Ayda

Intro

In some ways writing a lengthy review for "Ayda" a short horror adventure game developed by Raikuden for the RPG Maker Birthday Bash! is going to be difficult. That's because this game contains less than 10 minutes worth of content. So there really isn't that much content to go over. So, I wouldn't be surprised if this one is on the shorter side of things.

Story
Summary

You play as a nameless woman doing a few mundane tasks about her house, but it appears that her mind is beginning to crack because the world outside has descended into chaos and anarchy. Though the exact details on what is happening is never explained, but the game does give us a few details like water in this world being likely to give people an infection.



An infection that probably involves some sort of virus or bacteria that causes people to turn into zombies.



Though the game does seem to suggest the above attack is all in the mind of the game's only playable character. Apparently her mind is starting to crack under the pressure. At any rate after you've completed your mundane tasks for the day you can either decide to end it or hold out hope that a cure will be found for this plague.

Horror Elements

This game relies on a combination of atmosphere and cheap jump scares such as the player leaving a room and the garbage can following over before you can leave. Or you'll open up a perfectly normal fridge only for it to then be covered in gallons of blood. So if your not a big fan of cheap scares then it might be wise to pass on this one.

Gameplay

There really isn't that much to do in this game. You simply wander around your house completing a few chores such as preparing a meal for Ayda as well as collect a few items like a gun. Though considering this game lacks dialogue beyond descriptions I suppose one final element of this game is trying to puzzle out the plot of this game using the few context clues were given from interacting with certain objects.

Graphics & Sound

On the graphical and sound front this game appears to have made use of a few resources that are available online with some of them coming from resource packs the developer purchased. On the plus side this does make this game stand out a bit from the crowd since I'm used to most contest and event games relying entirely on the RTP in order to save on time. After all, it takes time and effort to make custom assets and when you've got to make a game within the confines of strict time limit. It can be a life saver to simply fall back on the RTP and allow your writing and gameplay to speak for themselves.

As for the graphical assets they appear to come from POP! Horror City as well as the Modern Day Tiles Resource Pack. The first one was created by Vexed Enigma while the second one was created by Lunarea. The music and sound effects on the other hand were created by Joel Steudler with the background music coming from his Survival Horror Music Mega-Pack. Though the song you'll be listening to the most is a track titled "Innocence".

Conclusion

As an overall package I find "Ayda" difficult to rate. As I've mentioned in other reviews I'm a sucker for happy endings, but the only endings open to you in this game are tragic. You can either end it tonight or struggle to maintain hope in a world where even the Internet has gone down.


The Mitchells vs. the Machines - The Call for a Sacrifice to the Router!

I just hope the people in this game's universe didn't decide to sacrifice people to the almighty router in a bid to get their Wi-Fi back. At any rate this game is worth a quick play in my opinion since it's a solid first game even if is on the shorter side of things.