Dear Mariko

Introduction

Dear Mariko is a short horror game developed by Kirroha who seems to have some fondness for horror games based on his/her previous works. Though, before I continue with this review I should point out that I'm not a fan of horror games and tend to avoid them for the most part. I was largely interested in this title on the grounds that it'd be a short experience that I could cover quickly. As such I'm not going to offer a numerical score for this game since I don't feel like I could offer a fair score because of my bias against this genre and my lack of experience with it.

Story

Dear Mariko is a rather short game about a girl coming home from what appears to be school based on her uniform in search of her boyfriend whose been growing rather distance from her as of late. In her opinion she is rather terrible girlfriend for not being able to get to the bottom of what ever has her precious Darien so troubled, but I call her self-deprecation the sign of an unhealthy obsession. Since she also admits to having asked him about the topic and getting no answer for her troubles. Though her frustration at failing to find an answer quickly turns to frustration at her boyfriend when she finds his goodbye note outside of the bathroom door. Though, how you respond to this note will net you the normal, bad, or true ending.

Gameplay

Despite Dear Mariko being listed as a RPG this game doesn't contain combat of any kind nor does it involve grinding out levels in order to overpower your opponents. Instead of crushing your opponent's underneath your high heels you are able to wander around a small house and interact with a small number of objects. Though, your ability to have any meaningful interaction with an object is largely tied into how far into the story you are.

Graphics



On the graphical side of things the game is solid. The interior of the house while designed using RTP is well mapped and feels like an actual home while the custom artwork for the two characters that appear in this game are rather pleasing to the eye. Though, I guess I have less hang ups with the artwork then Kirroha does.

author=Kirroha
To be honest I'm not a fan of the head proportions thing either, but the thing is - it's simple to draw.

Sound

On the sound side of things this game is pretty good, but the voice work is of questionable value. I tend to see the voice work provided channel nano to be more of a mild irritant than a useful asset. While the voice work could have helped to make the game more creepy the weeping found in this game feels a bit on the dead side and the attempt at a heartfelt no feels undermined by its lack of passion. It also doesn't help that the voice work pops up in the middle of a scene and cuts out before the best part in my opinion. It just seems like a waste not to include a voice over for the repeated line of "I'll kill you".

On the musical side of things the game fares much better and makes use of some tracks created by A. Khaskin. Though, good music is only of any real value when its utilized correctly, and in the case of Dear Mariko the game makes good use of its soundtrack to build atmosphere.

Conclusion

Dear Mariko is a short horror game that has many aspects that work in its favor ranging from the character artwork to the creepy nature of the true ending. The only wrench of note in the cogs is the voice acting. The voice acting just doesn't come across as very emotive in my opinion. Overall though Dear Mariko would probably be an enjoyable experience for fans of the horror genre.