Among the genres that are the toughest to evaluate in gaming and may be the most divisive are those that are “walking simulators” at their core. These games are generally focused on deliberate (that’s polite, “slow” may be more accurate) exploration (you could argue meandering in many cases) of an environment as you stumble into areas and situations that advance the story. Now, under the hood Kholat has quite a bit on its side, mostly the legitimately creepy and mysterious story summarized in the game’s opening moments… and that seems to promise some tense frights and craziness, but for the most part you’d unfortunately be mistaken. There’s certainly plenty of atmosphere and tension in the air as you try to orient yourself on the map, between the sounds on the wind and sparse environments you feel very isolated and exposed. If you relish that essence, and are less concerned with the big payoffs you may actually get a kick out of the game, it drips atmosphere, but with everything being so drawn out the experience is also highly dependent on your patience and attention span. If you’re able to stick it out there are some thrills in store for you, but if you were hoping for anything remotely resembling a quick hit of adrenaline you won’t find it here.