Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story

Beyond the semi-erotic art and character design is a deep, well-crafted world filled with lore based on Daoist culture twisted into a Cyberpunk setting.

If you’re a fan of spooky games and enjoy the classic point-and-click style games of yesteryear, then Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story might be worthy of your time.

Sense: Cyberpunk Ghost Story fulfills what it sets out to do: a supernatural adventure along the lines of classics from the past. However, it lacked a little boldness to present something really new. There is potential for a possible sequel, perhaps exploring a little more of cyberpunk technology to deal with ghostly phenomena. However, the well-planned level design, the puzzles that generate an excellent level of challenge and the very engaging story make the positive aspects of the game stand out over the negatives. Sense: Cyberpunk Ghost Story has a total focus on exploration and narrative, and it is precisely in these two aspects that Mei's supernatural journey reaches its peak.

Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story has a great atmosphere with an interesting storyline and subplots. The range of influences shown helps make what could have been just another horror game feel truly unique. My only issues were the simplicity of the puzzles and the crashes I encountered. If you can get past that, I truly think you'll enjoy playing this game.

Overall, I was left a bit perplexed by my time with Sense. I don’t regret playing it, but I also don’t know that I would go out of my way to play it again. With the story largely told through journal entries and letters that you pick up along the way, and with so many references to folklore I simply had no knowledge of, I was left without a particularly satisfying conclusion.

Controversy isn’t a new concept when it comes to video games. It’s been something that’s been around for a few years now. Games such as Grand Theft Auto, Mass Effect 3, Manhunt, and more recently Cyberpunk 2077. it’s fair to say that controversial video games are here to stay. The latest game to receive the “let’s create some controversy” is Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story.

Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is a Clock Tower-style 2D horror adventure. Without great fanfare, we are presented with a correct game in a controversial package -cyberpunk, sexualization- that seems to capture the attention of the public more than that of the playable core of the title. If you like this type of 2D horror games, and you are curious about how Cantonese folklore has been used in this regard, you can give it a try, but if you are looking for a cyberpunk adventure, this is not your game.

I enjoyed Sense in spite of its issues. The visuals are murky and bright enough in the right places, environments are filled with interesting enemies with vibrant histories, and the slow-burn plot line comes to a nice conclusion that leaves you with a sense of satisfaction. Had the developer been less self-indulgent with some of the design choices and added more robust and regular action sequences, I could recommend this to all players, rather than just the die-hard survival horror fans that it will appeal to naturally.

Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story succeeds as far as a "ghost story" is concerned. It offers up some good and creepy moments to go with some nicely classical point-and-click adventure elements. It struggles as cyberpunk though, failing to engage with the themes that make cyberpunk a distinctive, interesting genre, and proving unable to integrate those cyberpunk elements with the horror. I'm glad I played Sense, but there are too many inconsistencies for it to be something particularly memorable.

For a game about spirits, Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is pretty soulless. A by-the-numbers backtracking horror game in the vein of Clock Tower, it’s structure and content feel lacklustre and a little disappointing if you went in expecting cyberpunk themes.