Info about Mesel:

Official game description:
M E S E L
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Mesel is inviting you to become the protagonist and the writer of a novel at the same time. Create your own novel with your own decisions.
Key Features :
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*   Visions From the Past ;  
    The player can write their own adventure and also use the flashback feature to reveal hidden memories from the past to include in their novel.  
*   Novel ;  
    Every choice the player makes and every revealed mystery is added to the novel. This way success of the novel depends on the style of the player. Depending on their game style, the player can write a novel up to up to a 100 pages.  
*   Puzzles ;  
    Solve the puzzles waiting for you in the hospital to reveal more of its mysteries.  
*   Documents ;  
    Mesel takes place in an abandoned hospital. That's why all the notes, records and letters you will find are what the old inhabitants of the hospital had left behind. Moreover, most of the documents you will find are taken from real hospital records.  
*   No Combat Included ;  
    There is no fighting or shooting in Mesel; meaning you won't have to kill dozens of bots to finish the game. All you need is your intelligence, curiosity and observation ability in order to succeed. All Gölcük Childrens' Hospital wants from you is to be discovered.

Release date: Feb 23, 2016

Categories: Action Horror, Puzzle Solving, Exploration, Investigative Gameplay, Atmospheric Horror, Single-player, Psychological Horror, Story-driven Gameplay


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 0.5h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Three separate reviews report playing the game for roughly 26 to 30 minutes in a single session, indicating a typical session length of about half an hour. No evidence is provided for total time to complete the game, story completion, or endgame content.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - Horror Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: To experience thrilling scares and atmospheric horror.
    - Playstyle: Immersive, uses headphones, plays in tense conditions to amplify scare factor.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Lore Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: To absorb the original story, lore, and atmospheric narrative.
    - Playstyle: Focuses on reading all text, engaging with the narrative and world-building.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Indie Supporter (buy)
    - Motivation: To support and enjoy unique creations from a single developer.
    - Playstyle: Appreciative and supportive of solo development, plays with a sense of discovery.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Gameplay is engaging and fun (weight 0.81): Players consistently praise the gameplay for being engaging and fun, describing the game as good overall and saying they love it. The combination of puzzles and exploration sustains interest throughout.
- Story is captivating and intriguing (weight 0.76): The story receives high praise for being captivating, intriguing, and well-crafted, with an interesting narrative concept. Players find the story worth playing for and appreciate the novel-writing mechanic that intertwines with gameplay.
- Atmosphere is eerie and immersive (weight 0.76): The game effectively creates a creepy, mysterious, and spooky atmosphere, which is considered well-crafted and immersive for a horror-thriller. The oppressive and tense atmosphere keeps players engaged and breathless.
- Graphics are impressive for indie (weight 0.73): Players note the graphics are surprisingly good and nice looking, especially for an indie game, with some calling them almost AAA quality. The environments and lighting contribute positively to the overall experience.
- Puzzles are well-designed (weight 0.73): Puzzles are generally fun and reasonable, not too complex or hard, and designed to not stop the flow of the game. Players appreciate the well-designed clues and the option to continue if they cannot solve a puzzle in time.
- Turkish production adds appeal (weight 0.68): Many players value the game as a Turkish-made product, praising it as a praiseworthy addition to the Turkish game market and appreciating the full Turkish voice acting. Supporting Turkish developers is seen as worthwhile, and the game's existence is considered an achievement given country conditions.
- Sound design enhances horror (weight 0.62): Players appreciate the fitting music and sound choices, especially the ghostly sounds that surround the player. The ambient and environmental sounds are eerie and successful, contributing to the horror experience.
- Effective horror with jump scares (weight 0.56): The game effectively conveys a horror-thriller atmosphere, achieving its intent with jump scares that actually scare. Players report playing breathlessly and being scared enough to jump and curse, making it a truly scary experience.
- Reasonable price and good value (weight 0.42): The game is considered reasonably priced and affordable, offering enough gameplay length for the money. Players describe it as worth every penny, indicating good value for the cost.
- Voice acting is good (weight 0.42): Players find the voice acting good and successful, with lively dialogue, particularly noting the natural performance of Dr. Kübra. Full Turkish voice acting is praised as a positive feature.
- Impressive for solo developer (weight 0.36): Players are impressed that the game was made by a single developer, considering it well-made and almost AAA quality in animation, level design, and graphics. This achievement is celebrated given the conditions, making it a praiseworthy effort.

Common complaints:
- Subpar graphics and visuals (weight 0.84): Graphics are consistently described as poor, unimpressive, and mixed in quality, attributed to cheap assets and low production value. Issues include bad textures, poor lighting, and lack of post-processing options.
- Frequent bugs and glitches (weight 0.81): The game is plagued by bugs, including crashes, getting stuck in the floor, softlocks, and movement glitches. A crash can erase progress due to poor checkpoint autosave, forcing restarts.
- Poor voice acting quality (weight 0.68): Voice acting is widely criticized as bad, with particular disdain for the little girl's voice and unnatural delivery. Some reviews mention it feels translated and lacks sincerity.
- Not a horror game (weight 0.42): The game fails to deliver horror, with reviewers saying it's not scary, only weird, with tame scares and few jump scares. It feels more like a time-passing game than a horror experience.
- Boring and predictable story (weight 0.42): The story is described as boring, uninteresting, and predictable, with a clinic/patient plot that fails to engage. Some reviewers found it unoriginal and lacking depth.
- Voice acting localization issues (weight 0.42): Voice acting is available only in Turkish with no English voice, only subtitles, and English subtitles are poorly translated and full of typos. This hampers understanding for non-Turkish speakers.
- Poor puzzle design (weight 0.41): Puzzles are criticized for being either too easy, too hard, or poorly explained, with some being misdescribed or having no indication that you're in a puzzle, leading to frustration.
- Game is too short (weight 0.34): Multiple reviewers noted the game's short length, lasting only a few hours, which may disappoint players expecting more content.
- Cumbersome gameplay mechanics (weight 0.34): Gameplay mechanics are cumbersome, with movement dynamics poorly handled, stairs requiring spamming space, and UI mechanics that are inconvenient. The interface is bad but fixable.
- Overly text-heavy narration (weight 0.28): The game involves much reading, but every action is narrated in a novel-like style, making the reading optional and a burden. Frequent novel updates become tedious.
- Checkpoint system frustrating (weight 0.21): The checkpoint autosave system is abysmal, often placing checkpoints inconveniently, forcing players to restart from the beginning after crashes, and being a nuisance if disturbed.
- Unoriginal Outlast clone (weight 0.2): The game is considered an Outlast clone, lacking originality in the horror genre. It uses basic asset-hopping and fails to offer any decisions, making it feel derivative.
- Lack of decisions in gameplay (weight 0.11): The game is a basic asset-using horror game without any decisions, reducing player agency and replayability.

Gameplay feedback:
- Player decisions shape novel (weight 0.7): A defining mechanic is that player actions and decisions are transcribed into an in-game novel. This novel updates frequently and can be viewed with a key press, blending gameplay with narrative creation.
- Past environment view feature (weight 0.56): A recurring feature allows players to see the environment in its past state, including a rewind-like mechanic and revealing footprints. This is used to explore the hospital's history and solve puzzles.
- Horror atmosphere and genre (weight 0.52): The game is repeatedly described as a horror-thriller with tense, challenging gameplay. It is also noted as an indie production, adding to its niche appeal within the horror genre.
- Puzzle gameplay is core (weight 0.45): Players consistently mention puzzle solving as a central activity. The game features puzzles that must be engaged with, and at least one cluster notes puzzles can be bypassed if not solved in time.
- Puzzles can be bypassed (weight 0.11): One cluster indicates that puzzles can be bypassed if not solved in time, which may affect player strategy and tension. This is a specific gameplay mechanic.

Performance notes:
- Lack of graphics options (weight 0.26): Missing anisotropic filtering, FXAA, and meaningful graphics settings limit visual customization and performance tuning. Players cannot adjust the game to their preferences or hardware.
- Texture and stability issues (weight 0.2): Buggy textures in the last chapter and general stability problems on stairs indicate deeper technical flaws. These issues persist across different parts of the game.

Recommendations:
- Overall strong recommendation to buy (weight 0.64): Many clusters strongly recommend purchasing the game, highlighting it as a must-buy and highly recommended. These recommendations come from clusters 1, 2, 7, 24, and 27.
- Value for money praised (weight 0.34): The game is considered worth its price, with good price/quality balance and being worth every penny. Clusters 2, 12, and 14 highlight this positive aspect.

Other player notes:
- Turkish indie horror game (weight 0.84): Reviewers frequently highlight that this is a Turkish-made indie horror game, with many mentioning full Turkish voice acting and development by a small or single-person team. This national origin and indie scope appear central to how players perceive and support the title.
- Low price and good value (weight 0.5): Multiple reviewers point out that the game is sold at a very low price, which they consider fair or even generous given the content. Some explicitly say it is good value for money and that the price is reasonable for what is offered.
- Single developer project (weight 0.42): A significant number of comments mention that the entire game was developed and published by just one person (or a very small studio). This is seen as an impressive achievement and likely influences players' expectations and appreciation.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.15): Players frequently encounter technical issues such as crashes, poor optimization, and glitches that cause getting stuck in floors or on stairs. Game-breaking bugs, including a journal that does not respond and softlocks preventing progress, add to the frustration. Difficult puzzles without clear indications also contribute to the negative experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.12): The game falls short in several areas: it is criticized for being an unoriginal Outlast clone with low-quality cutscenes, poor graphics, bad voice acting, and an abrupt ending. Technical issues and a lack of polish amplify the feeling that the game is unfinished and fails to deliver a satisfying horror experience.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.1): Players found the game fun and engaging, especially praising the unique concept of the novel writing itself during gameplay and the original video flashbacks. The immersive atmosphere, especially when played at night, contributed to an overall pleasurable and tense experience that players recommend.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Reviewers expressed satisfaction with the game's value for money, noting it is cheap yet provides a good thriller/horror atmosphere, enjoyable story, graphics, sounds, and gameplay flow. They also appreciated that it runs smoothly without major issues and offers a decent length for the price.
- Admiration (weight 0.07): The game is admired for its amazing storyline and well-crafted environment, which successfully creates a strong atmosphere. Significant admiration is directed toward the fact that it was developed by a single Turkish developer under challenging conditions, making the achievement even more impressive.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the innovative features such as viewing past versions of the environment and the ghost setting puzzles rather than chasing them. There is also appreciation for the developer's hard work and the overall quality of the game.
- Pride (weight 0.04): The Turkish origin of the game evokes a sense of national pride, as players are proud to see a well-made game produced by a Turkish developer. This pride is strengthened by the game's quality and the developer's success.
- Impressed (weight 0.04): The game exceeded expectations, particularly for an indie title, due to its realistic documents, quality voice acting, and visuals. Players were impressed that a Turkish developer could deliver such a polished experience.
- Surprise (weight 0.03): Players were pleasantly surprised by the game's near-AAA quality despite being a one-man project, especially after waiting years for another Turkish game. The game significantly exceeded low expectations, adding to the sense of surprise.
- Annoyance (weight 0.02): Annoyance arises from translated or unclear puzzle instructions that lead to overthinking, and from the need to spam the space bar to navigate stairs. These minor but persistent irritations detract from the gameplay experience.
- Dissatisfaction (weight 0.02): Reviewers are dissatisfied with the lack of a 'meh' rating option to accurately express their middling opinion. Additionally, the excessive narration of every action makes the reading feel meaningless.
- Hope (weight 0.02): The success of this Turkish game gives players hope for more high-quality works from Turkish developers in the future. They express wishes to see further successful projects from the developers.
- Disgust (weight 0.02): Disgust is triggered by frequent crashes and game-breaking bugs that hinder progress, as well as the awful English voice acting of the small burned girl, which negatively impacts the experience.
- Fear (weight 0.02): The game successfully instills fear, making players jump out of their chairs multiple times. The horror elements are effective in scaring the player, aligning with the genre's intent.
- Immersion (weight 0.02): The game creates an immersive experience through its captivating story, environments, and music, with the BGM significantly contributing to the atmospheric depth. Players are drawn into the game world, enhancing their engagement.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players find the game boring due to monotonous environments and a storyline centered on clinics that fails to sustain interest. The lack of variety and compelling narrative contributes to a tedious experience.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): The absence of English voice acting, relying only on subtitles, disappoints players and evokes sadness, as they miss the full emotional delivery that voice performance can provide.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Players found amusement in the joke that baklava is not featured in the game, providing a lighthearted moment and a humorous highlight in their experience.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): The game is enthusiastically described as legendary and a must-buy, reflecting strong positive sentiment and high recommendation among players.
- Anger (weight 0.01): A significant source of anger is the game's deletion of the player's entire progress, which prevented them from continuing and caused a highly frustrating experience.}