
“Optimization: you can tweak various video/game settings to suit your gaming rig.”
“The game is so badly optimized and there are so many bugs, from the game completely hanging on the inventory menu, to the point of dying due to a physics bug, and even using a checkpoint, the moment you get back, you die instantly... so unfortunately, the game is a clusterf**k of bugs.”
“I really like the game; however, the lack of optimization ruins it for me.”
“Game optimization needs some work since this is a GPU-based game. I still feel like the ultra settings are crazy performance-hitting than they should be, and I'm dropping to 35-40fps with an RTX 2080 Ti/i9 9900k in 4K just by swinging my weapons around.”
- music70 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, fitting the fantasy environments and enhancing the overall experience with epic orchestral soundtracks and enjoyable compositions. While some reviewers noted that the music may not be particularly memorable, it effectively complements the game's tone and aesthetics. Overall, the soundtrack, along with the voice acting, contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a highlight for many players.
“The graphics, character model, music, and art are all absolutely beautiful, perfect aesthetic for me.”
“It's probably not the best game I've played, but I liked this world and the music is very enjoyable too.”
“If you still wanna support this for the artwork, the music, the voice acting, to experience the story or just to show some appreciation for its creators, just buy the game with a discount, select easy difficulty and button mash through every single fight to skip them as fast as possible.”
“The soundtrack hit my soul.”
“The OST is pretty decent, I guess.”
- stability40 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its numerous bugs and glitches, which significantly detract from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than an enjoyable challenge. Players report issues such as clipping through stages, unresponsive buttons, sound drops, and frequent crashes. While some find the bugginess adds a certain charm or potential for fun, the consensus is that the game's stability is severely lacking.
“Sadly, the game is buggy beyond belief and in its current state more of a chore than a challenge.”
“You clip out of stages, get trophies when you shouldn't and don't get them when you should; you will experience sound drops, buttons not responding, freezes, dead ends, and crashes.”
“Abandoned game, buggy mess.”
- character development18 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is praised for its unique and appealing designs, with players appreciating the beautiful artwork and customization options available through DLC. However, there is a noted disconnect between the character designs and the enemy/world aesthetics, which some feel detracts from the overall cohesion. Despite some technical flaws in gameplay, the character designs remain a highlight, showcasing the game's potential for future improvements.
“I enjoy and appreciate how they focused their resources on character design.”
“Beautiful artwork and character design with different weapon skins and outfits to fit your style.”
“This game has a lot of potential and I've enjoyed the gameplay and the character designs the most so far.”
“The character design, and enemy and world design don't feel like they belong together; the enemies and world look like they came together in a pack, and the characters look like they were custom, which I quite like.”
“For a 'hack and slash' game, the combat is clunky, which is the most important part of these games, and animation-wise, it looks like something you'd see in a Miku Miku dance, not because they dance, but rather due to the character design and animation flow.”
“While I appreciate the focus on character design, the overall integration of characters with the world and enemies feels disjointed.”
- emotional12 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Players highlight the game's emotional depth, particularly praising its touching story and artistic presentation, which can evoke strong feelings, including tears during the credits. However, some find certain gameplay elements, like strange character behaviors and excessive cinematic effects, to be distracting or overwhelming, impacting their overall emotional experience.
“I just play for the touching story and art.”
“You start to really enjoy her company, then she starts doing strange things like setting up invisible walls all over the house, or hugging the air next to you and saying she just hugged you, or becoming emotional about not being a big potato.”
“Not only that, this game is the first game where I cried while watching the final credits.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the humor in the game to be quirky and entertaining, often enjoying the oddities in the English translations. While some are uncertain about continuing with the game, they appreciate the comedic elements that provide a lighthearted experience.
“I didn't know what to expect when playing, but I had a lot of fun just laughing at some of the quirky things.”
“I'm pondering if I should get a refund and check again later if it has gotten any much-needed updates, should keep playing because half an hour isn't much at all, or should just buy the artbook and desktop wallpaper instead of the game itself... which combined, funny enough, cost more than the game itself.”
“The English translations are just odd and kind of funny to read.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its unique and cute character art design, which complements the enchanting levels. Reviewers highlight the immersive and appropriate ambiance that enhances the overall fantasy experience, making it highly recommended for fans of the genre.
“The character art design and the level atmosphere are pretty unique and cute.”
“It's atmospheric and appropriate for the scene.”
“Overall great experience; I recommend it to all who like fantasy, as it immerses you in a magical atmosphere.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding in the game to be manageable, with just enough required to encourage exploration of each area. However, some users suggest that the grinding can be demanding enough to warrant additional lives.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“It's not too much on grinding, but enough for each area to explore.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Users indicate that the game lacks significant replayability, primarily due to the absence of engaging score or time attack modes that would encourage repeated playthroughs.
“The score and time attack modes offer little to no replay value.”
“The lack of meaningful content in score and time attack modes makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
“Without engaging challenges in score and time attack, I found no reason to replay the game.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is viewed positively, with users feeling it is not exploitative or a cash grab, but rather a sincere effort that shows promise.
