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Wednesday 21 August 2013

The Witch's House Review (18+)

I had been addicted to watching indie horror games walk-throughs on Youtube by Toby Turner and Pewdiepie at midnight weeks ago (I have no idea why would I do that as I am super coward when it comes to any horror-related things) and I found this interesting game called The Witch's House (and it is also the first indie horror game I 'watched'). It was created by Fummy in Japanese for free download (English version) a few years ago.

(Google image)

It has one of the best yet sad storyline for a horror games. The story is about a girl named Viola who was waiting for her father in a forest went into a huge mansion of a witch named Ellen and tried to escape safely. This is what we know at the beginning of the game. However there are three endings: the good but false one, the true one and the secret one. Usually we will get the good ending and be like 'aww...' but the true ending is too overwhelming for me to accept at first. Oh I want to say that I didn't finish the game although I downloaded it. Instead I watched Toby playing the whole game on Youtube (he did the good ending one only, so if you want to watch the other endings you probably have to look for it from other Youtubers such as Pewdiepie). Part of the reasons I didn't finish it is because it is too scary for me to play alone and even though I have known all the details of the game I am lacking of skills to go through the tough parts (it has been a long time I didn't play games that require quick reaction, so...).

(Google image)
(Google image)
(Google image)

As you can see it is not a typical 3D horror game like The Haunted House or The Slender Man but the 'horror' effect turns out perfect with blood and lots of jumpscares. I never thought that with graphic like this can give us goosebumps but it really does! Besides that, the puzzles to be solved are challenging and well-designed that you could be stuck in the middle of the game until you figure out the clue. No worries! You can easily find the answers for each puzzle from the internet. Youtube is especially useful. I am not going to mention about how to go through the game as it can be found with just a click.


SPOILER ALERT !
This is the true story behind the false illusion (if you prefer to have surprises by playing the game on your own please kindly skip this part) :

The story is about the betrayal of two friends, namely Ellen and Viola. Ellen was a girl with purple hair whose parents did not love her as she was suffering from terrible sickness. She felt that no one in this world loved her. She killed her parents and met a black cat, the devil. The cat brought her to a mansion in the forest and promised her to grant her health if she gave him human souls to devour as the devil without a physical form could not hunt down humans. So Ellen who became a witch stayed in the mansion and did what she was told. 
Then she met Viola, a kind-hearted girl with golden braids and they became friends. Viola felt sympathetic towards Ellen whose health condition was getting worse and worse that she could not even leave her bed. She continued to be at Ellen's side in spite of Ellen's sickness. One day Ellen asked Viola to exchange body with her as she wanted to be free from the sufferings for just one day. Viola who was too kind to refuse her request agreed. 
However, before they exchanged their body, Ellen cut off her legs and gouged out her eyes so that when Viola got her body she could not move and see. She wanted to claim Viola's body as her own to continue surviving as she knew that her body could not stand any longer. After the magic was done, she even gave Viola (who was in Ellen's body) a throat-burning potion that caused Viola unable to speak as she did not want to hear her own scream of pain. Despite their friendship, Ellen (who owned Viola's body) broke their agreement.

It means that starting from the beginning of the game, the character that player controlled is actually Ellen in Viola's body and the witch in the mansion is actually Viola who suffered on behalf of Ellen. Viola tried to trap Ellen in the mansion but as Ellen was the owner of the mansion she was guided by the mansion through notes sticking on the wall to pass through all the obstacles. In the end, Ellen escaped from the mansion with Viola chasing behind her until they met Viola's father. Appeared to be eyeless and legless, Viola was thought to be the monster and was shot by her own father. Ellen, who has the appearance of Viola lived a happy ever after life with Viola's father. She was finally being loved again, as Viola.

Very sad, isn't it? Sad and scary at the same time. I like the story although it has a bad ending as I think it is beautiful in some ways? Ah, nevermine. By the way, these are some fan arts that I found and I would like to share them with you guys!


(Google image)
(Google image)
(Google image)

P/S: I watched my brother playing the game before and his reaction when he faced jumpscares was amusing, haha. Well, I am still feeling scared when I recall about the game (without playing it, I am just so so chicken).

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi there! May I use one of The Witch's House images for my youtube thumbnail here: https://www.youtube.com/YokaiYing? I am not sure which artist deserves proper credit.

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