Published by PQube
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 (also available on Steam)
Horror games nowadays are a dime a dozen. Since the rise of Indies a few years back, we have been seeing new horror games come and go. White Day: A Labyrinth Named School was recently released on the PlayStation 4, which is a port of a remake that was originally a cell phone game. White Day: A Labyrinth Named School was also originally released in Korea in 2001 as a cell phone game. The game was a full 3D game which is impressive by 2001 cell phone standards and was remade In 2015 for iOS/Android with a total overhaul in graphics and gameplay. This mobile version was then ported to the PlayStation 4. But with the limitations of cellphones, the console port just isn’t up to par with other survival horror games.
You play as a high school boy that has a crush on the girl all the boys have a crush on. She forgets her diary while sitting outside and you decide to return it to her by sneaking into the school during after hours and leaving it for her. You also decide to leave her a small present with the diary for White Day, which is a day in parts of Asia where men confess their love to someone by giving a gift of some sort. Seems like a good idea, until you find out the school’s night janitor is insane and the place is haunted by ghosts.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School plays in first person and revolves around you surviving more so then attacking. The game will have you roaming the school trying to figure out puzzles while staying clear of the “evil” janitor. This janitor acts as an invincible enemy that’s always trying to get you. Pretty much while exploring you may start hearing some keys jingle, indicating that the janitor is nearby and you will want to hide until he leaves the area. If he happens to see you he will blow his whistle and chase you down. Luckily he has a limp so you can outrun him and try to hide again. Other than the janitor, you will face many traditional survival horror puzzles like deciphering a pass-code using notes you acquire and such.
Occasionally you are forced to do a timed puzzle. These give you a set amount of time to complete a task or its game over. Many of these are frustrating due to lack of explanations on what you are supposed to do. You may end up doing some of these over and over again having no idea how to progress. Luckily the game sets check points before these puzzles and you can repeat them as much as you like, but overall they aren’t very fun. While exploring the school you will also encounter strange super natural phenomenons which will require either puzzle solving or just overcoming something “scary”. There were times where I would be hiding from the janitor and a ghost would just cover the entire game screen and scream at me. Some of these jump scares are alright, but as whole this game just isn’t scary.
The game doesn’t look that great either. But this is to be expected seeing how it is just a port of the mobile game. The environments are plain and textures are lacking. Even different color gradients are visible and make things look murky and more like a PlayStation 1 game. One thing that stands out is how nice looking the character animation is. While exploring the school you will encounter other students who you will have conversations with. The facial and body animation for these conversations look fantastic. The game also supports English and Korean voice acting, and I can say the Korean voice work is top notch and is definitely the way to go. The music and sound effects are easily this games best feature. There is such great ambiance in the game from rain hitting windows to women crying off in the distance. The sound creeped me out more than anything else the game could throw at me. Definitely play this game with surround sound and real good headphones for the best experience.
I can say, for a budget survival horror game, White Day isn’t bad. But it’s not that great either. The story is lacking, the gameplay is basic, and the puzzles can be tedious and frustrating. But playing at night while exploring the school with your surround sound on full blast can definitely be an eerie ordeal. There is also some tension when trying to hide or escape from the janitor. If you a big survival horror fan it’s worth a shot, but otherwise I can’t really recommend this to anybody else.
