Narin: The Orange Room Review
A story-driven horror adventure set in a distorted school, where atmosphere carries more weight than the moment-to-moment play.
Narin: The Orange Room. Credit: Red Sensation Games / Urnique Studio / Rising Tide Publishing
Narin: The Orange Room is a third-person horror adventure from Bangkok-based studio Red Sensation Games and Urnique Studio. The game is an atmospheric mystery with light puzzle-solving, marred by some clunky stealth mechanics.
You play as Narin, a first-year high school student whose sister has gone missing. After falling asleep near the end of the day, she wakes up trapped in the Twilight Dimension, a distorted, supernatural version of her school haunted by hostile spirits and filled with fragments of trauma. She needs to escape. The story is the main reason to be here. The mystery is genuinely compelling, and it kept me exploring just to see what I’d uncover next. Narin is fully voiced, but the rest of the cast isn’t, which stands out more than it should.
Narin: The Orange Room. Credit: Red Sensation Games / Urnique Studio / Rising Tide Publishing
There’s no combat. As you explore and solve puzzles that gate progression, you rely on stealth to avoid spirits that will kill you instantly. The lantern you find early on is both essential and a liability, opening paths while making you easier to spot. But stealth never feels good. Movement is clunky, enemy AI is inconsistent, and the tension never quite lands. Instead, it turns frustrating, especially when stealth sections become repetitive.
The visuals are underwhelming despite a strong sense of atmosphere. The game leans heavily on fog and short view distances to mask a lack of environmental detail. Animations are stiff, and overall, the presentation feels underpolished.
It’s a short game, around six hours, and I only stuck with it because of the story. Narin: The Orange Room has a compelling mystery at its core, but clunky stealth and uneven polish drag it down. It’s not a bad game. Just not one I can really recommend.
Narin: The Orange Room
A strong mystery and atmosphere can’t overcome clunky stealth and uneven polish.
