KARMA: The Dark World Reddit Verdict — Hidden Gem or Overhyped?

I was just browsing my local game store and this random game caught my eye. Fast forward a few hours at home — I'm completely hooked. The lore, the atmosphere, the whole concept, the story... seriously, how is a game this good basically flying under the radar? I haven't even finished it yet, but it's already one of my biggest gaming surprises this year.

I played and beat the game today. Took me a little under 10 hours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got tripped up on a few of the optional puzzles, but anything story related was no problem. The main game itself was a fun ride I thought. The general theme is 1984 style dystopia mixed with some Lynch confusion. The length was good and didn't overstay its welcome. Though a warning is that it's mostly a walking simulator with some puzzles and story moments here and there.

Just finished. For me this was easily a 9/10 extremely creative. Super engaging story. The atmosphere. Very emotional. While horror was kind of lost near the end i didn't mind because it was psychological first. A lot of the late gameplay sections felt super artistic similar to what remains of edith finch. And for a studio's first game im so impressed and eagerly awaiting their second title.

So far I'm absolutely loving it! One of the better horror games I've played in awhile. Love the Orwellian vibes, the graphics are amazing, and the story is super interesting.

I just finished it as well. I've been waiting for it ever since it was first revealed, and it actually surpassed my expectations by a lot. I hope it'll get some more attention soon.

I would say it's horror light but a really good intriguing story with really great visuals that had me hooked.

I just finished it and have some mixed feelings about it. Loved aspects of it, and not going to lie some of it bored me. Need to sit with it for a bit to decide how I felt about the story overall.

I just finished it seconds ago. I loved every single thing about it except the ending. That left me really disappointed, but not enough to ruin the game. I'd give it a solid 8/10. That score might even go up in the future, but as the credits are still rolling in front of me I find myself disliking the end/explanation of events.

It's easily a 7.5/8. The first chapter is amazing, the second is worst but also good. I didn't like the third at all.

If you like narrative games, I think this one is a banger. It was amazing!

Game is an underrated gem rn. Hope it blows up soon because this game deserves it. Love the music, the story, the atmosphere, the cinematography, the characters, and the setting. Would definitely love to see a sequel. Been listening to Geng Li's ost on repeat!

The most ambitious indie horror game I've played. Scary, emotional, psychological and very creative. It was pure cinema. I heard that it was inspired by David Lynch and Kojima and it shows. And this is their first game. I'm seriously impressed!

It's a good game. My only complaint is that it is too confusing from the start to the end. And once it ended I still didn't understand the story and had to look it up online from other people's interpretations.

Game is a masterpiece, 10/10. My only complaint is that I felt the ending should not be the ending, but then again I 100% believe this was an artistic decision because I really felt there was always an intention within every section of the game.

Saw this on the ps store the other day and thought the trailer looked cool so i picked it up. I just finished the game and absolutely loved it. Loved the soundtrack especially. Congratulations to the devs.

I beat it in 6 hours having collected everything. The sci fi evil corp theme is really only there for the game's first chapter. The second chapter takes a completely different turn which took me out of immersion the first chapter set up. The third chapter is pretty much the same as the second.

Just finished it and it is an amazing experience. More than the game, the amazing thing is the story and how it develops into your mind, with obligatory thinking, closing topics, reviewing scenes and trying to get what happened. I enjoyed the time trying to close the story as much as the game.

We really enjoyed it! My partner played while I watched and helped solve puzzles. I was really impressed by the visuals. We finished it about 30 mins ago and I'm still processing the plot. Definitely has Alan Wake vibes which I also loved. I think I may end up doing another play through to get a better understanding of the story. Would definitely recommend!!

Really loved the game and it will surely become a cult classic in time. I will be honest though, there seem to be a bit of a pacing problem by the end. Maybe it tried to tell too many things in such a short time that by the end you don't even know what's going on. Solid set pieces, very well thought and put together. As a walking sim, it really stands out through its imagery and many many ideas that it combines.

Personally, I think Karma is a great game. A mind bending trip! The atmosphere and graphics are great, the story is good as well. I actually just recommended it to a coworker about 30 minutes before I saw this post.

I did play through Karma a few days ago, and it was underwhelming, to be honest. Very much an on-rails experience that starts good enough, but by the time it reaches its last third it takes out almost all the gameplay to make you watch a series of cutscenes.

I would give this game a 3/10, at most. The first third of the game is super interesting. The rest is a complete crapshow. The 2nd act is almost unbearable. I almost quit. It's so freaking pretentious and boring. What a waste of potential.

The story is the content of The 1984 with the game's unique content added. It's mostly mystery solving and catching up with the big story. Puzzles are hard, failed to solve 2-3 of them. Voice acting is very good, the facial expressions fail to reflect that quality of voice acting in fact.

Honestly this game is amazing. If you have some understanding of 1984 and symbolism then this game really stands out. The puzzles are fun because you get a sense of accomplishment I don't normally feel with overly action packed games. This is a top game and I really appreciate all the time and effort the makers put into it. 10/10 definitely recommend.

Just beat it in 9-10 ish hours. The art direction is immaculate. The storytelling was next level. The puzzles were kinda predictable though. However the overall experience deserves a solid 9.

I just finished the game today and I'm super impressed. This was such a fun ride I really enjoyed the visuals, the puzzles and the main theme of the story. It had me really emotional at the end too with great voice acting. I'm honestly super impressed by how well made it is.

It's like Chinese version of Layers of Fear, set in cold war era 1984 scenario. Inspired by Bekinski's art too. I am at the beginning of Act 2 and I am enjoying it. Although the voice acting is sometimes annoying af.

Downloaded the game and it had me in a choke hold for 7 damn hours straight!!! It is so well done, with a story that is just sad and beautiful at the same time. I really just got lost in the story and I felt like it was spooky when it needed to be and warm when it needed to be. It also left me with questions that I will have to look into after I get some sleep. I will give this a 10/10 as it is not just any game that would keep me up all night. The voice acting also was top notch.

The gameplay is horrible. The puzzles are inconsistent. The performance is sooooo bad I almost stopped playing twice and I never do that. The plot starts ok and dives into some weird off the wall incoherent bullshit. The longer you play the worse the dialog gets.

There's a lot of Engrish in the environmental text throughout the game, which is strange considering the production values. Also, they say it's set in the DDR but there's a distinct lack of German-ness, to the point where they might as well have made it a fictional setting. However, I still quite enjoyed it.

If it didn't constantly crash and have unreal jank, I would give it 10/10. Right now its like 7/10 but also unplayable after a certain amount of hours.

This is a super cool game. It doesn't get boring at all because of its excellent plot. The design, graphics and overall cinematography deserve special praise. I recommend everyone to play it!

For sure. I cried. I need more games like it.

I love the game, but one of my playthroughs is currently soft locked in Rachel's memory. The bedroom eye won't scan. Upsetting because this is my 2nd run, doing cleanup I could have done all in chapter select at this point.

Same, it's my GOTY but it would have been a better game without the torture part. Still an amazing game though, one of the best I've played.

It's like indie cult homage, very romantic but no meat. Also it's like 4 hours. But if you like 1984, David Lynch, Death Stranding, Evil Within and have AI paranoia, it's cool.

I literally just finished the game and this answered everything, thank you! Honestly this was quite the great game, love the atmosphere. I'm not usually a fan of horror game's story but this one was fascinating. I can't believe this wasn't nominated for any award, this game deserves some recognition.

I think the tone shift midway through the game killed the horror for me. It even killed the pacing for a second. I loved the aesthetic of this game, but it didn't handle its story very well in my opinion. I unfortunately didn't get emotional at the end because of how it was handled. That first act was very solid, and I personally wish it stayed that way throughout. There was never a sense of dread after the midpoint of the game.

It has so many borrowed elements from In Sound Mind — the ambience, the tapes, the red lighting, the mannequins moving when you turn around, the phone calls with the creepy voice, the surrealist entry points with the doors. At least try to make it your own original thing. Puzzles are good though.

As a fellow Alan Wake/Control/Remedy fan, 1000% recommend. I just finished Still Wakes the Deep before this, and Karma blows that game out of the water as far as story goes. I liked Still Wakes a lot, but Karma has the twists and turns mixed with the emotional story beats. It ascended to a top 3 spot on my GOTY list easily.

I just recently bought Karma on sale and did 100% on it. It's a great, extraordinary game that I mostly enjoyed, but it also had a few annoying parts.

This LOOKS like a AAA title. You guys KILLED IT! This is what the industry needs right now, games like this that show AAA devs what passion actually looks like.

This game is so horrible. 3/10. It copies LITERALLY everything. Every single second I could tell was a call back to another, superior game/show reference and then it fails at referencing it while not acknowledging it either. It's a complete knock off of indie gaming.