Paper Dolls Original

About

"Paper Dolls Original" is a first-person horror adventure game with good graphics and a unique atmosphere, taking around 12 hours to complete. After a car accident, a frantic father finds himself in a deserted Asian mansion, searching for his missing daughter. Immerse in Eastern culture as you navigate through this chilling and suspenseful tale.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 86 reviews

atmosphere10 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

The game features a rich atmosphere with well-designed graphics and sound that effectively create a spooky environment.
Puzzles are challenging and incorporate Chinese cultural elements, enhancing the immersion for players familiar with the culture.
The gameplay offers a unique blend of horror and puzzle-solving, making it engaging for fans of the genre.

Many puzzles are convoluted and can be frustrating, especially for players unfamiliar with Chinese culture or language.
The character movement is slow, and the sprint mechanic is ineffective, making it difficult to escape from enemies.
The reliance on quick-time events (QTEs) can detract from the horror experience, leading to frustration rather than immersion.

atmosphere
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
32%
16%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its creepy and immersive qualities, enhanced by well-crafted graphics and audio that evoke a sense of terror and mystery. However, some players feel that frustrating mechanics and reliance on jump scares detract from the overall experience, while others note that certain puzzles can break immersion. Overall, the game successfully creates a tense and engaging environment, though some players desire more atmospheric depth and variety in sound.
- “The graphics, audio, and atmosphere are all well done.”
- “So beautifully crafted with one of the spookiest atmospheres around.”
- “It has an amazing mysterious and scary atmosphere and it gives you anxiety many times, as the main character walks around extremely slow!”
- “There's more silence to add to the atmosphere, and when there is music, it does exactly the opposite.”
- “For both Paper Dolls 1 & 2, the atmosphere and some jump scares are pretty okay, but the level design and combat design are pretty uninspired.”
- “I feel like there could be a little more as far as music or atmospheric noises.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it intriguing and well-designed, while others criticize it for being incoherent and poorly translated. Many mention the presence of quick time events as detracting from the horror experience, and some feel that the narrative lacks depth and clarity, making it difficult to engage with the plot. Overall, while there are moments of fascination and strong atmosphere, the story is often described as incomplete or lacking substance.
- “The story is intriguing and puzzles are generally well designed, although on one occasion the way to reach an area seems perplexing.”
- “I particularly enjoyed finding pieces of clues that eventually led up to a complete story at the end, which fascinated me.”
- “I love the atmosphere and the small bits of the story I'm able to piece together from the little journals I find.”
- “The story is completely lacking and just you wait until you get to the very end......”
- “There doesn't seem to be a coherent story, unfortunately.”
- “Like some other Chinese horror games I've played, the narrative/story is impossible to understand; the notes are all poorly translated and make no sense. You seem to be trying to save your daughter from some malevolent spirits, but I forgot all about her because other than right at the start of the game, they do nothing to remind you this is your goal.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
27%
20%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the detailed artwork and atmospheric design, particularly in the context of its cultural themes. While some players find the visuals impressive and reminiscent of classic horror titles, others criticize them as outdated and lacking in polish. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's ambiance, though they are sometimes overshadowed by gameplay and control issues.
- “Excellent Chinese culture-themed first-person horror, 'Paper Dolls' boasts great graphics in its reconstruction of a typical Qing-dynasty mansion.”
- “The graphics are nice and the atmosphere is really good too, reminds me a bit of Fatal Frame/Project Zero.”
- “It's a cool game and I really enjoyed the graphics and character models.”
- “The game has bad controls that you can't change, bad sound breaking immersion, and some decent graphics.”
- “The sound design doesn't exist, the graphics are way outdated, the jumpscares are just obnoxious and annoying, there is nothing spooky other than that it's pitch black.”
- “The graphics are mostly okay.”
gameplay
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
47%
20%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with players praising the atmospheric design and well-crafted enemies, but expressing frustration over convoluted puzzles, slow movement speed, and ineffective sprint mechanics. Many found the gameplay mechanics to detract from immersion, turning potentially engaging moments into frustrating experiences. Overall, while the game offers a spooky environment, its gameplay elements have left some players feeling dissatisfied.
- “The game succeeds in scaring the player throughout, by leveraging a persistently dark environment, well-designed enemies, and a run-and-hide gameplay.”
- “The graphics are pretty nice though, and the mechanics are polished.”
- “The gameplay mechanics and plots are very well designed.”
- “However, a few things killed this game for me - the convoluted puzzles, the slow movement speed, the randomized QTE inputs, and the mechanics of the last boss fight.”
- “Here are my thoughts: first of all, the sprint mechanic is awful; it may as well not exist, as the character seems as if he weighs 1000 lbs because he takes 2 steps and is instantly exhausted.”
- “The sprinting is so short and the recovery is so long that I'm confused about what the purpose of the mechanic even is? You can't use it to avoid enemies or navigate more effectively, so the mechanic is very nearly useless.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The music in the game is minimal but effective, enhancing the atmosphere through silence rather than overwhelming it. While some players appreciate the sparse use of music, they suggest that occasional ambient sounds or subtle musical elements could further enrich the experience.
- “As for the music, there's not much of it, but I actually liked it.”
- “There's more silence to add to the atmosphere, and when there is music, it does exactly the opposite.”
- “I feel like there could be a little more in terms of music or atmospheric sounds.”
- “Nothing dramatic, but maybe have some phantom koto music float through the air every once in a while or voices whispering lightly sprinkled in.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly due to the lack of a sprint button, which exacerbates the monotony of gameplay.
- “The tedious games of cat and mouse grow old very quickly.”
- “What enhances this problem is that there is no real sprint button, so things get tedious.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers suggest that the replayability of the game is lacking, with some comparing it unfavorably to Cyberpunk 2077, which they found to be more engaging and playable at launch.
- “Cyberpunk 2077 was more playable on release than this.”
- “Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to dive back in.”
- “The lack of meaningful side quests makes replaying the game feel tedious.”