Gameplay
Players assume the role of Alyssa Hamilton, a 14 year old school girl. Progress through the game entails finding items to unlock new areas, fleeing and hiding from enemies (called "Subordinates") and eventually defeating each Subordinate in battle. Innocents slain by the Subordinates haunt each stage and will attack Alyssa if she approaches them, sending her into a panic. In order to pacify these spirits, an item of sentimental value must be found and returned to the spirit's corpse, which always lies near the area being haunted.
Alyssa is given no weaponry (except a couple of bottles of holy water) until the boss battle at the end of each stage. Instead she is required to solve puzzles and locate necessary items to progress. Every few minutes the Subordinate of the stage shows up and chases Alyssa, attempting to kill her. It is at this point the player must evade, knock down, or hide from the Subordinate. Knocking down the Subordinate can only be done in specific places, often only once, and it will not kill or damage the subordinate, simply delay their pursuit for a set time. Her holy water can stun a subordinate, but only for a very brief period, and her supply of holy water is limited. There are various items that can aid her in escaping, but they are rare. Generally, the primary means of evading the Subordinate is by hiding until they wander off to look somewhere else. Every level in the game has multiple hiding places.
If Alyssa is too surprised by her stalker or is scared by a ghost, then her sanity will break and she will enter panic mode. The screen will begin flashing and Alyssa will be unable to use her inventory, holy water, or be capable of hiding. Instead, she will begin running in a panicked state and become unresponsive at times, doing things such as stumbling, falling over, or stopping completely and covering her ears. If she is attacked in this state, she will die instantly. The only option open to the player is to flee the Subordinate until Alyssa calms down.
After each scenario, Alyssa must confront the Subordinate who has been stalking her. At this point her holy water bottle transforms into a longbow, allowing her to fight back. Each battle is confined to a single area, and the player must defeat the subordinate in order to progress. The health of both Alyssa and the subordinate is measured by two life bars which appear on screen. Alyssa must dodge attacks while firing arrows at her attacker. In order to inflict considerable damage, shots must be powered-up. These shots tether the subordinate to the ground. While powering-up the shot, Alyssa must stand still and cannot adjust her aim, leaving her vulnerable to attacks and making it possible for her enemy to move out of her line of sight. If the boss is transfixed with multiple powered-up shots, Alyssa performs a highly damaging attack with her next shot, killing or severely wounding the Subordinate.
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