Shadow Corridor

[table]
[tr]
[th]Game Genre[/th]
[td]Psychological Horror[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Story[/th]
[td]★★★★☆[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Fun[/th]
[td]★★★☆☆[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Difficulty[/th]
[td]★★★☆☆[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Graphic[/th]
[td]★★★☆☆[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]Music[/th]
[td]★★★☆☆[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

One of the best horror game series I have ever play ngl. I love the story very nice and well made I gave 10/10!

I feel like the corridor simulator I am playing is not the same game as the people who are praising it suggests. Fun for a bit....but when the jump scare happens it's very "oh, is that it?" There are many other small-team indie horror games out there that are more engaging than this one.I feel like a few extra steps and a bit more tweaking could have made this much more interesting.

The atmosphere design and entities in the game are well done and quite scary. I really like the lighting along with the sound design. The game play experience too were constantly keeping me on the edge. As you descend deeper into the maze-like corridors, navigating out through each level tends to become exceedingly more difficult as well, and I often got lost if I didn't have the help of the glowing ball thing especially near the end of the game. Pretty decent game 7/10.

Shadow Corridor is an incredibly unique experience for me as I usually am not a fan of Horror game that involve running around blindly however...this game has love and charm built into it. I ended up spending an incredibly long time 100%ing this game from the in game achievements and I loved every second of it. The frustration of failing was replaced with extreme happiness when I finally overcame a challenge! Each of the apparitions are unique and you will learn slowly how to handle evading them. Even when multiple apparitions show up at once causing intense moments that will be sure to make your heart race! It's highly recommended for your own sanity that you wear headphones so you can know exactly where an entity is coming from.

There is a ton of content in this game if you choose to do everything outside of just the story itself! The game also has a DLC mission for those who want a small additional level + supporting the developer. Thank you for making this incredible game! I honestly rank this incredibly high in my favorite horror games list. I am incredibly excited for whenever Shadow Corridor 2 comes out!

Fantastic horror survival type game with an intriguing story. I think the best thing about this game is the atmosphere. The level designs, enemies, sound effects, music, game mechanics etc all come together to form a suspenseful, fun game as you creep around on edge whilst trying not to get caught. The gameplay is well balanced too. I love the old school Japanese world design and graphically it's nice enough. There are a variety of enemies and you have to observe their behaviour in order to navigate the levels to safety - you can't be complacent in this game! The items add another dynamic and you have to be resourceful and use them sparingly and cleverly so as not to alert the wrong enemies. I play a lot of horror stuff and this is one of my favourite games in general.

This game has given me the most intense sense of sheer fright that i have ever felt in a game to date, I love scary stuff in general but most games and movies don't give anywhere NEAR the amount of PRIMAL HORROR I've experienced while playing this game. I'm absolutely appalled that I found this game myself and that I haven't seen any content online for this game because of how truly terrifying this game is. If you're a horror junkie like me, and want a game that WILL scare you, I cannot recommend this game enough. Absolutely a 10/10 love this game!

One of the things about horror games that I've always said is that, ' The Japanese always do horror games best out of the whole world'. And this game is no exception. Its atmospheric, its horrific, its even got a great story.

The Pros:
- Great horrific atmosphere, lacking proper music and mostly just a dull sound and vfx to make you feel the terror
- Use of darkness is really good I think. The light of lighter you have illuminates just a few feet and without it, it becomes pitch black but you have to put out the light in order to avoid enemies and you have to select and turn it on again if you're being chased because otherwise you can't see your way. Its a fun mechanic which creates panic.
- The items you find have cool descriptions about japanese folklore. And all items provide you with different ways to tackle things. Like if you're lost in the corridors, you can place the blue orbs to remember where the place to hide was. Or you can use the fire crackers to lure away the monsters and proceed. Etc
- Monster designs are cool and scary and when they detect and see you, they start chasing you in a bizarrely horrific way. The music becomes loud, the monster is shaking like an earthquake and it induced anxiety in the player.
- If you die, you replay from the start of the maps while retaining items and even key items but any re-useables you dropped someplace like the blue orbs will be lost (and will be present where you dropped them) and only your items in the inventory at time of death will be carried over. All items are permanently lost if you quit the game, and you have to start the level over with zero items.
Cons:
- The biggest problem I have with the game is the randomly generated maps. I absolutely hate this concept because it throws me off every time and it is annoying to completely go over the newly generated map looking for the remaining key items or objective points. There should be a tag for 'Randomly generated levels/maps' on this game. I really would not have bought this game if I had seen that tag. But still the story and horror keep me engaged. (Edit: To clarify; maps randomly generate when you quit the game. But when you die and select 'restart from checkpoint' or a similar option then it will be the same map).
- The lack of a map or even a mini-map is irritating too because in the randomly generated maps, there will be some doors which lead to closed rooms or some turns leading to dead ends so without a map to see where you'll turn to, you'll die if you're being chased. You obviously cant remember which door or corridor is what in a randomly generated map and the limited number of orbs only help so much. so having a map to show the upcoming room or corridor is closed off would have helped and made it more fun IMO.
-The above points also annoys a guy like me who likes to collect pieces of lore to see what happened in the backstory of the game. Its very difficult to collect this game's newspaper articles and archives when maps are randomly generated and monsters cause you to waste a lot of time.

my ears will never be the same. also fish. and bells. and hands. and noh masks. and halls. so many halls.

I went in with no expectations and I must say it was fun! You run around different areas looking for items to get out while avoiding and sneaking around enemies. It is timed so you basically play against yourself (if you choose to care, I didn't and my time was waaay too long because I was too stressed to move around fast ;D).
I do recommend it. Especially if you're playing against friends, I guess that would be fun.
https://youtu.be/olgZqDHZzUk

Overall the game can be really repetitive, difficult and annoying. But aside from that, GOSH is it atmospheric and vibey. Honestly even after finishing the game (Which took me 10 hours in total), I kind of miss it's vibe.

Very scary, it's nice. You're in a maze and you have to struggle to find the exit. I like to play this on challenger mode since it's more challenging.
Plot-wise, there's not really a lot to the plot. It's not much, but it's something atleast.

If you like horror games in where you are in a maze, then I recommend this game.
Also get this game if you wanna get archive items, and other stuff if you wanna be a completionist.

Pretty good!

Generally Terrifying, the Geisha caused my sister, cousin, and I general fear. Then the other enemies showed up, and my cousin decided they had enough fear that day. Also poor kitty cat.

Why I purchased the game(got it during discount):

I have watched Thank you channel サンキューチャンネル playing one of the stages using an item Gold Medal, where the player can break all the doors(locked and normal ones) and dash around, which I find it enjoying and funny(by the comments on a human being crashing through a haunted house xD).

General Description:

This is basically a Stealth game. Player is given about 10 different traditional (haunted) JP locations(not real locations) created by a distressed girl who's mother was brutally killed by old villages in order to protect her daughters framed as monsters because they have psych powers .

Types of level:

There are 4 difficulty levels for each stage:

-Beginner mode(collect 3 jewels and seek for the exit)

-Challenger mode(this is the normal mode. Collect 5 jewels before seek the exit, but if a ghost catches you once, a jewel will be lost.)

-Hell/Hard mode(All ghost who can only be seen in later story/location joins in this level QwQ.)

-Time Attack mode(A fun race-against-time mode with a light-hearted BGM.)

-Extras ghost outfit: Hibana's Celebration Party mode (Unlockable after beating the game) where all ghosts dressed up in Halloween and Christmas costumes xD. Definitely less scary.

-Half of the locations include a side level, like Mario -B level, where player gets to access a secret passage/area in order to collect wooden jewel in each location before they can advance/open up the other 50%(5 locations/stories) of the game.

My experience:

I have difficulty collecting all the collectables and getting through a Normal stage without being caught by ghost^^iiii. Even with a guidebook. It is all down to instant reaction of what you decide to do when a ghost closes in to you. Had me scream and panic every time I was chased.

Game's Special/Unique point:

1. Half of the locations are layout as 5x5 grid area, each new round is randomly generated(mixed around). Each grid contains between 1-6 rooms, some are locked and require a key to access to obtain the jewel. Ghosts spawn mostly in the centre grids(most traffic) as compared to the edges. Fan generated maps are available on some websites.

2. Ghosts can't be killed, unless player beats the game and earns the super weapon jewel that fires green beams to ghosts.

3. Extra mode: Become the ghosts and catch the people who wandered into this dimension accidentally x).

4. Museum mode: A live-animated traditional house museum where all the ghosts and characters stand still for player to touch/view, with their creator's description/developing backstory board next to them.

How to survive a stage:

-Each ghosts has their own SE when approaching the player, so it's a must and a big help(unless you started out like me preferring to play with sound off xD).

-Ghosts' AI viewing distance is different between Beginner mode and Normal mode. Hide in the dark appropriately, without running(suggested, as ghosts tracks player's last running spot, but also can be used as diversion/distraction).

-Luck, as the 25 grids map are randomly generated each round QwQ.
-Secure items (item spots are randomly generated, except for a few spots) and use them at the right time by your own decision.

such an amazing game but difficult af. completing the game on the ''normal'' difficulty is a challenge, the game is scary since the beginning, you`ll fear the enemies but after playing a couple of hours you`ll be afraid of losing one damn magatama. the enemies are simple to deal with but it doesn`t change the fact that everytime that a monster appear you`ll shit your pants. highly recommended, just go for it but you`ll pass some hard times gl pal

I want to make something evident: I am one of the hardest people on the planet to genuinely scare, and not very much gets to me. This, however? I've had my sights on it since 2018 when John Wolfe played it, and when I got the game last year, I've put it on a pedestal ever since.
This game genuinely scares me. Not just the primal type, but other aspects of it. If you want to know what I mean, I suggest playing this game for yourself. You won't regret it one bit.

At the time I write this, I am currently stuck with the torturous golden magatama challenge. plz nerf

I'm a horror game dev myself, so let me tell you why this game is awesome.

PROS:
-HUGE MAP,
-You always feel lost, but you never walk in circles.
-Somehow the corridors never look the same.
-It's fun to use the blue balls to mark points of interest, and also somehow try to make sense of the map. (It gets easier when you find a compass that points to the exit)
-Plenty of items to help you not get caught, but if you do you can always pay one point instead of restarting.

-ITEMS
-Lots of different items to mess around with.
-Well balanced and scary to use:
-Fire crackers does wonders, but you are always too scared to use them because other monsters can hear it and come from your side or behind.
-You can only quick slot one item, so you can easily stun an enemy, but then fumble with the keys making for a really scary situation.

-MONSTERS
-As you progress more monsters gets introduced for you to try and out smart.
-As beginner you hide from them whenever you hear a sound, but when you get to know them it's fun to get cocky and try to not hide or even follow them from behind.
-You can also get them to break doors for you, rewarding you for getting cocky.
-Hella scary having a monster run after you, good effects.
-God the crying girl is scary to be around since you have to walk slow and use fire crackers at the same time. Another monster always manage to show up.
-^Monsters complement each other.

-GAME
-Lots of content and hours to play.
-unlock secrets when replaying at higher difficulty.
-Weird ass story, I love it! I'll protect this lighter for you granddad!
-Fun to play.
-Scary scenarios.
-Nice tension and release horror effect
-Really inspired me as a game dev. You can tell the dev have experiment a lot and accidentally made something really awesome. A horror game is not easy to pull off, especially with maps this big. This dev must have spent so many hours on making this idea work (I bet he went mad from it and that's how he came up with all this stuff). The game is worth a lot more than what it looks like.

CONS:
-The tutorial level is too long which make it look and sound cheap. First impressions are important, especially for chumps who can't finish the first level.
-Cinematics could use some polish. sometimes there is a missing space after a punctuation in the english translation.
-The second chase level loads really weird, but it dosen't ruin anything.

If I still haven't convinced you yet, you can try a free demo version on his website SpaceOnigiriGames

TL;DR Shadow Corridor is a small project that's a little rough around the edges, but despite that, it is a great game with solid steath-horror gameplay.

Full Review:

Shadow Corridor is a one-man project developed over several months. It is a re-imagining and expansion of a free game, and it has seen a shockingly large amount of development compared to the original. The addition of a price tag is something that is well-earned.

Visuals:

Shadow Corridor is a low-budget game, and that most certainly comes across in the presentation. The textures and animations do their job well enough, but there's nothing I'd consider special about them. The animations are inconsistent in quality - sometimes they're excellent (like the bell apparition's chase animation being extremely unsettling), and sometimes they are merely evocative of what something is supposed to move like (i.e. bad).

Where the game's presentation truly shines is in aesthetic. Japanese mythology is a theme that mostly lies untapped in horror games, and the aesthetic provides the game with a beautifully haunting atmosphere. Despite the lack of technical expertise, the art direction in certain scenes amazed me, and on occasion, I found the game to be quite chilling.

Audio:

The game's audio is also somewhat inconsistent. Some aspects have great sound design (for example, the thunderous shambling of a certain apparition), and in others, such as background ambiance, one can occasionally hear a fairly clear-cut looping point that sounds a bit awkward and stiff. Mechanically, however, the audio is great - sound cues for different types of enemies enemies are consistent and useful, and directional audio works very well. Playing this game with a headset is an absolute must.

Genre:

The game is very low on scripted jump scares. Sometimes things will make you jump, yes - but that's not because they're popping out at you. The game will occasionally surprise you, but it never feels cheap or unearned.

The game's mechanics lend themselves well to the horror genre. The apparitions are a threat that come and go in waves, and they seldom stick around for a great amount of time. This allows for a cycle of tension and release while you wait for enemies to pass, and being chased by an enemy that's spotted you is a pulse-pounding experience. There are no ways to defeat the enemies in Shadow Corridor, however there are limited ways to defend yourself, such as stunning the apparitions with a camera flash or throwing firecrackers to distract them, or ward off some of the weaker ones.

There's a mix of brightly lit and pitch-black environments, meaning that the basic stealth gameplay of sneaking by and avoiding apparitions is broken up and remains visually interesting. The randomly generated mazes are also broken up with authored, intentionally designed content, and this helps to keep things fresh. All in all, the game does an excellent job of pacing with the tension-release format of horror.

Mechanics:

At its core, Shadow Corridor is a scavenger hunt stealth game. There's nothing wrong with this premise - but it's not terribly exciting on its own, either. However, Shadow Corridor makes up for this potential mediocrity with solid mechanics. The randomly generated levels mixed with authored content keeps the pace moving, and each type of enemy has a different method to overcome or circumvent them. There are plenty of items that give your character buffs or allow you to better navigate the level, and you'll need them.

This game is hard. It doesn't pull punches, and if you get spotted, odds are you're going to die. Dying isn't the end, though, as you can expend collectibles on death to revive at the start of the level - but that also means you have to press even deeper into the maze to find more of them, as you need five of said collectibles at once to end the level.

Performance:

The game is not extremely well optimized for all setups. You may find yourself needing to lower the settings in some areas to deal with the game hitching, and while the majority of the game runs smoothly, in the areas where it chugs, it really does chug. Thankfully, these sections don't comprise the majority of the game, and the developer seems to be pushing optimization updates, so hopefully these issues will be gone by the time you read this.

Verdict:

I recommend this game to any fans of the stealth-horror genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ2Tm0j7M_U

English review, Japanese auto-translated below.
英語のレビュー、日本語の下の自動翻訳。

Kageroh: Shadow Corridor is a very impressive indie horror for a lone dev to pull off. It was originally posted as a demo on a Japanese indie game site, with English subtitles included. Even back then, it won site-wide awards for best Horror game and had numerous videos, comments, and accolades from the small audience. Now, many months later, the game has improved dramatically in almost all aspects. Given the relatively small time frame, it's very impressive that so much new content was added or improved since the demo.

History aside, it's certainly something you haven't seen from any English-language indie horrors lately. The game is very uniquely Japanese, from environments, to props, lore, visuals, design, and much more. Those familiar with Japanese traditions and ghost stories will definitely notice a few similarities, while others can just appreciate it as a truly foreign experience.

The bulk of the game takes place in the titular "Shadow Corridor", an ancient, labyrinthine bamboo-and-tatami mansion. Inside, you must scour the halls for "Magatama" - glowing stones that unlock the door to escape the maze. Meanwhile there are a variety of ghosts and demons roaming the halls out to get you. Each enemy has their own patterns and must be dealt with or avoided in unique ways. There are also numerous items scattered about, from active items (fire crackers, teleportation mirror, etc.) to passive items (stamina leaf, water-running boots, etc.) and secret collectibles.

All of this is just in the first "real" stage of the game. There are more levels beyond the initial "Shadow Corridor" that take you to new locations and slowly reveal pieces of the plot as you go along. That said, even I haven't seen all this game has to offer. There are multiple (very hard) difficulties, tons of secrets, and a bonus area that you need to complete an ironman-esque challenge to unlock.

All that aside; if you're looking for a very foreign take on indie horror while still being playable in English, this is definitely one to pick up. Major props to the lone developer for pulling off this huge v2 release in such a short time frame.

--------------------------------

Kageroh：Shadow Corridorは、孤独な開発者がやってのけるのに非常に印象的なインディーホラーです。もともとは英語字幕付きで、日本のインディーゲームサイトでデモとして投稿されました。当時でさえ、それは最高のホラーゲームのためにサイト全体の賞を獲得し、そして小さな聴衆から多数のビデオ、コメント、そして称賛を得ました。今、数ヶ月後、ゲームはほぼすべての面で劇的に向上しました。比較的短い時間枠を考えれば、デモ以来、非常に多くの新しいコンテンツが追加または改善されたことは非常に印象的です。

歴史は別として、それは確かにあなたが最近英語のインディーズの恐怖から見たことがない何かです。このゲームは、環境から小道具、伝承、ビジュアル、デザインなど、非常にユニークな日本語です。日本の伝統や幽霊の話に精通している人は、確かにいくつかの類似点に気付くでしょう。

ゲームの大部分は、古代の迷路のような竹と畳の邸宅である「Shadow Corridor」というタイトルで行われます。内部では、「Magatama」のためにホールを洗う必要があります - 迷路を脱出するためにドアのロックを解除する輝く石。一方、あなたを取得するためにホールをローミングローミングしている幽霊や悪魔の様々なものがあります。各敵はそれぞれ独自のパターンを持っており、独自の方法で対処または回避しなければなりません。活動的なアイテム（火のクラッカー、テレポーテーションミラーなど）から受動的なアイテム（スタミナの葉、走っているブーツなど）や秘密のグッズまで、散在するアイテムも数多くあります。

これはすべて、ゲームの最初の「実際の」段階にあります。最初の "Shadow Corridor"以外にも、新しい場所に移動していくにつれて、プロットの一部をゆっくりと見せるレベルがあります。とは言っても、私がこのゲームのすべてを提供しなければならないのを見たことはありません。あなたがロックを解除するためにアイアンマン風の挑戦を完了するために必要な複数の（非常に難しい）困難、たくさんの秘密、そしてボーナスエリアがあります。

それ以外のすべて。それでも英語で遊ぶことができる一方で、非常に外国人のインディーズホラーへの挑戦を探しているなら、これは間違いなく拾うべきものです。このような短期間でこの巨大なv2リリースをやめさせたことに対する孤独な開発者への主な小道具。

As a people who cleared when it was free game. I have to say this game quality is very good compare with price.

In free game version
Game system is very simple.
Your walk in labyrinth and search for way out.
But in Steam version dev have added somthing like puzzle dungeaon, HP guage system, Passive item and new obake. (Which is very scary or make annoy due todie so many time)

Anyways it is truly good horror game.
11/10 for za warudo!!

The best scary game ever. Should be priced more than just $8. Great volume, quality, but too much random things. Can't believe this had made by one person.

Wow! Updated, KagerouShadowCorridor from ChinaOld fans. The author has worked hard!I really like this game, the abyss mode used to be the fastest 10 to 20 minutes clearance, very exciting!There are a lot of powerful players recording fast-speed videos here.In China, no one is making traditional Chinese-style horror games, such as the "Qin Shihuang Mausoleum" or Han-style games. Maybe this is not enough in this area~I personally like the ancient Japanese style, because a really good culture knows no borders.I have been waiting for the 2.0 version. This time I updated it on Steam. I think it should be the charge. The price is not expensive. I will download it the first time.
Added: Oh my God, I am using the fastest speed to clear the third chapter of the story, I will see the mirror when I pass the customs! I suddenly pocked, I don't know where to go and I was arrested~ The resurrection pops up Fatal error! The contact is still not connected, this should be a general bug. The story of this story is really long and uncomfortable!
Chinese petition: Finally, say a word! If you update the version, you want to join Chinese.Thank you very much Mr. Cheng Jisn Y i Shu!
哇啊！更新了，来自中国的 KagerouShadowCorridor
老粉丝。 作者辛苦了！
我非常喜欢这款游戏，深渊模式曾经最快用10~20分钟通关，很刺激！
这边有很多厉害玩家录制速通视频。
在中国呢，没人制作传统中国风类恐怖游戏，比方说“秦始皇陵”或汉代风格的游戏。也许这方面脑洞不够~
个人很喜欢古日本风格，因为真正好的文化不分国界，
一直在等待2.0版本，这次是在Steam上更新，收费我觉得是应该的，价格不贵，第一时间下载。
补充：哦我的上帝啊，我用最快的速度正在通关第三章剧情，即将通关时都看到镜子了！我忽然麻爪了，不知道往哪走就被抓了~复活弹出Fatal error! 接关还接不上，这应该是一个通用Bug了。这个故事的剧情真的好长好难受！
中文请愿：最后说一句！如果更新版本，希望加入中文。
非常感谢城间一树先生！