Highlands, Deep Waters (v2024.09.05)

A murder in an isolated Scottish town opens into a far more unsettling investigation, where ancient loyalties, secret societies, and things from the deep press in on every answer. Highlands, Deep Waters is a choice-driven cosmic-horror novel that trades visuals and combat for atmosphere, consequence, and the slow dread of realizing the truth may be worse than the crime. Its mood is grim, literary, and deliberately claustrophobic, making the town feel like a place with a long memory and very little desire to be understood. Every lead carries the possibility of revelation, deception, or a personal cost that cannot be undone.

Players choose between a detective trained to read people and evidence, a criminal with useful underworld instincts, or a scholar equipped to confront forbidden knowledge. The investigation revolves around pursuing suspects, making alliances, searching locations, and piecing scattered details together through a deduction system that asks you to interpret clues rather than merely collect them. Decisions shape relationships, available routes, and the ultimate explanation behind the murder, while a sanity mechanic reflects the psychological strain of confronting the supernatural. There are no reflex tests or graphical set pieces; the challenge comes from judgment, reading carefully, and deciding how much of yourself you are willing to sacrifice for a complete solution.

What stands out is the scale and density of its writing: this is a substantial interactive novel with a detailed setting, a mapped-out community, and characters who feel embedded in its history rather than placed there to hand out quests. The Lovecraft-inspired horror works best when it remains ambiguous, letting imagination fill in the most disturbing gaps while the branching narrative encourages repeat investigations from different social positions. Character identity is flexible, including gender and sexual orientation options, but the story’s central threat treats every protagonist as equally expendable. Fans of Choice of Games-style fiction, Disco Elysium’s investigative uncertainty, or slow-burn folk horror will find plenty to enjoy, especially if they prefer thoughtful narrative role-playing over action.