Introduction
Yo Check Out This New Horror Flick… Video Game Style But Hold Up Its Kinda Wack Fam
What up Los Angeles Its your boy Leo straight outta the 323 (well technically 3215 Overland Ave 90034 you know how it is).
Im a gamer a real enthusiast been diving deep into digital worlds and bringing my take to the streets for a couple of years now.
You know I gotta keep it 100 with yall and the latest drop I peeped Dollhouse Behind the Broken Mirror well its got some issues for real.
This aint just some random rant Im breaking it down with all the deets you need straight from the freshest intel.
Word on the Street This Game Aint All That G
So Dollhouse Behind the Broken Mirror just dropped on March 28 2025 for PC PS5 and Xbox Series X. Its supposed to be this terrifying firstperson horror adventure.
The publisher Soedesco was behind it and Grindstone did the development. Sounds kinda promising right? Like were about to get some serious chills.
But the early buzz from the critics? Bruh its lookin rough. Metacritic hasnt even given it a Metascore yet cause there are only a couple of critic reviews out. But let me tell you those couple reviews? They aint holdin back.
Gameplay? More Like Nah Play Another Game
They were tryin to go for that classic survival horror vibe you know? Walkin around spooky spots grabbin keys managin your stash and solvin puzzles.
Sounds like a plan right? But according to the reviews the gameplay is straightup not good. One critic over at ElDesmarque said the horror atmosphere is decent and the dolls are spooky and you might wanna know the story.
But then they hit you with it the gameplay aint as fire as the scary feelin.
Gamesurf straightup said the game is almost failin like they didnt learn nothin from their past mistakes and didnt even try to make it better.
Theyre talkin bout a weak story even though the premise sounded cool forgettable gameplay especially the shootin and explorin is bare bones. And those scary dolls?
Apparently they lose their scare real quick. This whole experience just drags you into a confused mess and at the end youre just left wonderin what the heck just happened.
As a gamer with a couple of years of experience I know a good horror game needs more than just a spooky vibe the gameplay has gotta be tight
Story Time? More Like Borey Time
So you play as this lady named Eliza de Moor a singer whos lost her memory and is stuck in her own mind. You gotta piece together her past by checkin out these two nightmare worlds.
The premise sounds kinda trippy and could be cool right? But Game Rant aint feelin it. They said the story is just vomited out with a bunch of painful exposition by voice actors who sound like they dont even care.
And all the plot twists? Apparently you see em comin from a mile away. They even tried to pull a Silent Hill with this Otherworld thing you can get to through mirrors but they say that idea aint used in any good way for the story or the game itself.
Look a good story can make or break a game especially a horror one. If you aint invested in the characters or the mystery whats the point? Based on this Dollhouse aint deliverin the narrative goods.
Graphics? StraightUp Ugly No Cap
Now lets talk about how this thing looks. They say the character models look like theyre from way back with stiff moves boring designs and weird stuff like eyelashes not movin when a character blinks.
The textures are muddy and the lighting is all over the place. They made the rookie mistake of thinkin dark equals scary but it just makes it annoying to see whats goin on.
Lantern light flickers on and off textures dont load right you can clip through walls and some of the environments look unfinished like seethrough rocks.
As someone who appreciates a visually immersive experience this sounds like a major letdown. If the game looks janky its hard to take it seriously especially in a horror setting where atmosphere is key.
Scare Factor? More Like Snore Factor
Okay its a horror game so the big question is is it scary? Well according to Game Rant not even a little bit. They said the game throws a bunch of random spooky sounds at you like creakin doors and random footsteps so it all just becomes meaningless noise.
Theres some loud music that kicks in when enemies show up which might make you jump once or twice but that gets old real quick.
They even say that if the game was actually scary maybe some of the other problems could be overlooked. But since it aint deliverin on the scares those other issues just become even more glaring.
For a horror game enthusiast like myself the lack of genuine scares is a huge red flag. Tension and atmosphere are crucial and it sounds like Dollhouse is missin the mark big time.
Bugs and Glitches? This Games Got Plenty Fam
So the bad graphics are the first clue that this game might not be finished but the buggy puzzles really drive that point home.
They were tryin to do those classic survival horror puzzles where you gotta find items and put em in the right spot. But the problem is the puzzles dont always work right. Game Rant talked about this one part where you gotta collect four doll heads and put em on stakes in a specific order.
even when they had em in the correct order the game wouldnt trigger the next scene They had to pick up the heads and put em back multiple times before it finally decided to work. And apparently there are other orderbased puzzles like this so not only are they buggy but theyre also repetitive.
One puzzle even felt like the developers just gave up on the puzzle part because you couldnt even put the masks in the wrong spot you just had to try em all until it worked. As someone who enjoys a good challenging puzzle in a horror game this sounds incredibly frustrating and like a major lack of polish.
Combat? Slow Clunky and StraightUp Mindless
When youre not gettin frustrated with buggy puzzles youre stuck in the equally boring combat. Game Rant describes it as laborious slow and inconvenient.
Apparently every fight plays out the same way dolls just walk straight at you sometimes react to your shots sometimes not and then they just die without any real strategy needed. Every gun is some kind of handgun and some of em look almost the same.
They even use different ammo but the boxes look almost identical too with weird color choices.
Some of the guns have hilariously bad range although that stopped being a problem once the reviewer realized most enemies wouldnt even follow them through doors Only the small enemies would chase while the big ones would just stand outside waitin to get shot.
A good horror game can use combat to build tension and make you feel vulnerable. But this sounds like a chore that doesnt add anything to the experience.
Inventory Issues? Too Much Stuff Not Enough Fun
A lot of survival horror games make you sweat about your resources but Dollhouse throws that out the window. They give you so much ammo you wont know what to do with it. Theres even a basic crafting system to make more ammo and you get materials like crazy.
It actually becomes a problem because all the ammo and crafting stuff starts takin up too much space in your inventory. This completely undercuts any sense of tension or resource management thats a staple of good survival horror.
Instead of feeling strategic about what you pick up and when you use it youre just lugging around a bunch of unnecessary stuff.
The Carnival Level? A Brief Glimmer of… Broken MiniGames?
Around the halfway point theres this carnival level that the reviewer thought might offer a little bit of fun in all the mess. You gotta play minigames to earn tickets so you can move on or get another handgun. You can toss rings throw skulls and chuck balls into clown heads.
But guess what? At first none of the games even worked The reviewer couldnt pick up any of the objects and had to restart the checkpoint. After reloading they worked but they still felt awful to play with a controller. You gotta look down line up your cursor pull back aim and throw.
And each game has a strict time limit leavin little room for error. They think these games might have been better with a mouse but on a controller they were just wonky. This sounds like a classic example of a potentially interesting idea that was poorly executed adding more frustration to an already troubled game.
Replay Value? Forget About It G
The reviewer beat the game in about 4.5 hours and they say theres absolutely no reason to play it again. At least its an easy Platinum Trophy if youre into that.
But for anyone lookin for a deep or replayable horror experience Dollhouse Behind the Broken Mirror aint it.
A good game should offer some incentive to come back for more whether its a compelling story you want to revisit different endings or engaging gameplay that holds up over time. It sounds like Dollhouse doesnt offer any of that.
Final Verdict? Hard Pass Fam
So whats the final word from your boy Leo your LAbased gaming enthusiast at 3215 Overland Ave? Game Rant sums it up perfectly there are no redeeming qualities to be found in Dollhouse Behind the Broken Mirror. Its a complete disaster in all categories.
Its broken ugly not scary and worst of all not fun to play. The story is laughably bad and the gameplay is a poor imitation of the Resident Evil games. Horror fans should avoid Dollhouse Behind the Broken Mirror at all costs. And honestly based on everything Ive read I gotta agree.
This aint the horror game we were hopin for in 2025. Save your bread and your time and maybe check out somethin else. There are plenty of other games out there that actually deliver on the scares and the fun. You heard it here first keep it locked and stay safe out there in these digital streets
Resource
https://www.metacritic.com/game/dollhouse-behind-the-broken-mirror/
https://gamerant.com/dollhouse-behind-the-broken-mirror-review/
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