STOVE

This post was written subjectively and the information about this game is as follows:

Before we begin

It's the changing of seasons, so I'm a very cold cat (cold + allergies, etc.) The game I'm going to introduce this time is an indie, horror, adventure game called 'Bernard Thorne's Letter'. I came to know about this game and started playing it when I was browsing a funding site called Tumblbug (I sometimes support games that look fun). I found out about the game and (relatively) recently saw that it was released on Stove Indie, so I was curious and bought it, downloaded it, and played it. (It was released on Stove Indie on April 3rd, and on Steam on March 30th.)
So before I get into my thoughts, let me first show you a gameplay video of this game.

Play video

review

First of all, if I were to summarize the story of this game, it would be something like [Bernard Thorne, who suffers from amnesia and PTSD after his wife's death and his participation in the Vietnam War, wanders around the house looking for medicine to enter the attic.] If I just write it like that, it feels like a crazy game... but it wasn't wrong.
The game only had one ending, and although it did contain some horror content, it didn't really make you feel scared; it was more about making you indirectly experience the horrors that had happened to the main character, so it felt like the horror had to be added for the sake of the story and the main character's concept.

The destination was right in front of me, but there were many sections like the photo above that blocked the road and made me turn around.

The controls of the game were simple... but there were some inconveniences in the controls. With WASD for movement, and the mouse for viewpoint control and interaction, there weren't many buttons to press, and since it was a control method often used in other games that use the keyboard and mouse, the controls were simple. However, since the main character had to get around in a wheelchair due to the setting, there were some inconveniences in movement, and on top of that, the narrow terrain + the terrain that had to be returned to (because the room wasn't cleared yet, you had to go a long way back), etc. made it feel uncomfortable.
The game progresses through a series of missions, with occasional chases and flashbacks to past events.
As for the game's system... I thought it was half and half. To go into detail would be a spoiler, so to put it briefly, the bait recovery, presentation, etc. were great, but it wasn't optimized because it used Unreal Engine 5.

The graphics were close to animation with 3D graphics, and there was no problem playing it, but as I said above, I didn't think the graphics were good enough for the requirements.
As for the sound... it was average. There was no BGM that I wanted to download separately and listen to, but it kept my ears from getting bored while playing the game, and while the BGM was not lacking, it wasn't abundant either.
I haven't found any bugs and here are my thoughts on the pros and cons of this game, including the ones mentioned above:
-merit-

Even the game over scene was a tease.

1. Story (including direction and bait recovery)
- This is the only good thing about this game and the reason why you should play it.
-The story, or more precisely, the plot and direction related to the story were very well done.
- The interview-style directing that was done intermittently made me think, 'Is this based on someone's real story?' (They say it was based on wartime theses and letters exchanged between soldiers at the time.) 'Was this a teaser?' At first, I wondered, 'What is this?', 'What does this have to do with it?', but the latter half was very closely related to the story, so it was shocking. And when all the teasers were solved and I reached the ending, I became Bernard Thorne. (To put it simply, I was immersed in the game's story.)
-disadvantage-

Install ramp at some distance → Move → Retrieve ramp at some distance

1. Wheelchair (operation, play time, etc.)
- To put it nicely, the accuracy is well maintained, but honestly, it makes me feel uncomfortable while playing the game, and I wonder if they did this to forcefully extend the play time.
- First of all, the main character of this game is in a wheelchair. So, in terrain with a slight difference in height? Stairs?, ramps must be installed, but the sections where ramps are installed are very frequent and repetitive.
- In addition, there were many sections where I had to go around a long way for reasons like, 'It's because it's not cleared yet,' and it felt a bit frustrating because the path was made so that I couldn't move my wheelchair or even turn in place. (There are also sections where I had to park in a T-shape, like you would see at a driver's license test center.)

- Of course, this part indirectly lets you experience how desperate the main character is, but... even considering that, I thought there were a lot of sections where you had to take a detour or go up a difficult path.

2. Optimization
- The graphics were not optimized because it was using Unreal Engine 5.
- VRAM was used abnormally (8gb + shared memory used), so the game frame occasionally dropped.
-If the graphics were good, I would understand, but... I thought it was a drawback because the graphics weren't that good.

finish

Let me finish. It was a fun game, even though there were some hiccups. As the creator (or the production company) said, the story was immersive, and instead of meaningless chases or horror scenes, all the scenes, even the game over scenes, were related to what happened to the main character, so I was able to focus more on the story.

Rank: SFC 1st class

Reason: Playing using Aimbot, Fly-hacks