We Belong Dead

We Belong Dead released in full, and entirely free, on Steam on June 9, 2026, a horror visual novel from a small team credited as Fable Bae, Jonaya Riley, Floober, lycheegrave, Eromancery, CINEMACHINE, and Myth, published under Fable Was Here. It follows a mad scientist determined to bring back her dead lover, who has instead become a ghost still haunting the living, and grew out of the Spooktober 2025 visual novel jam before its full free Steam release. Its 17-review English pool sits at a unanimous Positive (17 up, 0 down, 100%), and the reviews describe a short, confident, deliberately uncomfortable piece of dark romance that reviewers found unusually well-executed for its scope.

The central relationship, and the game's refusal to soften it into something more conventionally palatable, draws the pool's most consistent and detailed praise. One long, detailed reviewer wrote that "there is a constant feeling that the scientist is willing to go far too far because she cannot accept losing someone she loves," adding "I like that the game actually commits to the uncomfortable side of its idea instead of trying to make everything pleasant." A separate reviewer praised the writing specifically for avoiding an obvious trap: the protagonist, despite being "obsessive," still comes across as "complex and likeable and doesn't just fall into the 'yandere stereotype.'" A third reviewer called it "a well done variation on the Frankenstein story," noting the game explores "a variety of endings, some creepier than others."

Presentation drew equally strong, specific praise across the pool. The detailed reviewer cited above called the visual approach a genuine strength, noting "the character art, darker backgrounds and supernatural elements give it a strong horror visual novel feeling without needing huge amounts of animation," and specifically flagged "nearly 60 CGs" as helping "the important story moments stand out." A separate reviewer, who tested the game specifically on Steam Deck, called it "very solid work, especially for what seems to be a game made on a budget for a jam," adding that "the interface and color palette are really unique and do a lot for the immersion, the VHS-style visuals were a great idea." Not every reviewer agreed on that last point: a different reviewer wrote "the VHS filter is a bit hit or miss, experiment with and without it. In the end, I preferred without it," a useful, practical note for anyone starting the game for the first time. Helpfully, one reviewer specifically flagged that the VHS effect can be toggled off from the in-game pause menu, alongside a separate night-mode light filter that intensifies the same eye strain if stacked with it.

The six branching endings, and specifically how tightly they connect to the story's central resurrection premise rather than functioning as minor epilogue variations, were singled out repeatedly as a meaningful piece of design. The detailed reviewer noted "the extra endings are actually tied to the strange relationship and the decisions around bringing someone back rather than just being minor changes to the final scene," while another wrote they "played through it twice in one sitting, as the early choice in the game allows for a completely different path with its own unique dialogue and story." A third reviewer called out "the successful mechanical reincarnation" ending specifically as "the creepiest one" among the set, a level of specific engagement with individual branches that speaks to how much reviewers wanted to see them all.

Length is the pool's one recurring, genuinely corroborated limitation, though framed by nearly every reviewer as an understandable tradeoff rather than a real flaw. One reviewer clocked "about 45 minutes" on a single route, while another, reading every line aloud, took "about 4 hours" to get through everything. The detailed reviewer put the honest tension directly: "the central idea is strong, but there is only so much room for the characters and world to develop before I reach the end," adding they "sometimes wanted more time with the characters before an important moment happened." That same reviewer, however, concluded they'd "rather have a short game with a clear identity than a longer one that waters the idea down," a sentiment echoed closely enough by the rest of the pool that it reads as the group's shared verdict on the tradeoff rather than a lone opinion.

Content and tone drew one more specific, useful note worth passing along directly, since the game's storefront description undersells how measured its execution actually is. One reviewer reported that despite the dark premise, "the gore was actually fairly minimal," adding "definitely dark themes, but visuals weren't too bad," and specifically noted approvingly that they "didn't notice any AI usage" in the game's assets. That same reviewer also praised the visible scale of the credited team, noting they "seem to have a long list of people working on this" for a project of this size and price. A separate reviewer described the writing's tonal balance as a real strength in its own right, noting the story "does not take itself too seriously all the time," with "a strange sense of humour that stops the whole thing from becoming miserable" despite its subject matter.

Taken together, We Belong Dead is a small, sharply-written horror romance that clearly knows exactly what kind of story it wants to tell and executes it with real confidence, strong art, and enough branching structure to reward a second and third playthrough. Its brevity is the one honest complaint worth flagging, and the specific, upfront content, obsessive relationships, blood, body horror, means it's a deliberate mood pick rather than something for every player. But for a completely free release born out of a game jam, with writing and presentation reviewers repeatedly called out as unusually polished, it's an easy, distinctive recommendation for anyone drawn to dark, toxic, Frankenstein-flavored romance.