Horror is a vast genre with multiple subgenres within it, each having their own gems that set them apart from one another. One genre that is especially praised for its fear factor is Japanese horror. The things that set this genre of horror apart from others is the psychological and atmospheric elements rather than jumpscares and gore that are implemented and relied on often in other genres.
The BrokenLore game series is no exception to this. With six official games exploring varying topics such as bullying, social media expectations, self-esteem issues and more, developer Serafini Productions is ready to add to their disturbing series with BrokenLore: Don’t Lie.
A spin-off from their BrokenLore: Don’t Watch game that follows a man who is a hikikomori (a person withdrawn from society voluntarily) being haunted by an evil entity in the shadows of his home, BrokenLore: Don’t Lie follows Junko, a young girl who is also a hikikomori. The game focuses on Junko’s ascension into madness, her reality mixing with a nightmare of facing the things she desperately avoids with medication and isolation.
Players will navigate through a limited space, Junko’s apartment, and uncover secrets about herself through her messages, files, and her surroundings. This would not be Japanese horror if it stopped here, however. Along with investigating, players will have to cope with the paranoia and trauma Junko faces, her reality breaking with flashbacks to events and people who forced her into seclusion. These events are warped by her emotions and tortured mind, turning ordinary places into haunting liminal spaces and people into monstrous versions of themselves. Players will have to be cautious, though, as all throughout this there will be an unseen presence tracking Junko’s every move.
Even though this game is a spinoff from another one of Serafini Productions’ creations, it is not necessary to play BrokenLore: Don’t Watch or any of the other installments in the series to understand Junko’s story–but you may want to after playing this one.