Next, regarding the inventory aspect of this genre, the team has implemented a system that functions in virtual reality. Unfortunately, in Dread Meridian, this system proves to be quite frustrating to navigate. For instance, it features tabs at the bottom for switching between your gear, collected documents, and diary entries, along with arrows on the side to scroll through the pages of your inventory. Instead of a straightforward tap or button press to select the tabs, the hitbox is positioned above them, causing you to hover your hand awkwardly while trying to find the right spot that highlights the text without accidentally selecting an item from your inventory. Additionally, to scroll through the pages, you must hover nearly outside the edge of the bag, and these do not highlight; it essentially becomes a game of pressing and hoping for a change. As for your weapons, you have your knife and pistol attached to your hips, while the SMG and shotgun are stored in your inventory but positioned over one shoulder. With only two extra weapons available, it would be more logical to have one over each shoulder, but instead, the system just cycles between the two weapons on a single shoulder.

Your objective can be found in the diary section of your inventory, but honestly, they don’t provide much direction. Occasionally, the game’s dialogue tells you what you need and where to find it, but your diary won’t capture all the details. For instance, during a radio conversation, you might hear something like, “you need to go to the staff office to get a key and then head to the lowest floor,” yet your diary will simply update to say, “you need to get to the lowest floor.” So, when you reach the staff office and find it locked, you’ll have to search for another way or a key to enter the room, but your diary entry will still only state, “you need to get to the lowest floor.” The main problem is that this diary is your only method of tracking your current objective. If you step away from the game and return after a few days, you’ll find yourself with very little information to remind you of what you were doing and where you left off.

In line with the expectations of survival horror, as you navigate through the missions, you’ll encounter various puzzles. I found the puzzles enjoyable and never felt they were overly complicated to the point of frustration – a crucial aspect for games of this genre. Aside from the combat, the puzzles were the only element of the game where I didn’t encounter any jank.

The build I played for this review was a direct file rather than access to it on Steam, and I was told it is the nearly final version of the game. However, during my gameplay, I encountered issues where sometimes the objectives wouldn’t complete, preventing the next objective from being added to the diary. This forced me to exit the game entirely or, in two instances, restart the entire chapter to resolve the issue and proceed.

Additionally, for full transparency, I did not reach the end of the game for this review. This was due to a mission where you face a blind boss, requiring you to use the bottles scattered around the room to distract it. Unfortunately, when I threw these bottles, they hit an invisible wall that is right in front of me never mind where I was, making it impossible to progress. The boss section starts with it blocking the doorway I needed to pass through, and when I attempted to distract it by throwing a bottle, it would just come straight at me due to bottles smashing on an invisible wall.