Kaet Must Die!

This frustrating and gory survival horror game is repetitive and extremely difficult, making gameplay more of a chore than a fun challenge. Kaet Must Die! is unlike many games: Some games walk players through their experience, holding their hand from one point to the next. Other games challenge players to use their skills and reflexes to narrowly escape danger, sometimes by the skin of their teeth. Then there's Kaet Must Die!, which would best be described as a survival horror game without that pesky "survival" aspect. Make no mistake about it, poor Kaet will die over and over again. The game uses death as a twisted teaching tool. Sometimes you'll die because you got too close to that not-quite-dead corpse sitting next to a note. Sometimes you'll die because you've backed yourself into a corner. And sometimes you'll die even when you've seemingly done everything right and something just jumps out and grabs you.

It starts off fun, with the jump scares keeping the tension high and your adrenaline pumping. But the novelty wears off quickly, making you frustrated at the constant restarts. Cheap deaths that were initially good for a laugh become the source of rage later in the game. Even when you do well, the game punishes you. The longer you survive, the more an insanity meter builds, which earns you the attention and ire of a deadly blood witch, Annalinnia. Although Kaet eventually earns her psionic powers over the course of the game, you never feel powerful enough that you might have a chance to survive. Plus, through all this, you're not only expected to survive, but to search out the little hints and clues that explain just what's going on. Kaet Must Die! is a brutal experience that might be fun in small doses, or if you can convince someone else to play and watch THEM jump out of their chair. But once the shock value wears off, you're left with a repetitive challenge that feels more like a never-ending chore.