Yūrei is a psychological horror game set within the haunted pages of a comic book, developed by Team Yūrei. The game was created over five months by ten second-year master's students from Cnam-Enjmin, the National School for Video Games and Digital Interactive Media in Angoulême, France.

Players must follow the comic's progression, reading the story to reach its end. The comic book, which is stuck to the protagonist Jun's hand, constantly speaks to the player, sometimes offering hints and at other times presenting challenges to solve. It acts like a narrator, yet it may also force you to make sacrifices.

The comic tells Jun that its stories were left unfinished and that it desperately wants a conclusion. Consequently, Jun is forced to become the protagonist of the story and set out to find that ending; writing it down is the journey of the game.

The demo version begins directly in Chapter 3. After a brief tutorial on controls, the player continues as Jun, the manga artist. While the controls are very simple, the game itself functions more like a puzzle. You must find clues in the environment, locate ink to create paths, and flee from enemies you cannot fight.

It is a bit disappointing that the game is still a prototype, serving only as a build to showcase its potential. However, the eerie atmosphere is well-crafted, and the sound design is effective enough to hold its own as a horror game. Furthermore, despite being a demo, it includes voice acting, which provided a good level of immersion during the short playtime.

The direction is faithful to the concept. The narrative unfolds in a way that captures the feeling of being inside a comic book: each panel moves, and you sometimes have to flip pages backward to solve puzzles. This approach feels quite fresh, and the process involves brutal imagery and forced choices. The visuals use a minimal color palette with striking compositions, and the artwork is excellent. Looking at the official website, it is clear that efforts were made to incorporate natural movement using techniques like motion capture. I felt that the developers carefully considered how to leverage the 'comic book' concept for 'horror,' successfully capturing the core of the gameplay.

Ultimately, one can sense that the comic book stuck to Jun's hand has motives beyond just helping him, though this could not be confirmed in the current build. While it would be great to see more variety in gameplay as the concept develops, it is a shame that the current build remains limited to showing potential.

As a horror game that stays true to its concept, I hope to see a completed version in the future. You can check it out through the BIC online exhibition, though please note that the build is currently provided in English only. Additionally, the build can be downloaded via the official website as well as the BIC homepage.