The Devilry Reservation

The translation is very rough but I could still get the gist of most of the humor. I liked the setting; I think this would make a cool TV show.

Extremely short and can be finished in about an hour.

The Devilry Reservation, developed and published by GentFish, is a narrative-driven 2D adventure that combines investigative gameplay, Slavic folklore, and surreal humor within the confined space of a deteriorating apartment complex inhabited by supernatural beings. Rather than presenting a conventional action-heavy mystery, the game leans into slow exploration, layered dialogue, and environmental storytelling. Its strength lies not in combat or spectacle, but in atmosphere and character-driven discovery.

You assume the role of a detective working for the Paranormal Security Service, assigned to investigate a disturbance inside a restricted housing block known as the Devilry Reservation. This is no ordinary building; it functions as a containment zone for creatures drawn from myth and legend. The protagonist is one of the “Faceless,” enigmatic telepathic beings capable of interacting with both human and supernatural entities. This narrative framing immediately positions the player in a liminal space—simultaneously investigator and outsider—reinforcing themes of identity, alienation, and observation.

Gameplay unfolds through side-scrolling exploration across interconnected apartments and corridors. Rather than relying on combat mechanics, progression depends on conversation, trust-building, and piecing together fragments of information. Each resident within the building possesses distinct personality traits, habits, and motivations. Some are humorous, others unsettling, and many operate in morally ambiguous territory. The dialogue system plays a central role, with choices shaping interactions and occasionally influencing outcomes. While the mystery serves as the driving force, much of the experience is built around understanding these inhabitants rather than confronting them.

A key tool in the detective’s arsenal is the Personal Pocket Computer, an in-game device that catalogs entities, clues, and investigative notes. This mechanic supports the game’s deliberate pacing, encouraging players to revisit conversations and reflect on collected information. The investigation feels less like a checklist of objectives and more like assembling a mosaic of perspectives. The reservation itself becomes a living archive of folklore and suppressed histories, gradually revealing its secrets through attentive engagement.

Visually, The Devilry Reservation embraces detailed pixel art that captures a mood of decay and unease. The apartment complex feels lived-in yet stagnant, with peeling wallpaper, dim lighting, and cluttered interiors reinforcing the sense of isolation. The design blends the mundane architecture of post-Soviet housing with supernatural anomalies, creating an atmosphere that is both familiar and disquieting. The restrained color palette and subtle animation choices enhance immersion without overwhelming the senses.

The writing is arguably the game’s strongest feature. Conversations often balance dark humor with introspection, blending everyday grievances with mythological undertones. Cultural references and subtle satire add depth to the setting, while maintaining a tone that oscillates between eerie and absurd. The narrative does not rush toward clear answers, instead allowing ambiguity to linger. This approach rewards players who enjoy interpreting subtext and uncovering meaning through context rather than exposition.

The pacing, however, may not appeal to everyone. The deliberate, dialogue-heavy structure can feel slow, particularly for players accustomed to more mechanically driven adventures. Objectives are not always explicitly guided, reinforcing the sense of investigative autonomy but potentially causing occasional confusion. Yet for those who appreciate methodical exploration and narrative immersion, this design philosophy becomes part of the charm.

Ultimately, The Devilry Reservation stands as a distinctive indie adventure that prioritizes atmosphere and storytelling over conventional gameplay thrills. Its blend of folklore, investigative mystery, and quiet humor creates a world that feels cohesive and thoughtfully constructed. For players drawn to character-centric narratives and slow-burning supernatural intrigue, it offers a richly textured experience that rewards patience and attention to detail.

Rating: 7/10

It is a better first attempt at a game than most low budget indies that make something on MS Paint and market it as a unique bullet hell experience, but it is unpolished and mostly dull.

First of all the pixel art is too vague and undetailed to the point the player does not know what they are looking at and all the atmosphere and world building the creator wants to craft bleeds out of the presentation, never immersing the player in the world. It took a character mentioning in dialogue that a shotgun was hanging over the fireplace for me to realize that I was not looking at jumbled wall textures smudged together to simulate an old apartment background fell but an important set piece I might have to interact with later on.

Where the pixel art fails, the dialogue also fails. The player approaches a misshapen, vague-looking point of interaction and with an action button the character is prompted into explaining to the player what they are supposed to be looking at, but the explanatory text is equally vacant and dull and uninteresting as the presentation. The dialogues between the characters feel like they were written by someone that has forgotten how people talk and is having a hard time writing a conversation for their fanfiction, exposition dumping, motive dumping the entire conversation like robots going through the motions of human interaction.

The gameplay consisting of fetch quests and reading badly written dialogues that info dump about stuff the player does not care about in an attempt to provide some world building. “I am a demon, my father was such and such, I came to this world at 1304 when this happened to me, my father can travel between worlds, I have 13 siblings, now I don’t have the power, I lived with a dude for some years and we played games, but then he left some years ago.” This is what dialogues in this game are like.

The duration: I am a slow reader, it took me around 2 hours to finish the game, if I were to spam the skip button and avoid the info dump exposition that adds nothing to the game, I would have finished the game in half an hour. After I beat the game I got a message that I finished episode 1 and there is a second episode I can buy as DLC for around 7 euros/dollars since buying this 2 hour game once is not enough to afford me the full experience.

I have shunned better games for butchering their content to sell them as “episodes”, but this incomplete, barely-functional text adventure asking for seconds after under-delivering is bizarre.

I'm surprised this game hasn't gotten more coverage.. honestly I got stuck on the second episode a few times and the only video I could find on it was in Russian, sooo.. yeah, I do hope we get more content creators covering this game. A lot of people may be turned away by the sometimes not great English, but it's MORE than able to be understood.. I had no trouble understanding what everyone was saying. I loved the pixel art, sound and quests within the game.. each episode has a ton of side quests within it and secrets to uncover for all of the achievements. I loved seeing the different mythical creatures featured in the game too, as well as being able to scan them in and read more about them. Plus, what other game lets you play as detective Slenderman?

Played Episode 1 of this, was a fun short atmospheric adventure game. Very story-based, not many puzzles to stump you. I thought the writing was quite funny and clever.