Sanfu Review Summary

Compelling and Emotional Story: Players consistently praise the game's narrative for its depth, emotional impact, and engaging structure. The story is described as well-told, complete, and full of unexpected twists, often leading to strong emotional responses and a lasting impression.

Stunning Art and Visuals: The game's art style, visual presentation, and cinematography receive widespread acclaim. Players highlight the significant improvement over previous titles, the unique aesthetic, and the effective use of visuals to enhance storytelling and atmosphere.

Strong Character Development: Character development is a strong point, with players particularly praising the depth and memorability of key figures, especially Qiu Wu. Characters are described as well-fleshed out, relatable, and having impactful arcs.

Immersive Atmosphere and Sound: The game excels at creating an immersive and atmospheric experience. Players note the effective use of music, sound design, and scene setting to build suspense, evoke emotions, and transport them into the game's world and historical context.

Subtle Psychological Horror: The game's approach to horror is appreciated for being subtle and psychological rather than relying on jump scares. Players note that the horror often stems from human nature and societal themes, making it more thought-provoking and less overtly terrifying than its predecessor.

Inconsistent and illogical plot: The overarching narrative is widely criticized for being illogical, messy, and inconsistent, especially in its later chapters. Players felt the plot became rushed, forced, and failed to deliver on its initial promise, often resorting to contrived emotional manipulation and leaving many questions unanswered. The story's ambition to blend supernatural and scientific elements, as well as social commentary, was seen as poorly executed, leading to a confusing and unsatisfying experience.

Forced character deaths: A significant number of players expressed strong dissatisfaction and anger regarding the deaths of key characters, particularly the female protagonist, Qiu Wu, and Tang Yu. These deaths were frequently described as forced, unnecessary, illogical, and solely designed for emotional manipulation, rather than serving a meaningful narrative purpose. This creative choice led to a sense of betrayal and frustration among players who had grown attached to these characters.

Weak and unengaging gameplay: The gameplay experience was largely criticized for being weak, monotonous, and lacking engaging puzzle elements. Many players felt the game resembled a visual novel with minimal interactivity, and the puzzles were often too simple, repetitive, or poorly designed, offering little challenge or enjoyment.

Poorly integrated supernatural elements: The game's attempt to blend supernatural elements with scientific explanations, particularly through the 'illusion' mechanic and Buddhist themes, was seen as poorly executed and inconsistent. Players felt these elements were often used as lazy plot devices, lacked clear explanations, and ultimately undermined the game's stated anti-superstition message, leading to a confusing and unsatisfying narrative.

Underdeveloped characters: Character development for both protagonists and antagonists was widely criticized as inconsistent, illogical, and underdeveloped. Characters often acted out of character, lacked clear motivations, or felt like mere tools for plot progression, leading to a lack of emotional connection and believability.

Easy Puzzles, Short Playtime: Players consistently report that the game's puzzles are very easy, often feeling guided or negligible, making the experience more akin to a visual novel. The overall playtime is also short, typically around 3-4 hours.

Story-Driven Suspense Thriller: The game is primarily a story-driven suspense thriller with minimal horror elements, often lacking traditional jump scares. It focuses more on building suspense than delivering outright horror.

Dual Protagonist, Timelines: The game features a dual-protagonist system and a fragmented narrative that spans two timelines (1995 and 2000) within the same space, enhancing the storytelling.

Unique Art Style, Strong Presentation: The game is praised for its unique art style, camera work, and diverse presentation methods, which effectively serve the narrative.

Central 'Three-Eyed Child' Plot: The central plot revolves around the 'Three-Eyed Child' theme, including a robot and a youth potential development center, which is integrated into the game's narrative and visual design.

Frequent game crashes: Players are experiencing frequent crashes, especially during critical moments like boss fights or area transitions. This severely disrupts gameplay and leads to frustration, often resulting in lost progress.

Poor performance and framerates: The game suffers from significant performance issues, including low and inconsistent frame rates, even on high-end hardware. This makes the game feel sluggish and unresponsive, detracting from the overall experience.

Numerous in-game bugs: Many players report a variety of bugs, such as characters getting stuck, quests not progressing, and visual glitches. These issues, while not always game-breaking, accumulate to create a less polished experience.

Clunky user interface: The user interface is often described as clunky and unintuitive, particularly for inventory management and menu navigation. This makes basic interactions cumbersome and less enjoyable.

Unbalanced difficulty spikes: Some players feel the game's difficulty is unbalanced, with certain encounters being overly punishing or unfair. This can lead to frustration and a sense of unfairness rather than challenge.

Game is Recommended: Many players found the game to be a worthwhile experience, often recommending it for its story-driven aspects and overall quality, despite some noted flaws. It's considered a strong entry in the domestic puzzle/horror genre.

Anticipate Future Releases: Players are highly anticipating future releases from the developer, expressing a desire for continued improvement, especially in plot refinement, and hoping for more engaging and less tragic narratives.

Not for All Players: Some players found the game not suitable for their preferences, particularly those seeking deep puzzle mechanics, strong plot logic, or a different type of gameplay experience. This suggests the game has a specific niche audience.

Buy on Discount: A significant number of players recommend purchasing the game, but primarily when it's on sale, indicating that the full price might be a barrier or that its value is perceived higher at a discount.

Compared to 'Fireworks': There's a notable comparison to the developer's previous work, 'Fireworks.' Some players prefer 'Fireworks,' while others find 'Sanfu' to be a strong standalone or even superior experience, suggesting a divided opinion on which game is better.

Qiu Wu's Impactful Character Arc: The character of Qiu Wu is highly praised for her bravery and intelligence, becoming a fan favorite. Her unexpected and tragic death, however, caused significant emotional distress and disappointment among players, leading to strong reactions and discussions about narrative choices.

Deep, Complex Narrative & Themes: The game features a complex, multi-layered narrative with a strong focus on human nature, morality, and the interplay between reality and illusion. It delves into themes of good versus evil, the dangers of pseudoscience, and the consequences of greed, with characters driven by their secrets and motivations.

Short Game Length: The game's length is generally considered short, with most playthroughs lasting around 4-5 hours. While some found this satisfactory, others felt it was too brief, especially given the full price, and desired more content.

Unique Player Experience: For many, this game served as their first experience with a visual puzzle novel on Steam, or a similar genre. It also resonated deeply with some players due to its connection to childhood memories or as a continuation of the developer's previous works.