Atmospheric Horror “Home Sweet Home” Takes us on a Scary Trip to Thailand
Home Sweet Home, a game made by Thai-Bangkok based developer YGGDRAZIL, became a horror game that seized the attention of horror game lovers recently. The storyline of this game is very interesting because it is not only focusing on ghosts and jumpscares, but developers know how to make a game unlike most horror games. In ‘Home Sweet Home’, we have to think of ways to survive, by being stealthy, hiding from evil spirits and also solving some puzzles. The storyline is unique, and I think it’s one of the freshest story-lines I’ve ever played in Asian horror games.
The core story of this game is that we must find our wife, who suddenly went missing under mysterious circumstances. It’s not only this that keeps the game fresh, as you will find many hidden stories which are not part of the main storyline. They make Home Sweet Home more interesting to play. The same can be said about the puzzles, which are some of the most time-consuming parts of the game. This is mainly because we have to solve the puzzles with a lot of distractions from a female ghost who haunts us from beginning. Puzzles can become stressful as we can’t fight her back. Mostly, the key to solve the puzzles, is just playing with your mind and not to panic, because we really need to think and pay attention to the clues around us. That’s how we can feel the intensity, pressure and all the scary elements.
This game’s setting is also not just focused on one place. Players will be visiting different places by entering another dimension while searching for their disappeared wives. In those areas, players will find pieces of paper, newspapers, even radio broadcasts that, if players are attentive observers, reveal dark stories about what really happened there. One can also find the diary of our wife Jane. In the diary, we will find small clues about what actually happened to Jane. For me, I think this a great combination for a horror game., It’s a powerful element to keep us in the game for a long time, and makes us curious every time we reach a different place.
Let’s talk about the beginning. At first, it’s a bit confusing. We’re waking up somewhere in a school in Thailand, which becomes the most frequent place we visit. It even becomes the most important area of the story line as this is where we’ll meet a girl, and believe me, she is a ghost. I will not tell why she can be here, but I know there is a dark story about what happened to her, and I hope players can reveal it themselves. Our mission is to get out of this place, and this is where we begin to learn how to survive. This surprised me a bit, as there is no gameplay element to fight the ghost. So yes, a slowly approach, being stealthy and hiding is the only thing which we can do to survive. After that, the game will turn into the quest of finding our wife, as I mentioned before.
So, I overall liked Home Sweet Home, because the Southeast Asian atmosphere feels so real, and the game mechanics are so smooth, the storyline is so strong, and all the hidden stories and objects are making this game more interesting to explore. I really like how the developers do not only give us an easy kind of puzzle to solve, but we really need to think, plan our next moves and make a right decision while being distracted, whether it’s from a ghost or while searching for a clue. In conclusion, I can easily say that, Home Sweet Home is now one of my favorite horror games from Southeast Asia.
Home Sweet Home is available on Steam and supports VR gear.
