Unreal Engine - Completed - Halls of the Pale Widow [v1.0.8] [Krasue Games]

Quick review for this one (it's a relatively short game).

The Good

• Playthroughs are rather short, which is a huge benefit for games that care about gameplay rather than story (as this one does)
• Controls are responsive and simplistic
• Fluid animations

The Bad

• Game mechanics are only half explained, there are several in-game items and quirks that help you in avoiding death
• Enemy has ESP, meaning she can see you at all times and once she has line of sight she sprints
• NSFW and "Freeroam" content locked behind point progression
• "Purification" Ending locked behind point progression
• The mazes are far too large to be relying on RNG for their generation

Final Thoughts
I consider this game well polished enough that it warrants at least 4 stars. Some might be disappointed at the lack of a story, or that the art direction leans towards early 2000s, but the dev seems to have had a concept in mind from the start and stayed true to it.

I highly recommend bypassing the progression system by editing your currency in a save editor of your choosing. There's no reason why NSFW and Freeroam content should be locked behind progression.

I have not a single clue as to why this game got such a high rating. Yes, it looks quite good and it does look apart from the cesspit of absolute garbage games on this site by having at least slightly thought of gameplay. But it's still awful.
The procedural generation was fun... as a concept... for 5 minutes at most. It's VERY repetitive. WHY would I want to waste such great amounts of time searching the same looking hallways and rooms for keys that can be absolutely anywhere? Also, if the best way to gain money is to do a purification thingie, then why do I need to complete this copy-paste garbage FOUR TIMES just to gain the ability to play it... the way it was intended? To unlock the entire shop, you would actually need to endure HOURS of this. Just... why?
Also, Widow's AI is still a mystery to me, sometimes she can hear you anywhere, other times I can just run\open doors right behind her and she wouldn't care. Oh, and her teleportation is certified fun.
Usually I don't judge games much for their sex animations, but boy oh boy, they sure do suck. It's literally no better than god damn worst SFM animations, which shoulda died like 10 years ago. And don't forget, most of the game has nothing to do with anything remotely even erotic.

This whole thing about sex games is just like "Smuta" situation. "Oh, but it's just a sex game, it can be not perfect and don't forget it(or the author's next game) has potential!". No, it does not, it's bad. But these kind of games CAN be better. There ARE good sex games with both nice gameplay and erotic elements that are really worth supporting. This is NOT one of them.

Seriously mindblowned. Game is really well done and feels like it deserves a place on steam or something.

The developer genuinely seems to know what he's doing, I don't think people understand just how well polished every element of the game is. Literally the only thing I can complain about is maybe some really few instances of clipping during one or two H scenes but that's about it.

Voice acting is consistent, adds to the effect of the character, gameplay itself is pretty clean, animations are very smooth, i'm also a huge wuss when it comes to anything horror but the fog of the horny pushed me through the entire thing lol. It's not too scary though, I mean the chase effect is scary enough for me but there's nothing like jumpscares

10/10, this game is an actual rare gem. It sticks to simple streamlined development concepts and nails it so, so well. Dev also just announced a new game being planned 3 days ago. Go support him on his Patreon!!

Not sure why NSFW content is locked behind points.
No tutorial, which is understandable, since you can kinda learn as you go.
Same map, same ghost, so there is no point in repeating the content (other than to unlock things in shop, which is a pain)
I would just use Cheat Engine and unlock everything lol

That being said, I love ghost chasing game, and so I'll give it 5 star.
I personally wished there were more interaction with the ghost before purification (like when she is staggered).

Time Played: 1h 40m

This game is fun and the procedural map generation is solid. There is room for improvement, but the current state of the game is deserving 5 stars.

Things that could be added:

Map generation options

• Small map, ~400 points per win, ~6 minutes to complete
• Medium map, ~800 points per win, ~10 minutes to complete
• Large map, ~1500 points per win, ~18 minutes to complete

Enemy options

• Easy AI, easy to trick, get 50% (half) of points at the end
• Normal AI, get 100% of the points at the end
• Hard AI, can teleport, get 150% of the points at the end

More enemies

• More enemies could be added with more purify scenes

Shop

• Body customization in the shop would be amazing, to change breast size, hair color, hairstyle, etc.

These suggestions would help make the game less repetitive and more fun to grind, would make it worth playing again.

very good game, i'm actually impressed
Good gameplay, voices, model, animations and the best thing ZERO jumpscares
things that i think would make the game even better
During the chase it will be good if she had like a breathing sound and some quiet moans

I've just finished the game, unlocking everything.
At the beginning I didn't really know what to do, I was lost, on the first run I got demolished, and when I restarted the map had changed and I was pleasantly surprised, after 2 runs I was just winning but still the game wasn't easy, unlocking all the options took me quite a while and towards the end it was a bit redundant but I had a new objective each time and that was cool.
The game is fine as it is, it's not the game of the year but I enjoyed it despite my fear of horror games.
A very good game, simple and effective, mixing gameplay and eroticism.

This game is quite fun, but what's there is kind of not a lot? By no means am I bad-mouthing this game. It's fun, it's pretty engaging, and the sex/horror elements blend together pretty well. I think what bothers me to the most is the fact that there isn't more to it. I wouldn't say that this game scared me in the slightest, but I did find myself getting more frustrated early game. And as anyone who plays horror games know - being frustrated/annoyed with game mechanics can mean that the horror elements lose their charm.

I like what this game has and the developer seems like a great person who has a lot of ideas, but this game sorta feels like a tech demo for something more. My biggest, actual complaint is the map. The map in this game is so, so bad. I understand that the game is randomly generated so sometimes you'll just get absolutely confusing and impossible to read maps due to the floors overlapping. The game really, really needs a better map so you can split the map into floors like: F1, F2, B1, B2, etc. I would be totally fine with this being an upgrade you would have to buy. The radar is another thing that needs an upgrade. The radar does help you a lot, but I wish you could upgrade it so it replaced the "?" with icons of the actual things its marking (the exit door and the Widow are marked with "?" which can be kind of confusing). The game definitely needs more room types and points of interest. Running into a room with the same checkered floor with like a dozen empty shelves and cabinets all over makes it feel incredibly samey. I understand that later in the game the rooms themselves kinda become a blur as you're running through room after room trying to find the purification key, but what is there is kinda nice. I like the paintings and the statues, but there could just be more.

Despite all of this, the game is pretty fun. I usually don't really enjoy roguelite (would this be considered a roguelite? I don't know), but the gameplay is pretty fun and engaging. The Widow is a pretty fun character and hearing her call out to you is pretty spooky. She is also pretty hot. Wish there was like a bodyslider you could unlock to change her up.

Tl;dr: Fun game, just needs more content.

Big fan of this one.
The core game feels fun to play, your character moves nicely, level generation is decent, and for the first hour or so it's actually legitimately tense. When you eventually manage to escape and can start unlocking the tools though, it gets much easier. The scenes are really well done, great animation and sound effects. Probably "completed" it (get all the scenes) in around 3-4 hours. The grind is not too crazy after you unlock purification unless you plan to get all the outfits.

It's a simple, polished, no-fluff game that's a lot of fun to play.
Definitely worth checking out if the premise is interesting.

You are stuck between being terrified and horny.

10/10, short and sweet game. Excited to see the development and will be following this game.

You will enjoy this game if you are a fan of horror, femdom and trying to win. Note: I am too much of a baby to play horror, but the voice lines are great and jiggle physics make me want to run slower.


!!Spoilers!!
Potential Improvements: Bodyslider, multiple enemies, different AI / difficulty levels.

A very short but fun game, mixing horror and sex. To be honest, the sex part feels more than just a plus since the gameplay is nice enough (if you are into being chased by a cumbloodthirsty woman).
Pros
- Simple stealth mechanics and items to use so it's easy to play.
- Voiced. Not sure what kind of voice is used but it's nicely done. Funny when she finds you and goes "Surprise~". You wonder if you should run away or towards her.
- The grinding was tweaked and at least you can get something everytime you win. Before that just unlocking purification would take several attempts at the cost of playing with the base stats, fairly limited.
- Each map is procedurally generated so it's a new experience. You can't choose the seed though but it's shown at the top of the screen during its generation. It'd be interesting to let you share some maps that people find.
Cons
- The map sometimes generates with either no way to the other floors or so hidden I can't find even checking every single room for so long.
- Sometimes you can't find any item anywhere and then you find the room the furthest away from everything that has several of each item. Not convenient to visit it to heal or replace your strange bottle.
- The AI sometimes actively hunts you down and she'll find you anywhere you go, rushing towards you and patrolling the only way out. Then other times it's so stupid and she roams the opposite side of the map and you don't have to worry about being caught.
- Sometimes you get stuck in a corner against her and you can't either push her away, even stunned, or jump to get off her hitbox.
Neutral
- No sound mechanics. Enough that she usually walks around you I guess.
- No hiding spots or at least many rooms without something that you can hide behind. She very often checks it out but you can circle around and she won't see you.

In general, a great small game that I can't understand how it's free. This could be perfectly sold. Hoping to see more like this from this dev

An excellent first game by the developer. The only issue I have is that there is no story behind it, but considering it was developed in less than a month, it's understandable. Definitely looking forward to the next game.

This game is hard I admit, it requires you to focus much in the begining because you have to remember your ways in the labrinth like. The maps only help you, depend on it will cause you confusion and lost.
The game is great, to those are interest in the thrilling of the hunt, the hunted, the prey. You're the prey and then you become the hunter, this gameplay switch role is totally delicious.
If the H-content get upgrades properly, unlocks everything will not stop you from coming back to beat the game over and over again.

Idk what issues we went through to get to the product that it is now but man, dev deserves a medal for this one. Saw all the issues with anticheat or whatever before but with that out of the way, plays well and the scenes are pretty good.

This game got me heart pumping I felt like throwing up. You rarely even get that quality of thrill out of AAA games.

Oh, and the NSFW aspects is S tier

I hope to see more of this developer, they quite talented

Absolutely amazing. Not bogged down or bloated with too many mechanics.
An excellent porn game that remembers that it is a porn game and not a grinding simulator like so many projects today.
Great animations, hope to see more from this dev.

I'm mixed about that one and I hesitate between giving it a 3 or a 4.

The game does what it says, you're in a mansion, you have to find 5 keys then escape.

Or die trying.

For each run, you make money, if you succeed or die. You can use that money to unlock H scenes (when you get killed or purify the ghost), improve your life and stamina, unlock new skins or outfit.

And finally, the big prize, "free mode" if you just want to fool around with... 3 scenes.

It takes a lot of grind to unlock things.

You need 5 keys, each key is worth 50 point, you get a small bonus if you manage to escape. You also need 2500 points to unlock purifying. Another 2500 to unlock H scenes.

That's a lot of replay you need to do to unlock the adult part of the game. And that's if you succeed.

Winning is "hard", the ghost can be brain dead to the point you can follow her for a very ling time and she will never find you, or she will be tethered to you, no matter where you will go and try to hide, she will find you.

The environment is bland. There are 3 or 4 pieces of furniture, 3 or 4 statues, and some paintings here and there, but they are arranged in a way that make no sense.

There are no special rooms like dining room, office, bedroom, library or other you would expect in a mansion.

There is no lore, no secrets, no anything, just you trying to find keys and a ghost.

About purification, the only times I managed to do it was either when the ghost pathfinding was broken or when I had the health glitch that makes you immortal.

The medallion is supposed to stun the ghost, but 99% of the time, when you don't have any of the bugs mentioned above, it doesn't work and ghost just slash at you nonstop.

Overall, the game is entertaining, and I feel the dev put a good amount of effort in it.

I wish them good luck for their next projects and hope they will have more content.

Also, if the dev read this, may I suggest putting an optional payment method on their itch.io page?

I'd gladly pay 15 bucks for it, but I don't like using patreon.

Most polished horror nsfw game out there. Great animations as well. I really wish the dev continues working on games like this and adds more animations. So far everything feels so good and the crouch jumping makes the grinding not only bearable, but actually fun

I really like the game.
The grinding is a little bit annoying,
So far, the bugs I encountered are not game breaking bugs.
I really like the game, but there're only 3 sex scenes currently. I wish there's more contents.

Maybe add an item or throw 2 bottles at her to her dazed and falls for 30 secs. Player can use this opportunity to either run away from her or take advantages of her, but will make her angry and always know where player is for2 mins.

You're doing a good job dev, let us have more fun with her. She deserves it.

Despite its flaws, brevity, familiar concept and small serving of features, this game does more than enough right so much so that it's the only game I've ever felt compelled to review on this site.

It lacks polish but this game is very engaging if a bit unbalanced and repetitive. Very few 3D first person nsfw games exist in a complete state with an emphasis on mobility and horror. When that music hits, getting chased by a lustful murderous Sadako phantom woman is legitimately horrifying and equally erotic when you're treading more carefully to the sound of her taunts. There's also good progression with shop cosmetics and upgrades that incentivize you to win but its also fun to lose. It has solid animations in its handful of scenes, simple but effective character design, decent voice acting, and some procedural level design and item placement to keep things fresh long enough.

Looking forward to what this dev puts out next. I wouldn't mind if they even iterated on this concept again or added more to this project. More scenes, characters, and cosmetics would be a huge plus but might require overhauling the gameplay loop so it doesn't get stale.