a great story told with a really solid presentation!
i'm honestly really fond of games that focus on plot above everything else. like, i love innovative gameplay and super stylized art as much as the next guy, but sometimes it's nice to walk from scene to scene and just be told a super intriguing story, ya know? and this game's story REALLY does the job at making you intrigued. i loved alga and really wanted to see her get her freedom! she's a super endearing character that i never got tired of. every time her wishes were denied i got like, actually upset haha (in a good way ofc). and the actual mermaids plot surrounding everything was super well done! i love how by the end i didn't *fully* understand the entire lore, but was still able to follow everything that happened (i guess like alga lol). really great job.
i also really liked the way the entire game was presented! i feel like games that are "flashier" on the visuals part get a lot of credit compared to games like these, but i think little details are what REALLY makes a presentation stand out. i loved things like the pauses in dialogue, the footprints on the ground, the footstep sounds, the all-consuming darkness in the cave... i was honestly shocked with how many plugins were named in the credits, but it really goes to show how much attention to detail was put into this game, and i respect the hell out of that. and that's without mentioning manual details like the sprite change when you're pushing rocks in the water, the fact that everyone except the important characters are completely blacked out (REALLY cool bit of stylization)...
if i had to critisize anything, i think the hints the game gives to point out what you have to do next got a bit excessive. i know the focus is on the plot, but since the gameplay is already kinda limited, i would've liked to more exploring on my own. that's just personal taste tho. and i feel like the horror elements could've been more emphasized, especially in the cave segment. but that's about it, i loved pretty much everything else.
overall, this was a great game that i'm so glad to have checked out! :D games with giant walls of dialogue are good, people! WAKE UP!!