There is a subtle horror to having feelings for another person, almost like it’s a sinking feeling that somebody is watching you. Well, at least… that you hope that certain person is watching you. However, it’s not everyday that our worst fears are realized albeit not always in the way we assume.
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies is here to bring the horror to life by having supernatural entities stalk us through the halls of our high school as we look for our crush. And well, I guess they always said that love wasn’t easy.
What’s White Day 2 About?
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies follows the story of four individuals as they clash with the supernatural to discover exactly what is happening at Yeondu High. The first story follows Jung Soo-jin and Jang Sung-tae as they explore the high school after rumors that Soo-jin killed their classmate. Where they explore the school to put the rumors to rest and come across a deadly secret that will put both of their lives at risk.
The second story follows former teacher-in-trainer Kang Seo-yeon as she searches for clues to the passing of her father. However, as she walks the halls so does the restless spirits who is drawn to her. Using her knowledge of the occult she seeks to put the spirit to rest and reverse a dangerous ritual.
The final story follows a lone girl, Yoo Ji-min as she attempts to put the spirt of her friend Han Na-young to rest. However, as she discovers the turbulent relationships between the students of Yeondu High, she accidentally reveals a secret that was hiding in plain sight.
Three Episodes That Are Interconnected, But Not
These stories are each told in their own episodes, or stories as the game calls them, that have their own endings. These were originally released individually as their were finished but this complete edition collects all three of them and are meant to be played as they originally released. If I were to describe them, they all take place the same time, but in different places.
However, I strongly recommend that players start with Jung Soo-jin and Jang Sung-tae first and end with Yoo Ji-min. The gameplay for each doesn’t change, so the differences will be purely story and the enemies that players will need to evade.
Still, the stories themselves can be a bit confusing at first, for instance Soo-jin and Sung-tae are the most confused as they basically entered the school to roam the halls for a bit. They know next to nothing going on and from their perspectives don’t learn much about what is actually going on. While it is a good attempt to inform the players as the characters are learning about the story it can be confusing.
For instance, even after playing through them, I am still confused as to exactly what Soo-jin wanted to discover about their friend. I know that her classmates were spreading rumors about her. But by the end of their story with the ending I got there wasn’t much light shed on the entire situation.
The other two stories bring about a much better clarification that once I played through them felt I had understood the first story slightly better despite only getting one ending per story. So, players will need to put in the time for each story and play them in the order they were released to get the full effect of the game.
This is especially true as there are some key moments in the story where some of the characters will run into each other. However, these instances are very short before they run off to do their own things again.
So, Do We Just Push Buttons?
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies I personally tend to call a pure stalker horror game. This means that players will be unable to defend themselves and must hide and evade from an enemy that will always know their general whereabouts.
So, players will need to solve puzzles and find clues to solve each puzzle while hiding and running from an enemy. Each story has one main enemy that players will learn their habits to survive the halls of Yeondu High. Which can be pretty difficult as the game maintains a low HUD environment.
So, most interactable objects will have a small circle that will indicate that players can interact with that object, each stalker will make sounds to alert the player if they are nearby. This can be laughs, a radio, or even footsteps. So, players will need to play with the sound on and be ready to duck into a classroom to hide when one of them gets close.
However, just running into a room isn’t enough as each stalker has eyes and will be able to see a character who is standing in the middle of the room with a T-pose. Players will need to crouch and can move around crouching which will reduce the chance of the stalker finding them. Leaving doors open will also prompt the stalker to check that room so being aware of how a room was when the player entered can be very important.
Players will also have a flashlight as some of the rooms can get really dark. This can also alert the stalker if players keep their light on for too long or flash the light out the windows of rooms and the halls. Leaving the core of the gameplay to be sneaking around dark rooms without the ability to see very well.
How Dark Is It?
This genre is very niche and can be a lot for players expecting a more action oriented or traditional survival horror. There will be long stretches of time just wandering the halls looking for the next object that will solve the puzzle that is currently blocking the way.
Clues will come in the form of notes and documents that will be scattered around the relevant pieces of the puzzle to direct players either to a room or an item. The main issue is that some solutions aren’t always apparent even after the all of the clues have been laid out.
The first issue is that there are times that objects can be easily missed either due to the lack of the HUD, the darkness, or even just a focus on escaping the stalker. This can be frustrating especially when the object is just out of sight and can make even the most seasoned puzzle solutions feel rather obtuse stupid.
This is also due to the slightly weird translations of some dialogue and items. For instance, the TV Remote in a particular puzzle was labeled as a “Morse Code Remote”. Which lead me to believe that it was for a stereo or something to play morse code samples. Instead this device worked with a TV that was above my head in the darkness with only a small circle to clue me into its use.
However, these moments were few and far between and most puzzles were either painfully obvious or a scavenger hunt to find them. If I had to put it down, the more frustrating side White Day 2 were the stalkers themselves.
Stalkers Gonna Stalk
The basic way the stalkers will work is that they will teleport near the vicinity of the player, at least it feels like that. Where they will search around looking for any clues that will lead them to the player. This can be the flashlight, an open door, or even the player running. Once they give chase players must evade them or get hit to death. A successful evasion will restore all of the players’ life and will “reset” the stalker.
This is pretty basic gameplay the more frustrating aspects is that there are times where the stalker seems to know where to roam to put the player at the biggest disadvantage. Forcing me to stay hiding or prompt a chase to lure them away from the area I wanted.
However, many times I would lure them towards the opposite end of the hall only to run into them as they had teleported to a different floor and was coming down the stairs or through a door. This leads to some tense moments but those can feel cheap, especially after thinking that I had lured them away to give myself more time.
There are items that can be used to freeze each stalker in place for a few seconds and reset their aggro as long as the player manages to hide before they recover. However, these items can only be used once, meaning they’ll vanish after you’ve used them.
As the stalker can be stunned in the middle of the hallway, which prevents you from passing him and getting to where you need to go. This frustration lessens as players unlocks more shortcuts around the school so these items become less useful as the game nears it’s conclusions.
Ending It All With a Bow
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies can be a bit of a mixed bag for some players. This stalker genre in the horror game space can be frustrating and White Day has plenty of dark spaces that can make puzzles and items hard to see.
However, the story and the gameplay is interesting enough that those who stick around to see the various endings that each story can give. I’m sure that players will be able to find a rewarding ending that will make this a cult hit in the horror space. This may not be for everyone but there is enough charm that these flaws only enhance the game for those already in love with this genre, and for me, that’s good enough.
Joys
- Story is charming and gives a B-Movie Experience
- The interactions between the characters are great
- Audio cues and sound design is amazing
Cons
- Darkness Obsecures Some Objects
- Stalkers Tend to be Too Smart at Times
- Some Puzzle Solutions can feel a bit obtuse
