The 9th Charnel (2026)

The 9th Charnel is a game with potential, but it is simply executed way too sloppily. Sometimes, working in a team instead of alone has its downsides. As a result, the game lacks any direction or thought process. The AI ​​has received too little attention, the story is messy, especially towards the end, and the gameplay feels outdated. There is no cohesion between the elements and it looks a bit like a haphazard mess, with attention mainly focused on the cutscenes and the artwork of the main menu, which do look reasonably sharp. Yes, the game gave me quite a scare at times, and the setting isn't all that bad, but the true cult vibe is pretty much ruined by the mediocre execution of the enemies and the other mechanics. With its four hours of gameplay, The 9th Charnel is therefore a game you are better off skipping.

The 9th Charnel presenta ideas interesantes y un objetivo claro: ofrecer terror psicológico centrado en su atmósfera. No intenta medirse con los grandes del género en términos de presupuesto, pero sí aspira a destacar en ambientación y narrativa ambiental. Sin embargo, no todo está a la misma altura. El diseño de niveles puede resultar confuso y a la vez demasiado lineal; las decisiones técnicas —especialmente en animaciones— recuerdan su naturaleza modesta. La IA enemiga es tan simple que a veces provoca risa en vez de miedo, y la gestión del inventario y las armas deja mucho que desear. Aun con todo, quienes disfruten del terror de ritmo lento, de explorar con calma y de reconstruir historias pieza a pieza encontrarán aquí una experiencia disfrutable si no van con expectativas elevadas.

The 9th Charnel is a short cult horror game where you work your way through half-built sites in a closed-off valley, hiding from brutal stalkers and solving tile and logic puzzles that call back to older survival horror. Clumsy enemy behaviour, stiff gunfights, and flat cutscenes hold it back.

First-person psychological survival horror experience that fails to stick the landing

While the review here tends toward the critical, I didn't hate my time with The 9th Charnel. It is definitely over-priced as a first-time developer's project and I don't think anyone will feel that its 4 hour runtime justifies a price close to that of Silksong. If this was around £5 then it'd be a different matter but I can't really recommend the game as things stand. If Saikat Deb builds on this, however, and focuses on the gameplay over the confusing narrative then their next project might be more successful.