Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Unforgiving – A Northern Hymn

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video Games  1 Response »  Tagged with:
Oct 262026
 

Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to games. You might have noticed.

All the way back in 2017, I watched a video from Game Informer in which they played the start of a horror game called Unforgiving – A Northern Hymn.

I was hooked, especially by the ending, and I immediately put the game on my Steam wish list.

And then I played it… this October… for the first time… All right, so it took me a little longer to get around to it than I expected back when I first saw it in 2017. Nevertheless, I remembered the start of the game when I started playing, and I was excited to see the rest.

This is the style of horror game where you can’t fight back, which I found a little frustrating during some of the parts where roaming enemies can chase you (because they are persistent) but even more frustrating during a mandatory stealth section near the end. That section frustrated me to the point where it was no longer scary, just annoying.

Aside from that, it has some good scares and creepy moments. Although there isn’t anything too complicated in terms of puzzle solving, there are some simple puzzles and a mechanic with a harp that I really liked.

Once you get the harp, there are points where you have to play a melody based on runes. The major ones are stored so you don’t have to manually play the melody each time, but for some you need to look at the runes and then select the matching strings. It’s simple, but it adds a nice touch.

Your light source also comes in the form of matches, with a matchbox you can pull out to actually look and see how many matches you have left. Matches are plentiful enough that I rarely felt in danger of running out, so I ended up liking this mechanic, too.

(And it’s a good thing they’re plentiful, because I kept forgetting that left-click was “strike match” instead of “interact” so I lit a few matches by mistake.)

Meanwhile, the story is… fine. I wish it had multiple endings, and it felt like more could have been done with it. More interesting than the story itself is the lore. It has a lot of Nordic inspirations and folklore, with collectibles to find that shed more light on the creatures you encounter.

Unforgiving – A Northern Hymn isn’t a perfect experience, and it frustrated me at times. However, it’s got some nice lore and interesting features, so I’m not sorry I played it.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Oct 232026
 

Now, why don’t we talk about a game really suited to Halloween?

The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is an online Halloween festival that goes live every October.

Although I’m not a big online game person, I was curious enough to check it out.

I started the game and created a little ghost avatar for myself. Then I carved the world’s most basic pumpkin and loaded the game.

I immediately saw countless pumpkins that put my weak artistic efforts to shame, but I nevertheless headed out through the festival in search of a spot. This is where I found myself frustrated. Whenever I saw a spot where a pumpkin could be placed, the other pumpkins were crowded in too much for mine to fit. However, I switched to a less-populated game world and eventually found a spot for mine.

Not only can you look at all the other players’ pumpkins, but you can even given a award ribbon to a pumpkin you like.

But there’s more to the game than just pumpkins, such as a hayride and other features that make it really feel like a festival. On top of that, there even areas with puzzles to solve (and pins to collect, which you can put on your ghost). When I checked out the city portion of the world, I found a theater playing public domain classic movies and a locked door that led into a maze that played out like a small survival horror game.

I actually didn’t check out everything the game has to offer, let alone finish it all, but since it’s a time-limited game, I wanted to blog about it now instead of waiting until I’ve finished (especially since I’m tempted to return to it closer to Halloween).

Oh, and I know someone in the comments will ask, so here, this is my pumpkin. Like I said, it’s not exactly an artistic achievement.

In short, The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is a delightful little Halloween experience, whether you want to design the perfect pumpkin or see what puzzles and scares the festival has to offer.

…Maybe I’ll design a more creative pumpkin when I return to the game.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: The Séance of Blake Manor

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video Games  4 Responses »  Tagged with:
Oct 222026
 

I almost forgot to talk about The Séance of Blake Manor, an adventure game I reviewed last October for MonsterVine.

The Séance of Blake Manor is from Spooky Doorway, the developers of the Darkside Detective series.

We talked about The Darkside Detective all the way back in 2018, and I followed that with a review of its sequel in 2021.

Both were funny adventure games with a perfect Halloween atmosphere, so I was excited when I saw Spooky Doorway had a new game.

I also was nervous.

Because The Séance of Blake Manor has time limits.

Fortunately, as you’ll see if you read my full review, the time limit didn’t end up bothering me too much since walking around doesn’t take time (thank goodness) and it’s more a matter of strategically planning your schedule, which adds a fun bit of management.

(I wish I could examine every single inconsequential object in case there’s interesting dialogue, but it’s fine.)

Unlike the Darkside Detective games, this one is a first-person, 3D adventure game. It’s primarily a detective game, in which you’re investigating a woman’s disappearance, and you need to gather clues and then link them together to form hypotheses that you can pursue by confronting other characters about the secrets they’re hiding.

On top of the mystery elements, the case you’re investigating is overtly supernatural even aside from the upcoming séance that everyone is waiting for. I wouldn’t call it an outright horror game, but it has a great atmosphere and is definitely spooky.

So if you enjoy detective games and supernatural mysteries, you should definitely check out The Séance of Blake Manor. It’s a perfect game for Halloween.

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