The spooky visuals contradicting the narrator's composed and relaxed initial commentary had me immediately engaged. It's unsettling to see the environment in a different way than the main character. You know something is up.

I am very bad at handling horror so I had to sit with my girlfriend to go through this one lol. The thing that had me most on edge was the music and sound effects and the subtle and varying ways they glitched out, not to mention that damn Emergency Broadcast alarm that instills visceral fear every time I hear it. I am spooked. Really nice job!

Start screen: *starts glitching out*

Me: Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nop-

---

So yeah, I wasn't really sure how I was going to handle this one, which is part of why it's taken me so long to get around to playing it. (My apologies.) Of course, the horror aspect is incredibly well-done. Despite the game going hard with the imagery early on, there was definitely a sense of progression in terms of ramping up the scares. This is especially apparent with the soundtrack - the way it became more distorted over time (along with the occasional screaming) was an excellent detail. 

One thing in particular that stuck in my mind was the writing style. I could tell almost immediately that the voice was very different from that of Detective Rivers' back in the main VN. It was odd and old-fashioned, with weird emphasis on certain words (which of course made everything feel even more "off"). This threw up all sorts of questions - was this a different character? Or was this the same character after the end of Monochrome, when he's learned the truth? Is he the one adding all that blood? I think I figured it out in the end, but it really got me wondering the whole while. Almost as if I, myself, were trying to solve a mystery.

What's interesting now that I think about it is that it's almost like Rivers wasn't aware of the change in his mental state, yet that shift was what made him more "receptive" to the reality of his existence, hence why the All-In-One decided to pay him a visit. Which is not only a great example of implicit storytelling but also contributes well to the cosmic horror nature of the piece. Great work!

Obviously, this scene does need the extra context of a whole other game to fully understand. Does it stand up on its own regardless? As a horror experience, definitely. As its own narrative? Well, the events do seem to be mostly self-contained, focusing on one location with only slight references to the case,  and without the context I'd imagine the events are more mysterious than confusing. The idea of not being able to fully comprehend what you're seeing and experiencing is also very Lovecraftian. So it still works out in the end, I think.

(Another small note: something that creeped me out immediately was the crude drawing of a boy's face in Rivers' apartment. Like, what is that doing there? Didn't he have issues with kids from the FBI case that went bad? It looks like a child drew it too; just where did he get it from? Why is something like that framed on the wall when he lives alone? Really weird.)

I knew I recognized that guy:

This is a fine example of a Scene. It has a definite exposition, development, and conclusion. You can see the tonal changes clearly delineated. This is very much the fate continuation we mortals deserve!! It resolves all of the ambiguities lingering from the original Monochrome whilst teasing a potential sequel!! A fine period piece.

Rinzai Gigen,

Subliminal Mind.

[({R.G.||S.M.G.)}]