Home Sweet Home (PSVR) Review

Home Sweet Home is a heart stopping journey down the halls of a twisted nightmare.  But the question is, is it worth your time? Let’s find out in our review of Home Sweet Home for the PSVR.

Home Sweet Home is a game that tells a story of a wife that has gone missing, and a husband’s journey to find her.  One night, Tim wakes up in a seemingly abandoned building instead of his home. While trying to escape, he’s hunted by a hostile female spirit.  Her approach is made even more terrifying by her constant wailing and the disturbing clicking sounds she makes with her box cutter.  The player not only has to focus on stealth, but also solve puzzles and investigate their surroundings to unlock the mystery of what exactly is going on.

The events of the story take place in Thailand, and feature many interesting cultural beliefs and mythology.  The game explains its backstory along the way by use of ‘collectibles’ such as logs, diary entries, and newspaper clippings - that give details of past events in the story. 

Graphics are crisp and clear, and the world is highly well detailed.  My main complaint is with some of the character models, specifically of the humans in the game.  While the demonic creatures and monsters look fearful and as realistic as could possibly be, the human characters seem to just miss the mark.  Often looking odd and sometimes unnatural in the greater context of the world.  

The game can be played in TV-Only or VR mode, but to get the most immersive experience – obviously the VR mode should be played.   For the most part, the majority of Home Sweet Home is extremely straight forward.  The most frustrating part is getting stuck on some of the puzzles.  Some puzzles give no context and can become rage causing-ly difficult.  Requiring the player to search the environment for hints and then using trial and error to hopefully find the solutions. If not give up all together and seek a walkthrough online.

"Box cutter" dead girl from Home Sweet Home (VR Game)

The game does its best to keep you the player always on edge. The environments often shift and change as you turn around.  Sometimes moving through a doorway can take you to a different world than the one you entered.  Avoiding enemies feels like playing hide and seek.  Waiting for the enemy to move out of sight before rushing onto the next progression point.  I have learned first-hand that attempting to sprint your walk through to the end of a level doesn’t work.  At times it can feel like an extreme test of patience to sit wait and wait- as your heart pounds out of your chest to be sure it is safe before progressing forward.

The sound design in Home Sweet home is amazing.  The music changes and sound effects give clues for when danger is approaching.  As mentioned before, you are alert to danger when the ghost girl is nearby auto cues as well as the sounds of her haunting cries and footsteps.    The only major stumble is the voice acting, as some parts can be laughable funny with how bad it is. 

Home Sweet Home is fairly short, and can be completed in approximately 5 hours.  This time can be longer if you try to get all collectables hidden throughout each level.  All in all, the game is an enjoyable horror experience.  The Thai mythology and setting is very interesting and there are truly scary moments to enjoy.  The game is available right now on the PSN store for $29.99.  Be aware however, that this is only episode 1 – the story is set to continue in futures episodes but no release date or additional is available at this time.