Published by Sometimes You and developed by a small indie studio, Girlfriend from Hell is an environmental puzzle game based around trial and error. Its heart is in the right spot, but unfortunate design choices make it difficult to navigate.
Boyfriend Haruto has been dating girlfriend Miya for years. Miya then got upset because Haruto has not proposed because he just wants to do his own thing and play video games. Miya doesn’t like this, so she decides to become a criminal by causing Haruto physical harm, destroying his property, and even poisoning him. This is another reason why men don’t want to get married in 2025 especially to evil, emotional woman who cannot handle reality.
Gameplay is exactly the same as Neighbours From Hell. Meaning, the player controls a cursor using the analog stick to click on things on the environment causing Miya to add things to her inventory or move to that location. The objective is to annoy the innocent boyfriend as he is just going about his day. For example, you might need to sabotage his path as he walks to the refrigerator or put something in his drink to make him rush to the bathroom. You know, be a criminal to the one you like the most.
Each area is hand drawn and essentially becomes an interactive Where’s Waldo book. Herein lies the first problem – there is no indication to the player on what part of the environment is interactive. With so many little things in the background, it all looks interactive so the only way the player is supposed to know to click on that the spring on the shelf in the garage is to literally click on everything until something happens. Unfortunately, this takes entirely too long as each stage is on a strict timer. Making matters more condensed, the player needs to move sneakily around the house. This game is just as much a stealth game as it is a puzzle solver.
The only way to complete each stage is to watch an online guide (none of which are posted yet as I am playing this pre-release) or to trial and error until you eventually get it right. However, this can easily take dozens of attempts because the objectives are never clear. Like, how is the player supposed to know to place the spring under the pillow on his bed? It has that old school Adventure game mentality where each answer is more obscure than the last.
When the player isn’t struggling to find the answer to these obscure questions, fumbling with the controls only causes frustration. First, the analog stick is a sore replacement for a mouse as it isn’t accurate and fast enough to solve most problems. Secondly, the cursor keeps moving so you constantly must fight to keep it still. I originally thought my analog stick might be experiencing some drift, but this issue did not occur which any other game I tested. Then, the game doesn’t tell you how to use items. After trial and erroring for a while, I realized that each specific item can only be used in specific spots after being selected and using the square button. If the game explained this, it would have saved me so much time. Also, sometimes the game freezes as it loads the stage, locking all controller inputs forcing a hard restart.
Unfortunately, Girlfriend from Hell is borderline unplayable thanks to the nonsensical solutions and broken control scheme. The art style and level or humor is appreciated, but like Haruto’s girlfriend, this game is too unhinged to enjoy when everything is this cray.
Also, ladies, if a guy doesn’t want to marry you, who’s fault is it really? No need to become a property damaging, gut poisoning psychopath. Sheesh!
Just Like: Neighbours Back From Hell
Also Play: Crazy Machine Elements (X360)
Wait For It: another Rube Goldberg game
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR SCORE - 4
4
SCORE
Girlfriend from Hell is a point and click puzzle game designed around trial and error but the obscure solutions and broken control scheme are nearly unplayable.
Editor in Chief - been writing for mygamer,com for 20+ years. Gaming enthusiast. Hater of pants. Publisher of obscure gaming content on my YT channel.
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