Hanako is a Survival Horror Video Game by Chilla's Art. It is based on the Japanese Urban Legend of Hanako-san
.
There's a rumour about a girl named Hanako. She is said to have cut herself with a giant knife and bled to death in the third stall of the school's third-floor bathroom, staining her clothes red (giving her the red dress she's known for). Now she haunts the bathroom, appearing to anyone who summons her, and wanting to play with them.
You and your friends Eri and Yume have come to the school tonight with the intention to summon Hanako. You just better make sure you really want to do that.
The game was released on December 11th, 2020.
Hanako contains examples of:
- Always Night: The game is set at night.
- Antagonist Title: Hanako is the ghost girl you need to survive against.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: The Wanderers are Weakened by the Light, so naturally the Jorogumo faces you in a huge auditorium full of powerful spotlights that the protagonist can train on it to destroy it.
- Decapitation Presentation: Subverted. Hanako is shown in one cutscene holding what appears to be a severed head, but it's revealed to belong to a mannequin, not a person. The protagonist uses it to replace the Kubinashi's missing head and defeat her.
- Extra Eyes: One of the Wanderers, the Dodomeki, has a body covered in eyes.
- Giant Spider: The Jorogumo.
- Greed: The Dodomeki was a person obsessed with money before their transformation.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The Kubinashi was insecure about her looks and envious of others before becoming a Wanderer. Yume reveals that she was envious of Eri and ended up thinking about her instead of the intended target of Hanako's curse when the trio summoned her, which may be why the ritual went wrong.
- Hit Points: Your health is indicated by a percentage number in the inventory screen. 100% is full health.
- Kids Are Cruel: The protagonist and her friends are trying to summon Hanako in the first place in order to curse a classmate they don't like, going by what Eri says at the beginning. Of course, they succeed but it doesn't go well for them.
- Lock and Key Puzzle: There are a LOT of locked doors in this game that require a key to open.
- Multiple Endings: There are three, determined by whether you take Eri back from the spirit world with you at the very end, leave her, or choose to drink the blood in the well. Rescuing Eri has the protagonist and her friends return to their normal life, but a New Transfer Student named Hanako eventually joins their class. If you're unable to rescue Eri, she disappears and is implied to eventually become the new Hanako spirit haunting the school. If you choose to drink the blood, the protagonist is the one who becomes the new Hanako instead.
- One-Word Title: Naturally.
- P.O.V. Cam: You view the game through a first-person perspective.
- Pride: The Jorogumo was full of herself and couldn't comprehend it when her lover left her for someone that she didn't think was as good as herself.
- Ring Menu: The inventory is set up in this manner when you view it in the inventory screen.
- Save Point: A shrine in a room in the school serves as a save point in the game. You need a coin to use it, though.
- Sprint Meter: One of these appears when you start running. It only refills when you stop moving.
- Token Good Teammate: The ghost woman who appears before each boss you encounter is the only spirit in the school who doesn't cause any harm, and she offers helpful advice for dealing with each of the Wanderers.
- Was Once a Man: Hanako was a normal girl before she became a vengeful ghost. The Wanderers were also once regular people who became twisted by their vices and either through Hanako's direct efforts or just by association with her, they became monsters themselves. In two of the endings, the protagonist or her friend also become spirits.
- Weakened by the Light: The Wanderers are all weak to "the light of the natural world," which includes both the protagonist's flashlight and candles that indicate safe rooms.
