After nearly 20 hours of gameplay, I can tell you that this game is a complete ripoff hellbent on provoking and angering paying customers. Absolutely avoid. The developers are textbook cheaters, pitting the player against impossible and unwinnable situations, while giving the sole human villain unmatched, supernatural powers (such as transportation). The only way to win any game is if the enemy glitches, giving you the upper hand advantage; a telltale sign of poor programming. Spend your money else where. 1/5

RNG Hell, but in a way that I'm not necessarily against.

The concept has been done a thousand times, you're in first person with lockers to hide in and running makes noise. A monster-entity chases you, and an equivalent to 'pages' spawn a la Slender in different locations, and as the game goes on it gets harder. Were this game just that with a spooky anime shift I'd give it a once over and not even bother making a review.

But this one is a bit smarter. For one thing, the 'one hit kill' fixation so many developers in indie horror have a borderline fetish for isn't nearly as prevalent. There are one hit kills, but it's extremely rare to get one, you have to infuriate Saiko(our monster) to an extreme degree or play a game with her willingly to risk it. In the Normal mode, Saiko is a very, VERY smart AI. She's fascinating, having two modes; one aggressive and violent, the other a trickster(Yangire and Yandere, respectively). The trickster will take keys, lock you in rooms, and demand you stay close. Leave too long and she becomes aggressive. If she hurts you very, very badly her aggressive streak calms and she goes back to trickster. Learning how to manage these moods to your advantage is key to stand a chance at getting a good ending.

Of which in Normal+Hard mode there are two ways to go about it! Both are challenging in their own way and require a different approach of play style to get, and Saiko is so fun to work against. If she knows you're in a room, she will smash windows and make you walk on glass with your bare feet for damage. She'll take your shoes and inventory if she catches you, she'll lay tripwires, she'll knee you in the groin to slow movement before giving a countdown before she chases you with violent intent. If she's truly pissed she'll let you know how many chances you have left before she guts you with that one hit kill. She'll latch onto your back and depending on her mood, the outcome can vary wildly. She's a fantastic enemy and her voice actress nails that psychopathy that comes with her archetype.

There is also a 'Yandere' mode which changes the nature of how she attacks you, which has a very unique way to get a good ending that will really test your limits and smarts. In addition there's a 'Yangire' mode that I think will satisfy those less into the anime aesthetic looking for more traditional horror. It's pitch dark, vision is limited, the means to win are harder to achieve, and she's entirely violent for that run and is much, much more aggressive. In addition Saiko's aesthetic is far more monstrous, bunny outfit be damned.

Complaints are few but exist, the biggest is Saiko's AI is very smart but because she can do so many things, she's not perfect. She gets stuck in loops sometimes, especially if I'm hiding and she approaches a room and gets stuck in a cycle of "Are you in here...?" "Guess not." and repeating that over and over until I have to leave and engage her and usually take a few stabs(luckily you can take a good amount of abuse before dying!). She can also rarely get stuck on doors but you have to be at a very weird angle to the point that's more an exploit.

The soundtrack is also a major winner, a lot of smooth chimes that mesh with the quiet until she gets closer and the soundscape grows more tense. Graphically it's...okay. It's a typical Japanese High School, but the expressions are fantastic. They stretch and morph Saiko's face in grotesque ways that will either strike most players as funny or frightening in an uncanny way. Either way, I'll definitely remember her when I think of the better Chasing Monster enemies in horror games. As for the RNG, it can really suck sometimes and there are some runs where the disadvantage is almost comically against you, but that's the nature of the beast with these sorts of games.

I recommend it. It's tropey for sure, but it does enough different that I feel like I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.

Very Hard but gud