Spirit Hunter: NG
Spirit Hunter: NG
Game
Game2019
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Developer EXPERIENCE
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is a horror visual novel adventure game developed and published by Experience, and is the first entry in the Spirit Hunter series. It was originally released in June 2017 for PlayStation Vita in Japan, and was later ported to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. The game was published worldwide by Aksys Games in October 2018 for the same platforms except Xbox One, and was… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
264 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
75
LovedLoved
144 positive · 48 negative
95% range 68–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 144 | 48 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 25 | 3 | 42 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
240 of 305 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
75% recommend · 141 yes, 47 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 188 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (446 of 539 positive).
Players praise the game's oppressive atmosphere, disturbing imagery, and psychological tension. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize the game for technical issues, including crashes and a poor skip function. [4][5][6] Several players note the uncomfortable sexualization of female characters in distressing scenes. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [9]
This game lured me in with an interesting plot and polished looking art, but ultimately I have to give up on it because of a combination of frustrating movement and puzzle-solving mechanics, and the incredibly uncomfortable sexualisation of tortured female bodies. To go into more detail, when you move around the map, you move relative to the direction you entered the square from. In Chapter 2 this quickly leads to …
- [7]
It was a fun enough game and I can still replay to get the good ending if I feel up to it, but lost the plot a bit towards the end. TLDR: I really enjoyed the first couple chapters of the game. I liked that there is a mystery to be solved, but the ending felt like it was dragging on and I had issues with a bit of the game play mechanics. Also as a woman I hate when stories put women in sexual fetish poses while they …
- [8]
This ended up getting really long, so here's a TL;DR: Pros: - REALLY awesome story and art, great soundtrack, was fully engaged almost start to finish - Great foreshadowing and twists - Unique gameplay that sets it apart from other visual novels - Great cast of unique and memorable characters Cons: - A lot of really common triggers and hard lines even for horror fans, including a LOT of body horror, bugs n ♥♥♥♥, …
- [3]
Phenomenal horror atmosphere coupled with top notch writing make this a top shelf VN. I recommend you use a guide though.
- [1]
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is a supernatural horror adventure that relies on oppressive atmosphere, disturbing imagery, investigation, and psychological tension rather than conventional action. Developed by EXPERIENCE and published by Aksys Games, it blends visual novel storytelling with point-and-click exploration and puzzle solving. Its central mystery revolves around an ominous mark that appears on selected people …
Summarised from 34 of the 248 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark sits at 75% positive across 192 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark was well received by critics, according to the review aggregator platform Metacritic. The game was described by game publications as one of the best Nintendo Switch horror games one of the best horror visual novels, and among the best visual novels on the Nintendo Switch. It won Digitally Downloaded's 2018 silver game of the year award in multiple categories, and was included in a PC Gamer feature about "exciting gems" on Steam. Famitsu appreciated the game's atmosphere, typical of Japanese horror films, and how the gameplay made the game accessible to players who are not good at action games. The PlayStation Vita version of the game was the eighth best selling…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 264 · most liked firstThis game lured me in with an interesting plot and polished looking art, but ultimately I have to give up on it because of a combination of frustrating movement and puzzle-solving mechanics, and the incredibly uncomfortable sexualisation of tortured female bodies. To go into more detail, when you move around the map, you move relative to the direction you entered the square from. In Chapter 2 this quickly leads to getting easily turned around as most of the backgrounds for each area look the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The visual novel itself has sharp writing and genuinely good scares. The characters are believable and fleshed out. Even though you interact with some of them for only one chapter, they are distinct and memorable. My issue with the game stems from a bug. In order to access chapter six, you have to achieve the true end. However, there is a glitch where the ending wmv will play and then immediately crash the game after the true end which means no chapter six for you. The ending sequence is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has potential but is bogged down by so many issues that sour the experience. I'm going to list mine. You cannot click to make text scroll faster, so you have to wait for every single line of dialogue to load in before you can progress to the next line. For a fast reader, this is not fun. "Went to Location A" - prepare to see text like this EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You move from one place to another. If I had 10 cents for every time I saw this line of text, I'd probably make back the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was a fun enough game and I can still replay to get the good ending if I feel up to it, but lost the plot a bit towards the end. TLDR: I really enjoyed the first couple chapters of the game. I liked that there is a mystery to be solved, but the ending felt like it was dragging on and I had issues with a bit of the game play mechanics. Also as a woman I hate when stories put women in sexual fetish poses while they are dying when it is supposed to be scary while the men never have the same…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is a supernatural horror adventure that relies on oppressive atmosphere, disturbing imagery, investigation, and psychological tension rather than conventional action. Developed by EXPERIENCE and published by Aksys Games, it blends visual novel storytelling with point-and-click exploration and puzzle solving. Its central mystery revolves around an ominous mark that appears on selected people and supposedly condemns them to a gruesome death. The result is a slow-burning…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good game. Unfortunately I am under your floorboards
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New #promosky #promo, old me This time with new and improved ✨game friend tags✨ ◈ OCs ◈ Arknights ◈ Project Moon games ◈ Death Mark/Spirit Hunter ◈ Ryu ga Gotoku ◈ fighting games ◈ ancient mythologies and legends I draw OCs and fanart. Just check my media tab. Looking for #mutuals #moots #artmoots
neutral · AI labelView post →This ended up getting really long, so here's a TL;DR: Pros: - REALLY awesome story and art, great soundtrack, was fully engaged almost start to finish - Great foreshadowing and twists - Unique gameplay that sets it apart from other visual novels - Great cast of unique and memorable characters Cons: - A lot of really common triggers and hard lines even for horror fans, including a LOT of body horror, bugs n ♥♥♥♥, sexual abuse, and animal death. Not a game for everyone - Really weirdly sexual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to enjoy this but it crashes every 20 minutes on steam deck, unplayable! Please fix on steam deck!!!!!!!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mashita deserves his own game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Now that Rogue Trader is done I can finally tackle another notable RPG in my backlog Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi I still have no idea how a J-Wizardy game with art and monster designs by the Spirit Hunter team never took off but by golly I'm gonna descend the Mines myself and find some answers
positive · AI labelView post →Death, Dollies and Tattoos! I heard this was award winning and tbh it was really interesting playing it. You have a handful of characters who keep you interested, the main character is mysterious. The story is pretty good too. Story: Good As a previous horror gamer I enjoy a good horror story, and this story is a curious and a plot twisting one. You follow the protagonist to a mansion where you have a mark on your arm and temporary memory loss leading to those marks, with instructions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II game will get a manga adaptation starting on May 2.
neutral · AI labelView post →So this game is very weird. It has a lot of cons and overall kind of... unfinished feeling. PROs: - The art is great, the artstyle is very beautiful and it is obvious that the artists who worked on this game are of high level - The atmosphere is pretty nice. The overall ambience and music work well with the artstyle to create a creepy vibe that's all for the pros... CONs: - The game has an awesome setting witch it uses for the most bare minimum stuff ever. All of the spirits you have to fight…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"A game I recommend to others regardless of whether they enjoy horror or visual novels, purely because it's such a gem." I fell in love with Death Mark, and consequently the Spirit Hunter franchise. I'm looking forward excitedly to future additions. Plot - 4/5 I was immediately drawn in by the premise after reading the synopsis of the game, and as I played through the game, I was not disappointed. Each new spirit was always something to look forward to learning about, along with meeting the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game crash's out nowhere and you can't save everytime you want, the perfect combo
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OMFG THEY GOT KERA WORKING ON CREATURE DESIGNS FOR SILENT HILL f WE ARE IN VERY GOOD HANDS SILENT HILL GANG For those unaware of their work they did the iconic & striking designs for the Spirit Hunter series (Localized as Death Mark in the West) & the creature designs in those games are FANTASTIC
neutral · AI labelView post →This game was annoying to say the least. While it offered few moments of entertainment and a beautiful art style, the game itself was infuriating. Any moment of tension it built up was subsequently crushed due to random segments in which you had to answer questions to find out if you live or die. Many of these segments were based entirely on things that the average person wouldn't know without googling the answers, as they were not revealed in game to my knowledge. Not to mention, this game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just leaving a review to attest that the game seems to finally be working flawlessly on Steam Deck with Proton Ge 10-25
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Someone ♥♥♥♥ in my pants
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →one of my all time favorite games, art style pops and mashitha is my bbg
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's no option to speed up the default text speed, and the text speed is painfully slow. If you're a fast reader, you'll get fustrated after about five minutes, like I did. For a visual novel, where the majority of the 'gameplay' revolves around reading, this is a massive oversight, and I don't think it's excusable. I've read free VNs made by teenagers with a budget of $0 which had more robust controls than this (thank you Ren'py). Also, the game doesn't even let you save at all until about…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They didn't even attempt to explain why the ghosts are stripping the dead bodies of only women.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I received this game for free randomly from a key site and it sat in my backlog for a long while because I thought it was a pure VN. No, instead this is a mystery horror VN that is also an adventure game. I really enjoyed it. The game does a good job on the atmosphere and building up those spirits you fight. I was genuinely unnerved at some points. However the spirits themselves do look goofy, except for 2 of them, I think it's just a cultural difference though. The story is alright, but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spirit Hunter: Death Mark is the first entry into the Spirit Hunter series, and it is a fantastic 10-15 hour long visual novel, investigation and puzzle game. Thematically, visually and in regards to story telling there is much praise to be given. There isn't any spoilers here as to the overarching story, only that of what you learn in the introductory minutes and/or on the steam store. The first and most interesting factor for me (and the reason I picked this game up in the first place) was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One more Undead Week entry for today at the Video Game Soda Machine Project... Spirit Hunter: NG, a horror visual novel, features several soda machines (including this one that appears in a cemetery for some reason).
neutral · AI labelView post →Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 314: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆☆☆ (4/10) Spirit Hunter: Death Mark caught my eye as a unique mix of visual novel and horror mystery, promising life-or-death decisions and ghostly encounters. And to be fair, it looks the part: eerie art, creepy atmospheres, and a moody aesthetic that initially feels promising. But once the initial fear wears off, you’re left with a frustrating, clunky game that’s far more irritating than immersive. 🕯️ Pros:…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gorgeous art, fantastic story, I need Mashita carnally
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My Review for Death Mark II (Spirit Hunter 3) is now live. This video is long overdue, but honestly, after playing the game, I didn't even want to make it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp5Y...
negative · AI labelView post →Phenomenal horror atmosphere coupled with top notch writing make this a top shelf VN. I recommend you use a guide though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's make some #Blutoid awards categories! "Best game from your backlog that you actually fished out and played this year against all odds" Winner : Spirit Hunter Death Mark A Japanese Horror VN about urban legends with RPG elements set in a small town. store.steampowered.com/app/980830/S...
positive · AI labelView post →I hope they make another Spirit Hunter game where Akira and Yashiki meet. They would be cool, I think. #DeathMark #SpiritHunter #NG
neutral · AI labelView post →Should be called Freak Mark tbh
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story in this kept me invested for the entirety of the riveting pressing A gameplay. A solid recommendation from a person who's not a fan of Visual Novels.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unplayable on steam deck with 1fps
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a pretty good "Horror" ( the game it's written as horror but it's overall ends up more beautiful than scary) VN, the characters are nice, the artstyle is really good, the story, soundtrack and puzzles are good and i'd would honestly love if they'd gave it an anime adaptation... then why i still ended up not recommending this game? One simple reason, Greed. Aside from the fact that the game is absurdly overpriced if compared to other more effort intensive made games, i've noticed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completed and enjoyed it apart from crashing every 15mins on the steamdeck (is meant to be verified). Had to save as often as I could so could fast forward to continue the story. Would have preferred just sticking to visual novel aspect as some of the puzzles were not great and needed a guide. Also the women characters seemed to end up in more distressing circumstances more often than the men usually with little clothing. Chapter 6 set in a red light district hotel so not one for younger…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love the game and the artwork, cgi is amazing, music is wonderful and voices are very on point ^^ 10/10 would recommend this game to friends
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm getting back into gaming lately but tbh it's mostly Horror VNs and adventure games. Heard there is a new one from the Spirit Hunter series, so that's hype. The first two were niiiiice J-Horror
positive · AI labelView post →Ever year I watch the same Lets Play on YouTube by the same content creator playing this game (around Halloween). I seen it was on sale and thought this year I'll be playing it myself. This has been my favourite visual novel by far for many years, since I first seen it truth be told. You could say... it's left it's mark on me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good game and fun story. Extremely broken on Steam Deck and Linux. Avoid if that's the case
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I need more people to know Death Mark, Spirit Hunter NG, and Paranormasight. Please, may the vtubers and png-tubers hear my plead, look up the games, and follow me I wanna show my oc for all 3 more but only 1 moot knows a game...
neutral · AI labelView post →I didn't have a good time. I really enjoy visual novels, especially if they're in the horror genre. This one ticked all the boxes in terms of gruesomeness, but the story and the drama just wasn't quite there. The gameplay didn't help. There's no fast skip when you're reading so you have to wait for the full text to appear. If you would play without a guide that means a lot of waiting because you have to retry from your last save if a ghost kills you. A guide is also necessary to even…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →maybe the real Death Mark(tm) was the friends we made along the way. had to come back and finally finish this game when I saw the sequel dropped, and I wasn't disappointed. localization was a little rough, but the story and horror elements are fantastic. getting the good ending is a bit of a chore, but it's worth it to see the anime friends make it out alive
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My copy of the third Death Mark/Spirit Hunter game came the other day! I'm so excited to play!
positive · AI labelView post →This is a genuinely amazing game but I can't recommend this to Steam Deck reviewers. While the art, story, and writing are all amazing this game is a buggy mess, at least on Steam Deck and not "verified" at all. The game crashes more than any game I've ever played (over 5 from what I've experienced and I only just beat chapter 2). I've noticed it crashes most often when a scene changes and you kinda just have to chug along by reloading your whole game. SAVE FREQUENTLY!!! If you're playing on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🔦 A top-notch implementation of the ghost hunting concept. Unlike standard VN's, this game has more than just dialogue choices. The gameplay allows you to move through locations in real time, find clues, solve puzzles, and this includes variable turn-based ghosts (bosses) confrontations. A good storyline also shows that you don't have to overwhelm the reader with long and complicated descriptions. The cast of the characters doesn't seem flat or annoying. The visual & soundtrack create an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately, it is falsely labeled as Steam deck verified. It crashes every 10 minutes and regardless, you can't get past the tutorial/beginning area as it crashes during name creation. This only happens on Steam Deck. For a $50 game that targets the Steam Deck, this is a huge oversight. At least Spirit Hunter: NG plays perfectly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never again. Great visuals, cute story and character designs, but holy guacamole, the skip function needs some serious WORK. Though it's an older game so that work will never happen. I honestly don't want to recommend it due to the skip function being so terrible, but have a play through it if you can pick it up on sale, it's definitely worth at least $10~$20. Holy moly though. I will be playing the next one (that's why I played this one -- the new one looks really good) -- but I pray to god…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game seemed interesting until the random death rape scenes. Also the controls are designed for three hands.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another hard one to grade. Usually people say you have to value something for what it is and not for what you want it to be. That's going to be difficult for me here so at least I'll be honest about it. You see, Death Mark is being presented to us as a visual novel and although the genres are very similar, to me it feels more like a point & click game than a visual novel. If you're making a story/narrative based game, the gameplay you do implement has to compliment the story. Or in other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A really fun urban horror story with an interesting set up, ok characters and really great art that really sells the setting and the somber mood of the story. The story has a mix of Japanese folklore and urban legends that really make for a fun and interesting setting as far as video games go; and the gameplay is split between Visual Novel segments and puzzle sections where the player must use context clues from either dialogue or the items he finds to defeat spirits. It's a fairly engaging…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Random Video game Recc: I feel like nobody knows about Death Mark/Spirit Hunter series... It's a fantastic Visual Horror Novel Series with amazing art and exploration mechanics [Death Mark 1 moves like a dungeon crawler!!] It's a huge inspo for The kind Blacksmith, plz go look at the games....
positive · AI labelView post →1. May as well start with the one I yap about any chance I get- Spirit Hunter: Death Mark A horror visual novel/puzzle game with CRAZY good monster designs (Fun Fact: The Artist/Character Designer also did the monster designs in Silent Hill F as well!!)
positive · AI labelView post →Easy recommendation if you like Visual Novels, Adventure Games and Horror... though the full price is a little high for what it is. In Spirit Hunter: Death Mark you awaken in a mansion with no memory of who you are and a strange bite shaped scar on your wrist. As more people arrive at the mansion you learn that this is a Death Mark... a spirits curse that causes gradual memory loss and eventual messy death. You spend the game defeating spirits in order to break your curse. The theming is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Batting demons in real life (allergies) and in the game tonight at 6:45PM EDT 🔴 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark part 3 #vtuber #vtuberEN www.youtube.com/live/9slqYpW...
neutral · AI labelView post →There's new DLC available for Spirit Hunter: Death Mark! No, not for last year's Death Mark II, but for the first game in the series, although it's only available for the Switch version. #SpiritHunter #DeathMark www.samanthalienhard.com/2025/04/new-...
neutral · AI labelView post →Probably my current favorite game; the price may seem daunting, but it's well-worth that price. The art, the sound design, the story design, the character design... it's all fantastic. I just finished the DLC today; I don't absolutely love the DLC, I'd call it a weaker point in the game, as my group and I puzzled out the twist rather quickly... but it was free, so take that as you will.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Death Mark has plenty of problems, but having finished the main story and bonus route I can't help but feel anything other than excitement to play more of the series and any games like it. The vibes are just immaculate, and imaging how good it could be with some improvements is very enticing. I quite enjoy the gameplay and the artwork and the music while not amazing, it is very fitting. The spirit designs are a bit of a mixed bag, personally none of them were that great for me but they all had…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game is so good, i miss getting scared every night while playing this. death mark always be my fav.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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