Overview – developed by Chilla’s Art and published by Regista, The Convenience Store is a Japanese psychological Horror experience about a college girl, working the night shift at her job. Over the course of each shift, players will need to handle tasks and deal with customers, but something ominous is occurring. This title is now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, with a link of each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Regista for providing the copy of The Convenience Store that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influences the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. The game is rather light on direct plot details without spoilers, so I will be going directly into discussing the gameplay with story details added there.
Gameplay – The Convenience Store is a psychological horror and walking sim, where the player takes the role of a college girl working the night shift at the local convenience store. Living alone, the girl takes the part time job due to the high hourly wage, travelling from her apartment to the store each night. Before the shift, the player must get ready and then make the trip to the store, walking through the dimly lit streets with a flashlight to guide the way.
After crossing the bridge, the isolated store comes into view being the only light piercing the thick darkness. Upon reaching the store, the player will need to clock in and take over from the day shift, with a task that needs to be completed during her work hours. The tasks that players need to complete include clearing expired food, restocking the shelves and dealing with pests. But that is not all to do during each night shift.
There will be customers that will come in, picking up the items that they need, browsing the shelves or just using the restroom. But these are not the only visitors that the store will get, as there are mysterious unseen forces that will haunt the store. These apparitions are not visible to the human eye, but they can be observed through the store CCTV. Using the different cameras, the player will be able to see witness the supernatural for themselves.
The spirits are not the only mystery that the player will be wrapped up in, as there are video tapes that will appear through the course of the experience. These tapes contain ominous and cryptic scenes, which will deepen the mystery that unfolds over each of the nights. There will also be odd events and interactions with people, including an old woman that visits the store, believing that the location was her child’s residence.
As each night shift is completed, the atmosphere will become more suspenseful and the horrors more intense. There are elements that will make the player question what they are seeing, with creepy apparitions hiding in the shadows and just out of sight. But that is not all that is hidden in the darkness, as there will be collectable Chillamaru figures to find in the area. By collecting these, there are several events that can be triggered by the player.
This is not a super long experience, as it is designed to be completed in the average run time of a film. However, there is enough content that will keep the player engaged, as there are multiple endings for players to uncover based on hidden variables. As this is an enhanced port, there are the original endings as well as a special ending exclusive to this version of the game. This expands the experience, as players attempt to uncover the secrets hidden within.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – as this is a first person release, there is a simple to use twin stick movement system, which is relatively easy for players to pick up. There are limited interaction buttons, with a pick-up/activate button, a drop/cancel, run button and a flashlight button. All of the inputs work well, with the handheld and docked play being responsive with a range of controllers. There is the option to adjust the sensitivity of the camera, but that is all there is.
Difficulty – there is little in terms of true difficulty with this release, as the experience is not designed to be scary in an action based manner. This is due to the walking simulator style of game, with the challenge coming from the payer being able to observe their surroundings. I found the biggest challenge was locating the hidden Chillamaru figures, as they are hidden quite well in the surrounding areas, as well as triggering all endings.
Presentation – The Convenience Store uses a mix of low-poly and photorealistic visuals, to create an unsettling and uncanny look to the experience. This is combined with a dark and tense atmosphere surrounding the brightly lit store, further adding to the horrors in the shadows. The sound is subtle, with environmental sound and limited voice work, giving it an isolated feel during play. There is also a VHS filter, adding effects that give it a retro feel.
Final Thoughts – I had seen the PC version of this game doing the rounds when it first came out, but I never go around to it. So when I was given the chance to play this version of the game, I was very happy to take it on and finally jump into the horror. I will say that I had a thoroughly enjoyable experience playing this game, with the atmosphere and setting making the horror work well. There wasn’t an over reliance on jumpscares, which makes it even better.
The experience does feel a little slow, but that works for the atmosphere that the game wants to build. As the “boredom” of the retail tasks can cause players to let their guard down, leaving them open to being caught off guard by the scares. Also, as the game has a shorter run time, it can easily be replayed several times and experienced with others. I am happy to recommend this game to horror fans, looking for an atmospheric and suspenseful horror experience.
In the end, I give The Convenience Store a final score of 4.75/5. This is an effective and suspenseful horror, with a tense atmosphere, plenty of content to engage with and supernatural elements that don’t rely on jumpscares to be unsettling. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game is below.
Link to Nintendo Switch 2 version (HERE)
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
