Stigmatized Property
- October 20, 2019
- Chilla's Art
Get on Steam"Stigmatized Property," a horror simulation game, offers a chilling single-player experience. Immerse yourself in a dense atmosphere with its inspired-by-true-events haunted apartment storyline and enjoy the game's pretty visuals and good plot. Fans of horror games should also check out other titles from Chilla's Art such as Hanako, The Convenience Store, and Aka Manto.
PC
Reviews
- The atmosphere and ambiance are perfectly crafted, creating a genuinely creepy experience.
- The game features a unique VHS aesthetic that enhances the horror elements and immerses players in the experience.
- Despite its short length, the game offers multiple endings and a compelling story that keeps players engaged.
- The game suffers from technical issues, including poor visibility and excessive film grain that can cause discomfort.
- Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks depth, with some players finding it frustrating to navigate and complete objectives.
- The jump scares are minimal and may not be effective for players looking for a more intense horror experience.
- atmosphere107 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and unsettling qualities, often described as thick with dread and reminiscent of classic Japanese horror aesthetics. While some players noted issues with sound design and predictability, many found the overall ambiance, enhanced by VHS-style visuals, to be immersive and effective in creating a spooky experience. Overall, the game successfully captures a haunting atmosphere that keeps players on edge, making it a strong recommendation for fans of atmospheric horror.
“While this is basically a short walking simulator with fairly easy puzzles, the atmosphere alone gave me massive goosebumps.”
“The atmosphere is really gloomy, and the whole minimalism of the whole thing makes you feel really alone in these creepy little streets.”
“It has a scary atmosphere but everything feels so predictable, which makes it less scary.”
“The overall atmosphere is outright unsettling at times.”
“The atmosphere is permeated by dread and tension from the minute you start wandering the back alleys of your friend's sketchy neighborhood in the dead of night.”
- story91 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its atmospheric and creepy elements, while others find it shallow or lacking depth. Some reviews highlight the engaging ambiance and multiple endings, making it enjoyable for fans of j-horror, despite its brevity and occasional predictability. Overall, while the narrative may not be groundbreaking, it effectively contributes to the game's unsettling vibe and suspenseful experience.
“I really liked the story as it felt like I was in a movie, playing the main character. It has multiple endings, and the overall vibe and atmosphere they create by making you read journals was awesome. Fully recommended!”
“The story is interesting and more fleshed out than other titles, which is a big plus. With replayability and a story with more depth, I highly recommend this game.”
“Wrapped with a grainy aesthetic and an unnerving atmosphere, this game is a linear Japanese horror game that serves its purpose as a short and digestible creepy story.”
“The story, what little there is, doesn't serve any real purpose and lacks any meaningful (or well written) ending.”
“This game barely had any story; it literally was just reading.”
“Lazy story, lazy concept, pathetic jumpscares but most importantly lack of elements that inhibit this game from being either scary or interesting.”
- graphics79 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Stigmatized Property" evoke a strong VHS aesthetic that some players find immersive and atmospheric, while others criticize them for being overly dark and grainy, making it difficult to discern important details. Many appreciate the unique visual style and its contribution to the horror experience, though performance issues and the heavy film grain can detract from enjoyment. Overall, the graphics are a polarizing aspect, with opinions ranging from admiration for their artistic intent to frustration over their execution.
“Imo, great story, amazing graphics.”
“I'm not exaggerating when I say these graphics look photorealistic; it is very impressive, especially for a cheap horror game.”
“The atmosphere is solid and the sound, writing, and graphics complement each other so well.”
“I know the graphics are dark and grainy on purpose, but when you can hardly see some of the item markers, that's just not great.”
“Crappy filter over the graphics already makes it painful to look at...but it's also too dark to see anything that might be going on.”
“Even after I found the option to turn the film grain off, the deliberate washing out of the graphics and the fact that everything is quite dark makes things generally hard to discern outside of a general idea of what stuff is.”
- gameplay39 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is primarily focused on exploration and item collection, often described as simplistic and lacking in mechanics, with many players noting its short duration of around 30-60 minutes. While the atmosphere and story elements are appreciated, the gameplay can feel tedious and detracts from the horror experience due to its repetitive nature and minimal interaction. Overall, it appeals to those who enjoy walking simulators but may disappoint players seeking deeper mechanics or a more engaging horror experience.
“The gameplay is isolating, primarily focused on item collecting, exploration, and puzzle-solving through an authentic Japanese locale sprawled with dim alleyways, hidden shrines, and an apartment complex.”
“Gameplay is simple but it works.”
“The pieces needed for a good horror experience are there, but the tough visuals and very short gameplay take too much away.”
“Unfortunately, this game has almost no mechanics.”
“The gameplay is really just exploration item collecting; you will be looking for notes for the diary, coins to use in the vending machine, and shrines.”
“The gameplay is boring (and that's coming from someone who enjoys walking simulator games like this), the story's mediocre, and it's not even that scary.”
- optimization9 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 44 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received largely negative feedback, with many users reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, freezing, and screen tearing, even on low settings. While some players experienced minimal stutters, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, detracting from the experience and leading to recommendations against playing it unless performance concerns are not an issue for the player.
“I only had one small stutter during an animation, so this ranks pretty high in the performance bracket.”
“Overall, I wouldn't recommend the game due to its optimization and graphics, but if that doesn't bother you or you're one of the lucky ones with no performance issues, then I hope you enjoy the game's atmosphere.”
“Yet, the optimization leaves much to be desired.”
“The issue I have with the game and why I can't recommend it is that it has stuttery, poor performance.”
“Even on the lowest settings, I had slow performance and a lot of screen tearing.”
- stability8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
Overall, the stability of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players report no significant issues with bugs or crashes during regular play, others experience severe lag, glitches, and freezing, particularly when streaming. The game's optimization and translation have also been criticized, indicating a need for further improvements.
“The game runs smoothly even when I'm multitasking.”
“I haven't experienced any crashes or major bugs during my playtime.”
“The performance remains consistent, providing a reliable gaming experience.”
“I'd simply want to volunteer to help step up the play testing; the soft crashes, the glitches, and the lack of tenses and strange sentence structures can easily confuse the reader.”
“I like and respect the works of this studio; I support other games, but this is just glitchy and freezes, poorly optimized, and I hope they fix it.”
“Don't know if it's just me, but I tried to play this on stream and it was extremely laggy and buggy.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is limited due to its short length and minimal content, with some players noting a few different endings that offer slight replay value. While the addition of multiple endings enhances replayability compared to its predecessor, many reviewers feel that the lack of substantial content and achievements makes it less appealing for repeated playthroughs.
“There's a few different endings which give the game a slight replay value.”
“With one more additional ending (good and bad), there is replayability in this game, which the previous game lacked.”
“With replayability and a story with more depth, I highly recommend this game.”
“However, that does mean the game has little replay value.”
“And while I loved it, the short length and lack of replayability will turn a lot of people off.”
“Pretty cool game, but it's really short and there's no replay value unless you want to get 2 achievements that are impossible to get on one run.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game; while some find the page-hunting enjoyable and engaging, others feel it can become tedious and frustrating due to obscure design choices. The game successfully transforms the grind into a fun puzzle experience, but reliance on guides for hidden secrets can detract from the overall enjoyment.
“Also, there's diary page hunting in the game which can get tedious after a while.”
“I feel some of these games are deliberately made obscurely difficult for some reason, not in a strategy kinda way, more like a 'wtf do I even do!?' kinda way, and the creep factor goes out the door when it becomes a tedious slog.”
“My only real critique of this game is that the map hides secrets that cannot be found without a guide or wall grinding.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game is minimal, focusing more on ambient sounds from the outside world rather than a traditional score. This subtle approach enhances the atmospheric horror, making the overarching plot feel scarier than the occasional jump scares, which lack dramatic musical accompaniment.
“The overarching plot and musical ambience make the final jump scare 10 times scarier.”
“The horror aspect is subtle and relies more on atmosphere than anything else; there's very little music, and the few jump scares in the game aren't accompanied by aggressively loud orchestral chords that launch into a whole opera.”
“The game features the sounds of outside life, such as cars driving by, rather than any special music.”
“There isn't any special music; you just hear the sounds of outside life, such as cars driving by.”
“The horror aspect is subtle and relies more on atmosphere than anything else; there's very little music and the few jump scares in the game aren't accompanied by aggressively loud orchestral chords that launch into a whole opera.”
“Final jump scare not that scary - overarching plot and musical ambience 10x scarier.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its amusing jump scares, which are more funny than frightening, making it a lighthearted take on the horror genre. Players who are familiar with horror games may find the comedic elements refreshing rather than terrifying, contributing to an overall enjoyable experience.
“The jump scares are actually funny, not gonna lie.”
“Jump scares are also just funny instead of scary, and if you've played a lot of horror games, I doubt you'll be creeped out by this.”
“A nice and funny little horror game.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while the camera movement creates a disorienting experience that some players find nauseating, it also effectively reflects the protagonist's emotional state through interactions with animals, adding depth to the narrative.
“It can personify the emotional state of your protagonist through the animals you encounter.”
