You play as the female protagonist Cara Lee in this Visual Novel developed by Ran and published by Visual Wordplay. This a great game if you are new to the Visual Novel scene as it is free on Steam preventing any barriers to entry.
The story starts out with you on a hiking trail heading towards a mountain house with your friends when suddenly a landslide causes you to go off course, injured you try to find your way back and recover.
You meet three boys, one shy, one doctor, and one rude all with different colored hair and personalities. As you stay in their mansion longer your trust grows, or weakens as you become skeptical and anxious about the haunted blue flames around the area and harsh rainfall events that prevent you from leaving.
Are these three boys trying to take advantage of you? Is there some underlying reason why you hear strange voices and witness strange occurrences? There has to be some explanation out there. Where are your friends and why is this place so peculiar? Uncover the answers to these questions as you venture into this visual novel.
The game is a Halloween themed novel with four characters; yourself (Cara Lee), Viktor, Vonn and Vern.
Viktor
The oldest of the three brothers with brown hair and eyes who cares for his two younger brothers at the mansion. You encounter this individual several times cooking, cleaning or helping you out. A bit of a prankster as well.
Vonn
Middle child of the three brothers with artificial blonde hair and brown eyes. He is often the rudest and most in-polite character in this novel but he does have a soft side.
Vern
The youngest of the three brothers with black hair and brown eyes and is the shy type which appreciates your company. A supportive friend in your time of need and jokes around once you warm up to him.
Once Upon a Hallows Eve runs smooth on my average PC specifications, played with Steam Link allowing me to enjoy the atmosphere while lying down. An autosave function is available but isn’t needed unless you want to aim for the other endings.
This game has four achievements total. Each of the four different endings you can encounter in the story lacks depth and real emotion, both verbally and visually.
However, for free you cannot go wrong with this short 3-4 hour, okay novel!