Serafini Productions' Japanese psychological horror game is creepy, stressful and loud in all the right ways, and the sound design gets right in your ear.
Verdict Play It Now
The team behind BrokenLore: DON’T LIE sent me an early pre-release build of the game ahead of launch, and I’ll be honest: it messed with me. Creepy, stressful and loud, with sound that whispers right in your ear.
Watch the RAW IMPRESSIONS
BrokenLore: DON’T LIE RAW IMPRESSIONS: Put On Headphones and Let It Mess With YouBrokenLore: DON'T LIE messed with me. It's a dope game.
CMoney, OnPoint 4 Gamers
What it is
BrokenLore: DON’T LIE is a first-person Japanese psychological horror game from Serafini Productions, published by Wired Productions. You step into the life of Junko, a young woman who has withdrawn into a small apartment after a lifetime of abandonment and rejection. As her mental state slips, lies, medication and fragile bonds blur the line between reality and nightmare, and familiar spaces warp into reflections of her past. It features full Japanese voice acting and connects to the earlier BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH and its lead, Shinji. The full game launched September 10, 2026 on Xbox Series X|S and PC from $15.99. What I played was an early, pre-release build, so some details may differ from the full game.
Sound that gets inside your head
Play this with headphones on and a controller in your hand. The sound design is the star. It whispers in your ear, it gets loud when you don’t expect it and it keeps you tense the whole time. Following red and green lights down paths while something is chasing you had my heart going.
A story that keeps twisting
In the early build, exploring the apartment and reading messages between Shinji and Hideo pulls you into the mystery. Then there’s a masked man at the door, and a twist involving a woman calling both of them that I did not see coming. Some of the hallways have that cold, sanitized office look that feels wrong in the best way.
Verdict: Play It Now
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BrokenLore: DON’T LIE is a dope horror game that messed with me in all the right ways. Based on the early build, if you like psychological horror that gets under your skin, grab your headphones and play the full release.
This is not a review, so there’s no score here.
Screens from an early pre-release build. Featured image: OnPoint 4 Gamers.
