She's Leaving, review of a thriller with much unfulfilled potential

In the modern landscape of horror video games, often dominated by frantic chases and high-adrenaline (but increasingly less impactful) jump scares, titles occasionally emerge that seek to elevate the genre by drawing on less conventional mechanics. She's Leaving, the debut work from the ambitious Blue Hat Studio, positions itself precisely in this niche, with the promise of fusing the pulsating heart of survival with the methodical discipline of forensic investigation. It's not just a game about what lurks in the shadows, but about what the traces left in those same shadows can reveal.

The setup is intriguing: we step into the shoes of Charles Dalton, a forensic analyst whose obsession with a series of disappearances he attributes to a serial killer pushes him beyond the bounds of legality. When official procedures prove blind to the evidence he deems irrefutable, Dalton clandestinely infiltrates the crime scene. This premise is not just narrative, but the very foundation of the gameplay, placing the burden of scientific investigation directly into the player's hands.

She's Leaving is not content with providing a simple investigative backdrop; the stated goal is to immerse the player in an experience that values real forensic practice. From the meticulous collection of samples to the proper documentation of evidence, all the way to ballistic and chemical analysis, the game asks the player to slow down, to critically observe every blood spatter pattern and every minute environmental detail. At the same time, the investigative element is balanced by an unstoppable stalker whose oppressive presence transforms the investigation into a fight for survival. This dual-track dynamic – the need to be calm and meticulous on one hand, and to flee or hide on the other – is the core that She's Leaving strives to explore.

At this point, the question to ask is: have the developers succeeded in keeping their promises? Unfortunately, not as one might have expected, because while the investigation is narratively engaging, the actual implementation of forensic analysis not only proves to be very bland and undemanding, but it is confined to the first part of the game and then is no longer truly called upon. The rest of the game falls into the typical pattern of first-person thrillers or horrors, with puzzles to solve and an enemy to escape by any means available. Let's delve deeper into the game, highlighting those strengths that could have been drawn upon more to deliver an experience that was both more enduring and more engaging in terms of gameplay.

Hunting for Blood

Charles Dalton is, as we said, a forensic analyst. Convinced that a serial killer is behind the series of disappearances over the past eight years, he goes against his department's directives and reaches Haywood Manor, where the latest disappearance recently occurred. The building, once belonging to a family whose last member (the young Eleanor) also disappeared after going to sea during unfavorable conditions, has become a museum attraction and a hotel. It was during one of these visits that a disappearance occurred, still under police investigation but, apparently, too easily dismissed as an isolated incident. This is why Dalton goes to the scene. The area is subject to bad weather and, at first glance, strongly resembles Donna Beneviento's area in Resident Evil Village (a declared source of inspiration by the developers, incidentally).

With Dalton is Annabelle, a woman who keeps him company via portable radio, also helping him to carry out the investigation. From the familiarity of their exchanges, it's clear the two know each other, perhaps they are colleagues; the fact is that Annabelle will be the only presence to support us during an investigation that quickly turns into a cat-and-mouse game. We just have time to explore a few rooms and familiarize ourselves with the dynamics of forensic analysis before a mysterious figure begins to search for us along the corridors and rooms of Haywood Manor. His face is masked, his stature imposing: a clear sign that we don't want a direct confrontation with him, also because doing so immediately results in a game over. It is imperative not to be caught, but that doesn't mean being completely defenseless: Dalton does have a taser gun with him, which he uses both to interact with the environment, reactivating electrical circuits, and to momentarily stun the stalker. This lasts only a handful of seconds, so we must be quick to lose our tracks – also because the weapon is single-shot and reloading times are not fast, considering also that Dalton slows down when we give the command.

There are no lockers to hide in, or other such opportunities: only darkness and rooms where we know the stalker will never enter, like save rooms. We must draw on everything the manor has to offer to keep ourselves out of his reach, aware that available shots are few (but they replenish every so often in specific areas), that we don't have a map at hand but must consult it each time from the few hanging on the walls, and that binaural audio is not very effective in indicating the stalker's exact position. It works sufficiently to guess if he is very close or moving away, but less so when it comes to determining direction.

Moving on to the issue of forensic analysis, this was the part I was most curious about. Unfortunately, its implementation left me a bit disappointed: in the first chapter of the game, you have to find a total of six blood traces, using luminol, and analyze them to determine their origin. All this while the stalker is looking for us, a factor that adds a certain tension because there are several steps to perform to finally reach a conclusion. The problem is that these steps are simple and deprive the action of that thrill and involvement they could have provided: once the stain is located, you illuminate it with luminol until you can interact with it; at this point, you have to determine what caused it, whether a blunt force trauma, a cut, or pressure (as if someone had leaned against the wall with a bloody hand); once this is done, you take a photo and Dalton comments on the discovery, which is very interesting, it must be said. Determining the nature of the bloodstain is far too easy, as the stains are almost always the same in falling into their respective categories: if from blunt force, it will be a kind of horizontal smear on the wall; if from a cut, there will be rivulets flowing downwards; while for pressure, it's always a handprint. There's no real challenge, and while I can understand not wanting to overcomplicate things due to the stalker nearby, on the other hand, it deprives a mechanic of all its enormous potential. After the first chapter, this dynamic is no longer called upon, and She's Leaving reverts to being one of many first-person thrillers/horrors on the market, thus losing its uniqueness.

The rest of the investigation will be spent solving simple puzzles and escaping the stalker in the rather predictable areas where he is found, sometimes playing cunningly and other times going straight for taser shots to get rid of him for just a few seconds. There isn't much more, unfortunately, and while the investigation is intriguing and the atmosphere within the manor is convincing, the feeling is that of a game that could have said much, much more by leveraging the forensic analysis mechanic. It's clear that the choice of a manor as the sole setting (excluding the two very linear outdoor moments) greatly limits the overall duration and possibilities: the stalker himself is only present in certain spots, because the building's structure and especially the fact of dying as soon as he reaches us make it impossible for him to be a constant presence. Precisely for this reason, however, leaning more heavily on the dynamic that makes She's Leaving truly unique compared to other titles would have benefited the experience more.