The 9th Charnel

Broken bones.

Immediately upon receiving review code for The 9th Charnel, I simply had to look up just what exactly a charnel was. Apparently, this is the building located next to a graveyard used for storing human bones that possibly were unearthed during new burials. So, definition aside, just what is The 9th Charnel then. Well, not much, actually.

I’ll stress that it’s taken me longer to review this than it should have, considering the game is around 3 hours in length. This is because about half way through the game, I experienced a game-breaking bug where a computer, essential to progressing the story, would not work. This is the exact same bug that stopped Gamingbolt themselves from completing the game. Therefore, I had to restart, and considering I wasn’t too keen on doing so, I gave myself a few days before diving back in. Saying that, I wish I hadn’t. 

Saikat Deb Creations is a one man team as Saiket Deb is credited as the sole developer for this first-person horror experience, and unfortunately, it shows. While it is certainly ambitious and impressive to craft an entire game on your own, The 9th Charnel just lacks a degree of polish you get from even employing a small team, or even just addressing the issues before you ship. The game features bland level design, with one of the most confusing house layouts I've ever seen, to  horrendous enemy AI, and the same ‘locked door, find key nearby’ loop that doesn't change throughout most of its short length.

While you'll experience flashbacks of a man raising a daughter, you'll embark on this night of horror as Michael, a genetic researcher for the Epsilon Research Institute. Michael and two others from the Institute are driving by a nearby town when a winged creature attacks their vehicle and causes them to crash into the ravine below. Shaken by the accident, Michael is barely able to get to his feet before a strange man, who somehow knows his name, injects Michael with a syringe of some mysterious fluid that is meant to cure him. As his friends are now missing, and presumably dead, he enters into the town to find them and escape.

Now, the premise is fairly intriguing, but the execution of the story, the lack of Michael truly interacting in the moment to moment gameplay, makes for a quiet and lonely game. Sure, you'll meet some of the townsfolk, one who oddly wants to tell you their entire life story without you getting a word in, but you are often just on your own, left to the creatures that will stalk you, or they would, if they were not constantly walking into walls and sometimes not even noticing you are there. In fact, one startled me and they just stood there and walked into me, didn't even care I was in the room. 

For the bulk of the game, you are hiding in lockers, barrels, and under beds, similar to something like Outlast, despite Outlast being a vastly more horrifying experience. Here, the enemy AI is so brain-dead that you can run right into a locker in front of them, and they will stand at the locker for two minutes before walking randomly away. I also find it annoying that you cannot look around while in cover, as you only have your direct line of sight to determine if the threats around you are gone. And since the enemy AI is fairly broken, they can often pass by your line of sight and then immediately back, having no sort of pattern to learn. I had one ghoulish foe stand in front of the bed I was hiding under for almost 5 whole minutes.

While you will eventually gain a pistol and shotgun, The 9th Charnel is more of a survival horror game than a first-person shooter, despite what the initial trailers really lean into. I was surprised how long it took to even get the pistol. Still, this lack of firepower does heighten the overall atmospheric tension the developer is trying to achieve. While there is varying levels of success here, The 9th Charnel is far too formulaic and boring to really be invested in to where you really take in the environments, the monstrous threats around you, and the story of this town, and the cults and rituals that are layered on top of everything. 

Most of the game is built on needing an item to progress through a door. However, the first time you do this, it shows a lack of polish and focus to make these moments of tedium to at least be coherent. When you approach your first locked door, it says *Key Required” or something pertaining to a “Key”. So, I spent about ten minutes looking for a key. I found a valve wheel, but no key. Turns out, that valve wheel WAS the key. Regardless, you'll often find what you need conveniently nearby, often in the next room, with barely a puzzle to stump you. 

It also doesn't help that when you are confronted with the purpose of the location, such as when you find a car outside of a large building, it will tell you exactly what to do instead of allowing you to put two and two together yourself. It's a shame Michael himself doesn't say something like “Hmm, if I could find a car battery..”. Also, the car hood doesn't even lift up to show that the car doesn't have a battery. To add, the battery is literally just on the floor in a random room. 

I'm also not a fan of having to equip an item from my inventory to handle any sort of reaction, especially when keys automatically are equipped here, but nothing else is. It's inconsistent, and adds a step that adds nothing to the experience.

Visually, you do have some good looking environments, but any character model in this game is a chore to put up with, especially the daughter featured through the flashbacks. She looks like some sort of doll from a horror movie with the motion-capture of Gollum from The Hobbit. Characters also barely unlock their jaws, speaking through their lips with gritted teeth. It's off-putting and looks extremely bad. I'd say they simply pulled assets from a store, but those are fundamentally better than what is here.

With puzzles that are often spelled out for you, AI that is simply brain dead, and character models and animation that needed more time in the oven, not to mention a game breaking glitch that forced me to restart, The 9th Charnel feels unfinished despite a good attempt and breeding atmosphere. Saikat Deb has set a somewhat decent foundation here, but its execution has resulted in a boring, broken, and bland experience across the board.

Developer - Saiket Deb Creations.
Publisher - Soedesco.
Released - January 30th, 2026.
Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC.
Rated - (M) - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language.
Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X/S.
Review Access - A review code for The 9th Charnel was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.