All the characters and even some monsters look really cute. Similarly to Hotaru no Nikki, there is a certain grace with how cute and creepy blend so well together, creating a unique atmosphere of dread. The presentation is a bit different from what you might expect from this kind of a game, but you will find its isometric aesthetic quite pleasing. And there is nothing creepier than ghosts and all kinds of apparitions patrolling the streets including some that look just like your missing dog. I went on unharmed, but was still very confused by the whole ordeal. In one instance, I was walking down the street when a manhole opened revealing a hand that grabbed me and I couldn’t move for a bit. It is easy to miss a lot of it if you just run through the game, but I recommend going slow and exploring everything. And despite the game’s simplistic approach to horror, there are a lot of creepy random events and jump scares. Yomawari rewards exploration and there is so much optional content and puzzles hidden away. You will die a lot, since enemies kill you in an instant. This is where shrines come in handy, so you can restart as much times as you need without losing your progress. If you die, the game returns you to the last shrine you made your offer to and with all your items intact. That’s why there are shrines everywhere so that you can offer a coin in exchange for a quick save. The game consists of chapters and each chapter should mostly be played out in a single sitting, because I found that turning off the game wipes away all your progress between the chapters. The game doesn’t really hold your hand, but it offers guidance in the form of short objectives. Pebbles can be used to distract your enemies and coins will buy you a quick save at a shrine which acts as a checkpoint. There is a constant supply of pebbles and coins throughout. She can collect various items, most of which are pretty useless, although this gives more of an impression you are playing as a little girl that collects every little trinket she finds. Map is very much like a child’s drawing – it consists of crudely drawn locations and roads, which look like they have been painstakingly drawn by the heroine. The game is intelligently narrated from the child’s perspective. In most situations simply running away is your best bet, although your running speed and stamina are greatly reduced when there are monsters around. Monsters tend to patrol a specific area so this could be advantageous, although there were some that were very persistent even after a long wait.
Thankfully, you have heartbeats and blurry visions as your guide on where the monsters are, so that you can sense when is the best time to flee.
Hiding is effective, but the screen goes black when you are hidden. As soon you see a monster your only options are to quickly hide yourself in a nearby bush or just run away as fast as possible. The only way to detect most of the danger is to use the flashlight that your sister left behind and scout every area.
And most of them aren’t even visible with the naked eye. The town is brimming with all sorts of creepy creatures that can’t wait to get their tentacles on you. After she also goes missing it’s up to the protagonist, a cute, young girl to explore desolate streets and find out what happened. You head back home, where your sister decides to go out and look for Poro, your beloved friend and pet dog.