One Night with Baba Yaga

WARNING, This game can be a trigger for people with mental health problems, childhood abuse, or suicidal tendencies. If you want to talk you can always contact me to talk about it.
If you have any intentions to commit suicide please call 1-800-273-8255 If you are in immediate danger call 911. Please note the suicide hotline number may differ in other countries. I advise you to look up the correct number with Google.

Introduction
In one night with Baba Yagga you will have to save your family and you are looking for Baba Yagga to help you. You are Clara and your memories are hazy but you think this is the only way.
You will have many puzzles that you need to solve to solve other puzzles. The puzzles are not too easy or hard but I was oblivious sometimes, I was thinking way too complicated but that is a general issue that I have with puzzles.
There are battles but you won’t gain experience points when you win the battle. You will also have a journal with healing recipes, there is no inn in this game so you will need to use the healing recipes to your advantage.
You will find new weapons and also new friends that will help you on your quest to save your family, or is there something else that you need to do on your quest?

What did I think of Baba Yagga before playing?
I did not know what to expect before playing Baba Yagga, I saw that the game was being released and the atmosphere of the game looked creepy and mysterious.
I watched some footage and some pictures and decided it looked like a good game I would like to play and review. I contacted the developer and he agreed to a review and provided me with a copy of the game.
I quickly started the game and puzzles came quickly, I learned that you don’t gain experience points but you do get stronger in the game.

Story
The story starts with Clara walking up to Baba Yaga’s hut to look for guidance on how to save her family. She finds a zombie and gets attacked by the zombie but she is able to defeat the zombie.
When Clara enters the hut she finds Baba Yagga who is only willing to help if Clara plays her game. Clara decides to play her game because she wants to save her family but she has a nagging feeling there is something wrong.
Clara explores the hut and finds a Cat who wants to help her with her quest to find Baba Yaga. After solving some of the puzzles Clara finds a rat who is willing to aid her on her quest. Clara keeps struggling to find her way in the hut of Baba Yaga.
She finds a rooster that is also able to talk and that wants to help her. Together they take down the boogeyman and find stronger weapons. Clara keeps having this nagging feeling that something is wrong. Is she here to save her family or is it something else? There is only one way to find out and that is by finding Baba Yagga.

They manage to solve all the riddles that are left behind by Baba Yaga and find the code to Baba Yagga’s chamber. Baba Yaga attacks Clara but Clara and her friends barely managed to defeat Baba Yaga. Is this it? Can you save your family now?
Suddenly Clara finds herself in a hospital and she is being greeted by a nurse, the nurse tells her that she has been in a coma for the last three days. Clara remembers everything, she did not want to save her family but rather get away from them.
They are not even in the hospital. No one came to visit Clara in the last three days, her family barely even noticed she was in the hospital, and then Clara remembers why she is in the hospital. She tried to commit suicide because her family does not care for her and they barely acknowledge she even exists. Baba Yaga’s hut was just a metaphor in her mind, a battle if she wants to keep on living or not. Clara returns home to confront her family and create her own path in life.
Was Baba Yagga’s hut real or just a metaphor?

Gameplay
This game can be rough on you if you have experiences troubles in your childhood especially in familiar bonds. The game is made in RPG maker but the game is not an RPG but a puzzle-solving game. You will also not gain any experience points in this game and you will need to rely on finding better weapons and using strategy to defeat your enemies. The best idea is to find your party members first before taking on difficult fights, this does not mean it is impossible to do when you don’t have any party members.
The world might be small and you will see a lot of rooms at the same time, to progress in many rooms you will need to solve puzzles. If you play fast you could finish the game in about two hours. You can find certain ingredients that you can mix together to create potions or other items. In battles, you can use skills but they take a toll on your sanity, you will need to refill these with pills. When striking an enemy you will gain belief that can also be used for strong attacks. Every party member has different skills and roles to fulfill.

Sound and Graphics
The sound is great and creates a good atmosphere for the game, the sound effects help with creating a good atmosphere.
I really enjoyed the game but the story is the best thing in Baba Yagga.

What did I think of Baba Yagga after playing?
I really liked the game and the puzzles. The story is really good but short.
The story can hit you hard if you have problems with your mental health, this game can either help you or push you over the edge depending on your mental state.
I could handle the story fine but it did remind me of my troubled childhood, the developer has put hard work in the story and creating the best fitting ending for this game.
I give this game a personal rating of 7.5 due to the perfect story imbued with a real-life tragedy.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The developer created a game with a good story.
• The puzzles are crafted well.
• I really like the metaphor that is being used for the story.
• The party members are animals, which is a nice change from human party members.

Cons

• The game is fairly short
• The game can be a trigger for people with mental health issues.*
• It could also help you work through some of your problems.

I would recommend this game to people who are looking for a puzzle game with a tragic story background. I did enjoy the game but is very far out of my comfort zone because of the resemblance I have with Clara.
I give this game a …drumroll…

7.2

I hope you enjoyed reading this review. You can leave your thoughts in the comment section.
You can purchase the game here https://myrandomology.itch.io/one-night-with-baba-yaga-a-gnosis-tale
I hope to see you in the next review.