Death Mark

 Switch
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
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  1. Enkindled
    Aug 23, 2019
    7
    Death Mark is a visual novel, mixing horror, puzzle, point-and-click game. This is not a bad game but as a fan of horror-based games, I was satisfied and disappointed at the same time. Let me explain why.

    The good: - This game has great artwork. As you can see on the cover, this is a game based on Japanese horror lore, thus, it is creepy and the art is amazing. If you like creepy, you    Death Mark is a visual novel, mixing horror, puzzle, point-and-click game. This is not a bad game but as a fan of horror-based games, I was satisfied and disappointed at the same time. Let me explain why.

    The good:
    - This game has great artwork. As you can see on the cover, this is a game based on Japanese horror lore, thus, it is creepy and the art is amazing. If you like creepy, you will like this game.
    - Mechanics: But here is the catch, this game plays like an old 90` game, but with updated mechanics. Hence, you will be just choosing directions and overseeing an environment part-by-part, searching and making button-choices. Yes, this is not survival horror, is about choices. You get tons of narrations and an extremely mysterious vibe about everything, making the story pretty interesting. It is not an easy game, because the wrong choice can straight kill you. I personally like the style and I think it is a rare thing nowadays.
    - Deadly choice system: Like I mentioned before this game is about choices and sometimes you will get a Deadly Choice, meaning that only by applying the information you previously gathered and paying attention you will get through this. Again, nice one for this type of game.
    - Atmosphere: Art and atmosphere are different things. Art is about the looks and the style, the atmosphere is how the games make you feel, and the atmosphere of this game is great. Every place has this surreal vibe, this supernatural aura floating around. This game gets a 10/10 on this topic.

    The bad:
    - Pacing and narrative: I am all in favor of narrative-based games like this one, but they didn't get this quite right. The pacing is absurdly boring. I felt sleep multiple times when browsing dialogs. In general, the core idea of the plot is interesting, but the dialogs are not. You will get so bored with the dialogs that you will just be willing to turn your Switch off. However, you can`t just speed the conversations, because it might have some critic information between that you must know to survive the Deadly Choice! It prays on our boredom. Some critics say "very good writing". No, it is not very good for writing. It is extremely basic for this sort of game. For example, Fatal Frame has 50x better writing than Death Mark. It is not bad but there nothing of "amazing" in it.
    - Puzzles: The idea is for you to explore this creepy environment until you have enough to confront things. Problem: it is far to easy to find stuff. No puzzle whatsoever, and you know why? BECAUSE EVERYTHING YOU CAN INTERACT GLOWS. Yes, and that's a problem for a game based on exploration. You don`t need to think outside the Deadly Choices, just go around and look for glowing things.

    It's a solid game, a rare sighting in this era of gaming. If you like horror stuff and very creepy environments, this game will be a fair addition to your library. But be warned: the pacing isn't good, the narrative is slow and the dialogs are not compelling. You will only progress because you want to know more about the enigma and nothing else.    … Expand
  2. Razain95
    Oct 29, 2019
    8
    It's a great creepy game but I definitely have a few issues with it. Pros:
    - it's creepy and slowly builds up. Most ghosts have interesting stories and are fun to learn about. -The music is amazing and only added to the creepy feel
    -characters are fun and have nice desgins Cons: -fanservice Way to many times where Female characters are stepped to nothing for zero reason. It's only    It's a great creepy game but I definitely have a few issues with it. Pros:
    - it's creepy and slowly builds up. Most ghosts have interesting stories and are fun to learn about. -The music is amazing and only added to the creepy feel
    -characters are fun and have nice desgins


    Cons:
    -fanservice Way to many times where Female characters are stepped to nothing for zero reason. It's only females and it's a bit annoying to be going through a haunted school then bam naked women because why not. -chapter four is so boring it hurts
    -to get the good endings it can be either really easy or just randomly hard.    … Expand
  3. Ventu
    Mar 20, 2022
    9
    Death Mark es una novela visual de terror (por temática y ambientación) muy interesante. Tiene una duración, que por si estructura, es inferior a lo habitual en el género, aunque no es en absoluto corta. La ambientación y la música son magnifícas, y los personajes carismáticos e interesantes. El sistema de elecciones durante los casos le da un punto de tensión muy bueno. Muy recomendableDeath Mark es una novela visual de terror (por temática y ambientación) muy interesante. Tiene una duración, que por si estructura, es inferior a lo habitual en el género, aunque no es en absoluto corta. La ambientación y la música son magnifícas, y los personajes carismáticos e interesantes. El sistema de elecciones durante los casos le da un punto de tensión muy bueno. Muy recomendable para quién le guste la mitología japonesa, así como este género.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Nintendo Life
    May 27, 2019
    80
    It's a rare game that can start off tense and then continuously ratchets up the mood to almost unbearable levels until the final moments of the final chapter – and an even rarer one that has enough alternative characters, dialogue, and endings to make it worth playing through more than once – but Death Mark succeeds where it really counts. There's plenty on offer here for both horror fans as well as those looking for a mystery that requires more than hoarding knick-knacks and waiting patiently for your character to officially notice something before you can proceed.
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  2. Cubed3
    Jan 10, 2019
    60
    Death Mark is a solid horror text adventure game. With all the hallmarks one would hope for in a survival horror, compounded with excellent writing that sparks the reader's imagination, anyone who is interested in a low-stress horror game that is actually very creepy will enjoy this. The presentation may be unimpressive and the art just adequate, yet the sound design makes up for it. If this went the extra mile with the visuals and animation it could have been a real cult classic.
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  3. FNintendo
    Nov 21, 2018
    80
    Making use of it array of marvelous visual environments and art style, a very good writing and narrative and well adjusted lifespan, Death Mark uses all of this to create what is very well one of the best games to come out this year on the Nintendo Switch.
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