I finally finished Nanashi no Geemu: Me, the sequel to the original Nameless Game, a series which sets the standard for horror on handheld platforms. This sequel gets a lot of things right–my main complaint with the first game was a general lack of gameplay, and that has been mostly addressed in Me. But some of the underlying problems, particularly the arduous movement system and static environments, are back in full force. The addition of a cursed side-scroller seemed like a good idea on paper but didn’t work out so well in practice. And the end boss? Up there with Fatal Frame bosses on the one-hit-kill annoyance meter.

Still, Nanashi no Geemu: Me is still one of the most innovative horror games I’ve played. Though it needs a good shot in the arm of contemporary game play mechanics, the series remains a fascinating one for the horror game academic. Go on and check out the full review.