Once again we notice a trend: although there are few AAA releases, and the existing releases disappoint many, niche indie games are suddenly popping up. There have already been such examples, of Sublanguage and Stardew Valley before Hades and Disco Elysium. Such a phenomenon occurred in the last weeks of 2024 MiSide is a horror anime from Russian developers, in which the charming girl Mita turns the main character’s life into a nightmare.
The game became an unexpected hit. According to preliminary and extremely rough estimates, MiSide has already sold more than 900,000 copies and earned its authors approximately $9 million. And the game does not even think about slowing down, it continues, as they say, to hype the coming year.
Where does all this fuss come from? What is MiSide and does it deserve the popularity it has suddenly gained? Let’s find out in our review.

If MiSide has somehow passed you by, sincere advice: read no further. It’s better to dive into this game without knowing absolutely anything about it. Even the developers themselves seem to insist on this – both in the trailer and in other promotional materials they show almost nothing and limit themselves exclusively to hints. Therefore, give MiSide the opportunity to surprise yourself – this is how the game will fully reveal itself.
Where does this MiSide of yours come from?
For the authors, AIHASTO, MiSide is not the first work. They already had a dozen releases, five of which were on Steam. As a rule, these are also dark atmospheric games with a psychedelic twist. The horror anime with Mita became the sixth – and a lucky one.


On December 11, the game was released on Steam. It took about a week for her to become a hit. MiSide immediately fell in love with streamers and allows players of all shapes and colors to play. Walkthroughs on YouTube are viewed millions of times and in the unofficial top of the highest-rated releases of 2024, it ranks first. Even surpassed the one praised by critics Balatro.

Why are we doing all this? And besides, there were only two people working on the game. They are listed in the credits as MakenCat and Umeerai, but they are in no hurry to de-anonymize. It is only known that both come from Russia – according to rumors, from the Urals. But now they have fans all over the world. Even in the country whose aesthetics inspired them: Japan. And there are reasons for that.
Hello, I’m Mita!
An ordinary, hardworking programmer takes the place of an ordinary Japanese schoolboy as the main character in MiSide. He spends his days between four walls, sitting in front of the computer, and is too lazy to even empty the trash.

But then Mita appears in his life. A cute anime girl with ponytails is a character from a dating simulator. An innocent toy on a smartphone attracts the main character, and he spends every day with the virtual “waifu”, fulfilling her seemingly endless requests.

Collect the things lying around the room, cut carrots, find a comb, buy a TV, give something… Mita asks and asks, but she is sweet and looks into her eyes so soulfully – how can I refuse? And here’s another request: she wants to be together. Really and truly.
Before we know it we are sucked into the virtual world. Up close it is no longer as rainbow colored as it seemed on the phone screen. There is a beige-pink paradise everywhere, but fear is slowly starting to creep into my thoughts. It’s true that for now, instead of a jump scare, we get a long-awaited meeting with Mita.

Everything is quite nice: we talk, watch TV, cook together, play. And we encounter the first quirks that subtly hint at Mita’s true nature. At this stage, the developers masterfully play with contrasts and skillfully create tension. That same syrupy feeling of an impending nightmare that you encounter less and less often in horror films.

To make the idyll fall apart, all it takes is a knock from the bedroom closet. When the intrigued protagonist tries to check what is going on, Mita’s face changes. It looks like the cutie has a secret and we’re not going to like it at all.
From a wet dream to a nightmare
This is where the game really begins. We find another Mita, a nice one, who sends us on a quest through old versions of the simulator. And what a search!
Without going into unnecessary details, let’s say this: the game begins to change its mask and morph into other genres and titles. There is a segment in style DOOM, a small fragment with stealth, a spatial loop, like in the Japanese horror The Exit 8, an outright parody of “Eeverlasting Summer” and other small and not so loans.

It seems like a very dubious mix, but in MiSide such a strange combination of incongruous things works. All that remains is to watch this kaleidoscope with fascination and wonder what will happen next. About the same as in the already old one, but no less cool The Stanley Parable.

At the same time, MiSide does not forget its nature for a second. This is still a horror film, which, by the way, manages to scare. There are both relatively quiet episodes in which a variety of horror is created, as well as intense episodes full of action and sudden violence. Some discoveries, such as breaking the fourth wall in the world of 2D Mita, really evoke genuine respect. The developers opted for experimental movements, and it worked.
I didn’t screw up
Admittedly, there is one area where the developers don’t seem to have been particularly creative. This is the script. Mita is just a classic yandere. For those who have a love life, let’s clarify: this is the archetype of an anime girl who is so crazy about her love interest that she is willing to kill. Mita lives up to 99 percent of this Japanese cliché. The same can be said about most of her other versions, but at least with them it’s justified. They are made this way to please the players.

There is no real depth to the plot or dialogue, just an appearance of it. This raises comparisons with Doki Doki Literature Club, a MiSide-like indie horror that made waves in 2017. Where MiSide relatively timidly breaks the fourth wall, Doki Doki simply leaves no stone unturned. And therefore in everything that has to do with history and character development. This doesn’t spoil MiSide much, but it does leave the infamous “but it could have been even better” aftertaste.
The closer we get to the end, the stronger the feeling that the developers have cut it a bit short. They didn’t evoke Mita as a character, didn’t outline her motivation clearly enough, and didn’t develop the ending well. By the way, about her.

There are several endings in MiSide, but they are all equally blurry, even the so-called main ending. It seems like AIHASTO started playing plot twist towards the end. There are a whole bunch of ‘shocking’ plot twists at the end, but essentially they all amount to the same thing. Therefore, at the finish there is a feeling that the game is stuck. You can have different attitudes towards such scenario decisions, but we were not happy with the outcome in the spirit of ‘repetition is the mother of learning’.
Did you like the ending of MiSide?
Of course, this is all quite nitpicking. In fact, it’s good that the game knows its strengths and doesn’t try to jump over its heads everywhere and all at once. However, once you complete the passage, which lasts at most four hours, you still can’t shake the thought that something was clearly missing from this mini-adventure.
Will there be an addition?
The developers also understand that they didn’t do everything they could. Umeerai and MakenCat plan to use the popularity and resources that have fallen on their heads to complete MiSide.
A peace regime has already been officially announced. It becomes available after you complete the game and you can just spend time with Mita in it. They also plan to add new endings. For example, in the future the player will be able to help other Mits.

The game has many fans and they all unanimously ask for more. MiSide is already an excellent game for the money, but when extra content is added, it becomes a real must-have.
Technical points
Aesthetically – in terms of image and sound – we like MiSide. The graphics in the game are as simple as possible, but perfectly create the atmosphere of a dating simulator with the dark side.
Every bug in the game is a feature: the developers actively flirt with the idea of ​​a virtual world full of flaws. When you open the door, instead of a room you find a loading screen, objects without textures and painfully familiar windows with an error message. This is fresh in its own way and adds a special charm to MiSide.

MiSide has Russian voice actors – there is not much to say about it, the work is of high quality. It doesn’t irritate me, but it doesn’t bother me either. The music and sound design don’t quite catch the eye, but they do their job well. Especially if the player needs to be quite scared.
You don’t need a top PC to play the game. Perhaps this is also the reason why MiSide became so popular. But is it deserved…
When we try to describe MiSide in one word, one thing comes to mind: charming. Full of experimental solutions and humor that contrast with dark moments, the game is inviting. Even if it’s a little disappointing, you don’t really want to focus on it.
MiSide, as cheesy as it may sound, has a secret ingredient. Just like Mita’s signature sauce. This is love. The developers clearly treat their creation with great trepidation – it is palpable in every word, in every detail.
Therefore, to the question of whether MiSide deserves its hype, I would answer: yes, definitely. While major studios throw money into thin air, two programmers from Russia have created a game that has captivated hundreds of thousands of players around the world. And they don’t plan to stop there. We can only wait for new achievements from them.
Source: VG Times

Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.