We’re all familiar with the “look” of love. But do we know how the face of love can turn into something horrifying?
MiSide is a horror adventure game developed by AIHASTO, a group consisting of two Russian developers who mainly work on atmospheric horror games. The pair have previously released seven other games on itch.io but their demo for MiSide caught the attention of publishers and got their game put out on Steam.
The story is fairly straightforward. One day you receive a message containing MiSide: a game where you care for a girl named Mita. After playing for some time, Mita somehow brings you to the game. When asking if it is possible to go home, Mita gets furious and even resorts to violence to try to keep you in the game. Now you must travel through different versions of MiSide to find a way out.
The premise of being trapped in what’s essentially a dating sim is used really well in this game. It gives you many moments of peace where you get to experience what the game was supposed to be like: a cute game where you hang out with a girl named Mita. This makes it even more impactful when that peace is suddenly gone. Whether this is taken from you or you must step out of it yourself to find a way back to the real world.
Now my description makes this game similar to the original Doki Doki Literature Club but for me, what makes this game work is that you are given more time in the peaceful side. You feel that everything is normal at last- until it isn’t.
Miside tries to keep you feeling uneasy by messing with your sense of “safety”. The Mita pursuing you has a better grasp of her world and knows exactly how to break it. It does not help that everyone else is basically a copy of your pursuer, I honestly got scared whenever another Mita showed any reaction to you leaving. You also come across many versions of the game that are unfinished and “off,” places that you shouldn’t be in and are meant to be discarded or forgotten.
The idea of jumping through different game versions also allowed the developers to not only show their love for games with as many references as they want but also opened up the possibility for many more kinds of mechanics for their puzzles.
The overall story is fairly short though. Taking me around 4-6 hours to finish. At the price of PhP 485, I can compare the cost to a single person’s entry to an escape room or a cinema (I cannot believe how high the prices are now), both also sell an experience and a story. I would say the content given was worth it.
For a two person project I am amazed with how good the game feels and what they have put into the game. The world feels huge and contains many other environments outside of reusing Mita’s room. The sound is done well with accompanying music for every environment and all characters are fully voiced, the actor has done well to make each version of Mita sound distinct. There are a lot of side content and minigames as well, counting at least 4 different games to play with Mita and 2 puzzles that play completely different from the rest of the game.
Now for those who want more of the dating sim aspect, you’re in luck. AIHASTO are currently working on a “peaceful mode” that unlocks once you finish the story. The mode is said to play the scenario of you staying in the game world where you’ll be able to spend your time with Mita all you want. Perhaps Mita has successfully trapped a player for once.
