Early impressions of Wych Elm’s noir horror Silver Pines flag heavy backtracking

Silver Pines, the primary recreation from developer Wych Elm, has drawn a blended early verdict. On Wednesday, Rock Paper Shotgun deputy editor James Archer printed a hands-on function primarily based on roughly three hours of play. He discovered the style mix promising however grew pissed off with the quantity of retracing it calls for.

The sport is a neo-noir detective story that brazenly borrows from Twin Peaks. It quickly shifts into survival horror. Gamers management a non-public investigator looking a decaying rural city for a lacking musician, whereas a storm described because the worst in generations closes in.

Structurally, Silver Pines combines three distinct approaches. It makes use of 2D Metroidvania-style exploration, horror encounters and point-and-click puzzle fixing. That blend ought to curiosity journey followers who like their mysteries with a darker edge, although it additionally brings the gating and merchandise assortment typical of exploration-led video games.

Archer was constructive about a number of components. He wrote that the expressive, gloomy artwork path and the missing-person plot maintain the completely different elements collectively. He additionally singled out the city itself as unsettling nicely earlier than any monsters arrive, citing flickering, half-broken neon indicators hanging over dusty, deserted companies.

His objections centered on pacing. Archer reported repeatedly sending his detective again by areas blocked by locked doorways and assortment puzzles. He stated this sample dulled his enthusiasm for a recreation he in any other case wished to love, and he known as the general package deal endearingly uncommon regardless of these complaints.

These impressions cowl solely the opening hours. Archer’s piece doesn’t ship a last verdict on the total recreation. Backtracking in hybrid adventures usually eases or intensifies as extra of the map opens, so how Silver Pines handles its later stretches will determine how a lot the criticism sticks.

Neither the function nor different materials out there to Journey Avid gamers thus far confirms platforms or a particular launch date past what Rock Paper Shotgun lined. Archer’s function went reside on October 7, 2026.