4.5/5 ★ – FarnySeals's review of Crow Country.

Crow Country is pure wondrous comfort in the form of classic survival horror, blending elements of Resident Evil 2, 3: Nemesis, and 4 with Silent Hill 3 (especially with the amusement park setting) as well as the art style of loveable JRPGs like Final Fantasy VII, IX, and Okage: Shadow King which have captured the hearts of many a player. Crow Country manages to be cute, aesthetically pleasing, but also still creepy at times. Granted, it’s not as scary as your average survival horror game, but strange monstrous heads popping out silently or ominously empty back rooms are guaranteed to keep me on edge. Playing on Murder of Crows difficulty due to the regular mode supposedly being too easy, I absolutely loved the challenge of traps, several enemy types, hard to dodge scenarios that trigger your fight or flight, limited ammo and health, optional exploration, and risky backtracking. Short games rarely stick with me, but Crow Country is such a thrill that the game’s 6 hour campaign and 8 hours total to platinum was full of pure joy, especially since you can unlock a couple of fun weapons and costumes. The mystery of Crow Country and its setting are totally fun, Mara is charming and likeable, the supporting cast are all entertaining and add fresh elements to the story, and the game’s lore and reveals are effective. There’s no grand sort of climax on the level of a Resident Evil 2 or Silent Hill 3, but it still sticks the landing with a Metal Gear Solid 3 inspired ladder scene and a decent boss battle to finish. I do like that this game isn’t brutally difficult considering the lightness of the story, humour, and art style, so I appreciated the level of challenge the puzzles and combat added to the game. It’s also not particularly profound on a narrative level, but it is certainly charming in every sense, not to mention the incredible soundtrack too, which is filled with PS1 style ambience and character. I already need the official crow plush they teased and I definitely see myself replaying this during a future Halloween season. If you’re considering playing this, play it.