Death Mark on the Switch is the best way to play the game for sure but it could have been so much more with a little extra. The lack of touchscreen use to progress dialogue or to use the flashlight is disappointing. If you’ve been after a unique horror adventure that has a very interesting aesthetic, you need this.

Death Mark may seem at first like a shallow horror take on the Japanese visual novel/adventure genre, but the deeper you dig into its tale of wayward spirits and cursed bystanders, the more its brutality is mixed with beauty. While it could have done more with the ideas it builds upon, it still results in an unexpectedly captivating experience that stands out from the crowd.

Making use of it array of marvelous visual environments and art style, a very good writing and narrative and well adjusted lifespan, Death Mark uses all of this to create what is very well one of the best games to come out this year on the Nintendo Switch.

It's a rare game that can start off tense and then continuously ratchets up the mood to almost unbearable levels until the final moments of the final chapter – and an even rarer one that has enough alternative characters, dialogue, and endings to make it worth playing through more than once – but Death Mark succeeds where it really counts. There's plenty on offer here for both horror fans as well as those looking for a mystery that requires more than hoarding knick-knacks and waiting patiently for your character to officially notice something before you can proceed.

Death Mark is a solid horror text adventure game. With all the hallmarks one would hope for in a survival horror, compounded with excellent writing that sparks the reader's imagination, anyone who is interested in a low-stress horror game that is actually very creepy will enjoy this. The presentation may be unimpressive and the art just adequate, yet the sound design makes up for it. If this went the extra mile with the visuals and animation it could have been a real cult classic.