damn this was REALLY effective and unnerving!
rotting away is just a neverending source of dread and self-reflection in concept alone, and this game makes excellent use of it. just the writing style and the way the environment & descriptions changed subtly which each day was not only tense but... honestly really depressing at the same time. i think the way the narration works is really clever; splitting it into the main character and a "narrator" makes everything seem even more unstable, like yeah at this point i'd also start talking to myself like i was two people haha. and how the dialogue and descriptions balanced dark humor with genuine moments of the main character thinking was really neat. it felt uncomfortable... but in a good way? like, that's definitely the feeling the game is trying to convey, and it does so extremely well.
(SPOILERS)
i think it was a really clever decision to not reveal a big "event" that sparked why the main character feels this way, instead just letting you get lost in these feelings, knowing as little as they do as to why everything is like this. and everything going further wrong (emma dying, food and trash filling the room, the power being cut) just further emphasizes how what they're doing isn't helping, and they know this, but can't bring themselves to change it for reasons even they don't know. it... well, it hit surprisingly hard haha. it's not difficult for me to get invested in a character getting lost in their own mind (idk if i should be worried about that but oh well), but the way it's done here feels like it takes a really unique angle :D
a liminace game having good art? wow what an original compliment- no but srsly tho, i really loved how the presentation aided the storytelling here. not only is the main character's design great (their baggy eyes and constant resting bitch face are a highlight), but the room itself becomes a character with a say in everything. every time i woke up and found something new, i couldn't tell if it was there the whole time, if it had changed, if it was normal or if it was supernatural... not helped by how moldy and disgusting everything looks lol. idk if that feeling of not knowing what changed and what didn't was intentional but it was a really immersive touch that made me connect even more with the character.
this is probably the most subjective complaint ever but... i don't love the visual novel UI? (the save, load, log, etc.) it probably needed to be there considering how much of the game is pure dialogue, but it broke my immersion a bit whenever i was really getting really invested. or maybe i'm just really used to your games not having those buttons lmao (also i think the log mechanic kind of breaks with messages that are too long? idk if that's a plugin and you can't really fix it but i thought i'd mention it). on the other hand, point and click!! i'm sure it's a lot easier to implement than it looks like but it genuinely breaks my brain whenever i see it in rpg maker games haha.
overall this was a fantastic game!! and a really disturbing thinking exercise to boot. genuinely impressive that this was made in 4 days, fantastic stuff.