Yearning (PC) review "It's got heart in more ways than one"

Yearning is an imperfect title, and yet it manages to leave a hefty impression. In other words, it's not a “feel-good” experience. You should expect this side-scrolling horror adventure to hit you with a downbeat vibe that continues even after it draws to a close. And it's remarkable when you think about it, because the game does a fine job of communicating its point despite its flaws.

The tale goes back to Edo era Japan and introduces two sisters: Rin and Yuki. Rin, the younger, loses track of Yuki in a fog and searches for her. Surreal imagery appears in the mist, all seeming a bit silly at first. However, the game's eeriness cranks up progressively until those hallucinations turn malevolent and even deadly...

After an introductory segment, Rin continues to search for Yuki. She explores the numerous hallways of her house, shared only by her sister and unnamed grandmother. Through exploration, you make some discoveries about your older sister that promise to be depression fuel, with the main point underscoring her physical condition. Yuki is chronically ill with a respiratory ailment, most likely tuberculosis. That being the case, it's imperative for Rin to find her sick sibling and ensure her safety.



Rin, as it turns out, is her sister's keeper. She provides companionship during the dull hours in which Yuki stays indoors to tend to her illness or remains at the sanatorium for treatments. She promised to keep Yuki safe, so losing track of her in the fog constitutes a failure on her part, or so she feels.

The narrative does a more or less effective job at communicating these points, albeit through a rather shaky translation. Hats off to developer Nyan_Fort for localizing the story, but the script could stand a good proofreading. All the same, the game does a fair enough job of getting its thoughts across. Though its grammar may not be entirely correct, it's not so bad as to be incoherent. You know what the characters are saying, and its point is no less heartfelt. More than anything, it demonstrates that concepts that evoke strong emotions can carry over across language barriers, and this game and its conclusion certain accomplish that feat.

Your quest to find your missing sister isn't going to be your standard game of hide and seek. Instead, you enter rooms, collect items that appear to be useful, and drop them off in other places so you can maybe locate Yuki. The experience never outright tells you what you're looking for, but typically presents a key locale in a level where something can be left. At that moment, you know what you need to find, and success is merely a matter of locating those items.



However, it's not as simple as rifling through drawers or emptying closets. For one thing, surrealism didn't take a break after you exited the fog. The only way to locate the items is to perform various other tasks, usually ones that require you to read passages attached to walls or trigger various flashbacks by examining parts of the home. You might enter a bath outside the house and recall a memory where Rin stayed with Yuki while she soaked for a bit. After that, you can check the tub to find one of the stage's event items.

This sounds like a simple matter, but there are forces preventing that thwart success. Shadows shroud the nighttime environs, expelled only by the scant light of your lantern. Apparitions in the distance and paranormal phenomena threaten to scare you into inactivity. However, the deadliest of all your foes come in the form of sentient shadows...

As you mosey about the corridors of Rin's abode, you can't help but feel a bit of irritated because she walks so slowly and can't sprint. There are story-related reasons for that, but it also helps to emphasize the title's horror elements. While heading down a hallway, a grainy filter covers the screen. You hear a heart beating relentlessly, like someone's about to have an attack. Finally, a scarlet sheet begins to appear over the vaguely lit portions of your surroundings, and it's then that a ghostly silhouette of a beating heart creeps out of the shadows, threatening to spirit you away.



Here's the thing with this guy: he's pretty much toothless when you figure out how to avoid him. You can easily duck behind any piece of the environment, even when the shadow heart is right behind you, and it'll float on by. Not exactly Scissorman, is it?

However, it's not the only blackened bodily figure that wants you dead. A fetus, a pair of lungs, and a skull attached to a spinal column appear at various points as well, and they aren't so easily tricked. With each situation, you'll have to find a way to deal with them. Sadly, with the lungs you're pretty much screwed. As soon as that sucker appears, you're toast.

Of course, its appearance also highlights one of the issues with Yearning: backtracking. It isn't enough that the game moves at a slack pace, but the lungs cause you to drop an event item, forcing you to head back to the location of the attack so you can reclaim the object. Undfortunately, you encounter slow backtracking often throughout the campaign, as you search various rooms and sometimes realize you can't advance in one of the chambers unless you locate another tool to use or a note to read that gives Rin an idea for a solution.



For the most part, the title's puzzles aren't all that difficult. Yeah, most of them are simple inventory challenges, but couple of them do trip you up a bit. One, for instance, involves getting past a fetal shadow haunting a warehouse. The only way to slip by it is to walk up some stairs and pass over it, which works earlier in the proceedings. However, in one place the fetus apparently hears you and floats to the upper tier to block you. Through examining the area, you figure out a less intuitive, but pretty smart, way to overcome the trial.

As Yearning winds down, you know it's going to hit you with a devastating end. Its plot very much telegraphs that point, letting you know this won't finish in some happy, delightful sort of way. Yet, it all ties itself up in matter that's both downbeat and beautiful. A revelation throws you for a loop, harking back to previous other plot beats that dropped hints regarding its twist. However, closing dialogue and some final images give leave you with a somber moment and finally one last touching screenshot.

Yes, this game is dark and eerie and depressing and slow and somewhat of a trudge, but it's also poignant and hearty. It's the kind of title that may not scare your socks off, but its tragic story and gorgeous art style make it well worth experiencing.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (October 30, 2025) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.