It’s been two years since I escaped the hellish grasp of Yeondu High School in the Korean horror White Day: A Labyrinth Named School. While it was very good at what it did, I never expected to willingly enrol for such scares again. Nevertheless, here I am preparing to wander back in with the arrival of the more episodic-focused White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies – Complete Edition.
Can White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies conjure up another scary experience at school capable of luring you in, or should you just run in the opposite direction?
White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies is set on 14 March, 2001, a mere day after the events of the original White Day. Traditionally, it’s a day celebrated by boys giving gifts to girls, but the only thing the protagonists want here are answers to the mysterious goings on at Yeondu High School. This sees four people, with ties to various incidents, sneaking into the premises on the same night to seek solace.
Their ventures are told across three different episodes, with episode one centred on Jung Soo-jin who drags Jang Sungtae along reluctantly. Soo-jin wants to clear her name after rumours started circling around that she’s involved in the death of another student. Meanwhile, episode two follows former trainee teacher Kang Seo-Yeon as she investigates the death of her father and uses the power of the occult in the process. And last, but not least, is freshman Yoo Ji-min, showing determination in episode three to find a way to bring peace to the restless spirit of Han Na-young – the older sister of Han So-Young from the first game.
The most notable thing from the outset is the graphical enhancement between the two games, with White Day 2 opting for a more modern and realistic presentation style. You could say they’ve taken one step forward and two steps back however, because despite bringing the visuals up to date, it’s apparent that there are issues.
The story cutscenes are infrequent and fairly short, but they stutter a lot and textures pop-in midway through. It looks messy and the texture popping is something that carries over into the general game setting, which isn’t ideal. The English voiceovers also suffer from a lack of quality, with a serious drop in standard compared to the native Korean actors. Further confounding the animated scenes is the fact that the short interactions are usually ambiguous in their content, adding little to the narrative.
As for the gameplay, you’ll have to explore the sprawling buildings of Yeondu High in first-person perspective and face a whole host of dangers. Aside from trying to avoid death though, there’s a real emphasis on searching for anything useful to allow access to different parts of the school. These range from keys to open up classrooms and locked boxes to bolt cutters and eventually the creation of talismans to breach certain doors. Often though, the real progression comes through solving a series of puzzling conundrums.
The puzzling aspect of White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies is a real draw due to the fact that the solutions are cleverly implemented in various ways. It may require you to simply collect items scattered throughout the school, or figure out a code, but the cool part is that you’ll get clues to the answers within certain documents and hidden in the environment surrounding you. A perfect example of this done well involves recovering text books and then re-ordering them according to the class schedule for a particular day. Other types include playing piano notes in a particular order, listening out for the ‘Happy Birthday’ melody to locate gingerbread man, and recreating The Last Supper mural.
Along the way, seeking the items for problem solving also results in you acquiring documentation that provides lore relating to the damned educational facility. It’s fascinating to read the notes, diary entries and such, which do a far better job of explaining the truly creepy history of the place. That’s when you have time to read of course, because threats of all kinds are looming and a momentary lapse in focus could be the end of you.
Much like the original game, patrolling threats will roam the premises for the most part. Instead of the janitor however, there are possessed police officers, a butcher-like watchman, and even a ghostly being. If they spot or hear you, the chase is on to lose them or suffer a damn beating to death. I understand the fear factor by including them, but my god it’s annoying because it’s tricky to gauge their line of sight and you have to know the place like the back of your hand to escape their clutches. It’s also quite disorienting when you’ve finished fleeing, and then you have to try to retrace your steps without being spotted once more. Sure, you can find disposable cameras to temporarily stun the hunters on occasion, but they are still an absolute nuisance in every sense.
To make matters worse, there are unavoidable chase sequences that are probably going to see you die and die until you figure out an efficient route to safety. These are akin to mini-boss battles I suppose, and while they’re not fun in any way, the other deadly encounters are better. Getting hands on with mannequins and partaking in a violent game of hide and seek are just two examples of intense and exhilarating moments. And while they’re pretty scary, you’ll certainly find scares elsewhere too.
Outside of the set pieces, the appearances of ghosts can be triggered in a variety of locations. Prepare to shiver as a head peers out of the upper window of a room, jumps out at you from a locker, or even crawls across the ceiling. You’re always wondering when the next jumpscare will occur and the timing of such occurrences are sure to catch you out. Especially as you’re constantly on edge due to the excellent sound design. Roaring thunder, whispering, eerie voices, doors slamming shut, and more really add to the overall tension.
As this is the Complete Edition of White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies, I must explain that all three episodes are available immediately and you can play them in any order, if you wish. I’d recommend episode one first as it is better all-round than the other two, while episode three seems to run out of steam. Whatever you decide, each episode has multiple endings to achieve, with a total of fourteen, which adds to the replayability. Personally, I feel it’s a bit overkill and I don’t think there’s enough potential variation to warrant additional attempts, but I guess it depends how much you enjoy it.
Ultimately, White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies – Complete Edition’s best assets are the well-crafted puzzles and a very spooky school that’s primed for exploring. Unfortunately the patrolling threats and chase sequences are an unwelcome distraction, meaning you’re unable to fully appreciate the clever solutions and lore tidbits. It’s also a shame that the visuals are shoddy, with cutscenes that judder and struggle to play out. And don’t even get me started on the script or the acting, because it’s bad for so many reasons. Still, the scares are bloody good and there’s a lot to fear from start to finish, which is important in a horror!
I’d maybe suggest waiting for White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies – Complete Edition to get a price cut or an update, before heading back to Yeondu High.
