Dinsun Review
Kaigan Games clearly knows their niche, but by the third go-round, the 'found phone' gimmick is starting to show some wear. Simulacra 3 attempts to up the stakes with the Beldam lore, but the transition from the personal, grounded horror of the first game to this more supernatural angle feels a bit forced. I appreciate the UI work—they’ve nailed the look of a modern smartphone, and navigating through Paul’s files feels authentically intrusive. It’s an effective way to deliver a narrative in the modern age, but the logic puzzles often break the immersion they worked so hard to build.
The acting in the video segments is hit-or-miss, which is a common problem in these FMV-heavy titles. When it works, it’s unsettling; when it doesn’t, it feels like a low-budget student film. The tension is there, but I found myself more annoyed by the jump scares than actually frightened. It’s a solid enough mystery for a weekend, but it doesn’t push the genre forward in any meaningful way. It’s more of the same, just with a different skin.
Overall Stats
Pros & Cons
- Highly immersive phone UI
- Intriguing core mystery
- Effective use of live-action video
- Repetitive puzzle mechanics
- Inconsistent acting quality
- Relies on cheap jump scares over atmosphere
Technical Report
Performance: Occasional lag during video playback, but generally stable.
- Subtitles
Audience Fit
Buy if: You enjoyed the previous Simulacra games and want more found-phone mystery.
Skip if: You're tired of the found-phone format or prefer gameplay over reading text logs.
- Sara Is Missing
- A Normal Lost Phone
- Her Story
Reviewer Context
- Reviewer: Dinsun (40yo Critical Gamer)
- Hardware: iPhone 15 Pro Max
- Playtime: 5 hours
- Status: Finished Story
