"Ok just one more try..."
This is me the last time I was playing this game, a game that I want to love, but that always punishes me. Anyway let's start from the beginning:

The Abandoned Ones, or TAO, is about playing a child, well there are two of them: a little boy and his slightly older sister. They live in the same house but their levels are a bit different, so it's a good thing that you can choose before each level which child you want to play.

Gameplay
Ok, each time you have some kind of quest: close the front door and/or the windows, collect the toys, and so on. Unfortunately there are opponents, some are mildly dangerous, like the apparitions (that damages you but then disappear, and even if you have just two hitpoints/sanity points, you can find healing items) that appears often suddenly almost from thin air, and resemble some sort of undead. Then we have other MORE dangerous opponents that will kill you just touching you.
But wait, this is not all! You have also the "patience" that slowly drains.

So the game is (in theory) quite simple: complete the little missions, avoid monsters and heal both sanity and patience points using the pills you can find around, usually inside some cabinet. The problem is that you only save between stages (before playing the next to be precise, after you chose your character), so make one error and it's game over!

Well it's not that easy, because you have a lots of thing to watch, but hey, this is a survival horror, and you play as a little child! Anyway yes, I found some parts a bit frustrating due to the randomness of the oppositions, that sometimes will place you in situations in which you cannot survive, and of course things will become worse later, when some more opponents are added to the usual bunch.


A bogeyman or just a cat burglar? Well, touch him and GAME OVER!

But wait! There is more. The different levels are introduced by bizzarre dialogues in which someone will ask various questione, and well... you have to answer. Then there are some extra scenarios in which you have to find chocolate without being seen, or play a typical create puzzle in a crate labyrinth (you surely know what I am describing).

Almost every section is timed. Anyway sometimes you have to finish before the end, other Times you have to endure until the end.

Graphics and music and sounds
The game users the standard rtp charsets and chipsets, even if the adults have slightly taller sprites (that give a more serious appearance) an the setting is modern, not usual for an Rmk200x game.
Sounds are for the most part rather terryfing and maps... well there are not many since the game is set inside a house for the most part, bit they are well done and coherent, and they mar h the style and proportions of the charsets. The game is very dark but that's perfect to create the right atmosphere.

Verdict
This is a neat horror game, with an interesting perspective since you play as a child. Oh and I liked the fact that you have so many choices, even if the replayability is somewhat limited to a couple of runs. But that's better than the usual linear games. The only problem is the high difficulty (and some unfair situations) and the fact that you can only save between stages. The story is something I won't tell about, the beauty is learning it playing the game and reading the emails on the computer of the girl (hint, hint!).

The final score is 3.5: a stylish horror with a good story and atmosphere but a gameplay that may become annoying on harder levels. But this is the only issue I have with this game. There are no typos, no game breaking bugs, no other problems.
If only there were some save points... but yes, this is the dread of a good horror.