Re:Turn One Way Trip review

Re:Turn One Way Trip tells the story of Saki and four of her friends who are all on a post-graduation vacation. Unfortunately, things go south as Saki wakes up in the middle of the night with her friends missing. As she goes looking for them, Saki comes across an old, decrepit and abandoned train. With no other alternative and she worries for her friends’ safety, she steps in.

Re:Turn One Way Trip is a 2D exploration horror game where players have to investigate the train and solves puzzles in order to help them progress forward. The game’s main focus is the aforementioned puzzle-solving; while not brainteaser akin to playing Silent Hill on Hard Puzzle levels, most of them require players to investigate every inch of the train (or any other areas) allowing you to progress through.

The game’s main nuisance is that running isn’t available until halfway through as it is mainly focused on exploring the train and interacting with/listening to NPCs. While it is fine given the predicament, it makes it tedious to simply walk around the train having to go back and forth through the handful of carts if you missed items.

The game’s strongest feature is definitely its scare factor. While you might dismiss it because of its less than realistic visuals, the game’s scares are definitely well thought out and it will often lure players into a false sense of security before throwing you a spook your way; especially with headphones… in the dark.

Re:Turn One Way Trip features an 8-bit pixelated presentation; the game would’ve fit perfectly during the NES era of gaming. While the gameplay is full of pixel goodness, the cutscenes are comic-book-like giving a bit more of a real feel to the game as it can be difficult to care about pixelated characters. The soundtrack is perfectly tense and creepy; unfortunately, the game is devoid of voiceovers; I can only imagine how it could’ve added to the tension.

Re:Turn One Way Trip is one the most interesting and tense indie game I’ve had the opportunity to play. While I’m usually not a fan of combat-less horror games, Re:Turn One Way Trip is my exception to the rule; I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t wait to see things unfold. While it’s annoying that you can’t run during the first half of the game, it doesn’t deter from the game’s premise: horror. Fans of the genre and those wanting to test the waters, Re:Turn One Way Trip is the way to go.