A wonderful and utterly amazing game, chock full of easter eggs and charm. This game might as well be the epitome of passion in a game, the golden standard for indie games. And for FREE??? This is a miracle. A MIRACLE, I TELL YOU!
And dare I say, this game has some genius gameplay design philosophy, where curiosity is both rewarded and punished, after all...curiosity, kills the Kat.
This game also has really good writing for a free indie game, one most certainly intriguing introduction that really reels you in with questions from the beginning. The puzzles are fun, but there's also alternate ways to complete some of them, which again, ties with the whole idea of "curiosity". The premise of completing rituals and the supernatural is also really well executed, because the whole appeal of the supernatural is its enigmatic nature that is at its core. To further solidify my point, take a show like "Jujutsu Kaisen". In theory, it's a show on the supernatural, but at a certain point, the shift of the story goes from "spooky ghosts with lots of intrigue", to your basic, superpowered shounen, where power creep and the plot ultimately take away that cryptic and occult feel, it no longer feels like exorcising ghosts and feels more like just battling people with cool powers. Paper Lily isn't like that. Sure, it sure is odd comparing games to shows, but the focus on the keeping some of the secrets still veiled is a very nice touch. The humour is also quite stellar, giving a nice break between the scary sections, very lighthearted and comedic for a psychological horror. Speaking of horror, this game excels at it, serving as a nice bridge for inexperienced newbies (like me) in the genre, as it doesn't play with too many jumpscares, but instead, it fills you with a certain dread and paranoia, as well as using disturbing imagery and a teeny tiny bit of gore. Plus, just like any other pixelated indie game, there's a lot of flavor text, which is always a plus. And the artstyle, oh the ARTSTYLE is so, so cozy, the mix of the pixelated overworld and visual novel style character models and cutscenes is a classic, but it WORKS!! The ambient soundtrack is so immersive and so addicting, it fits the game perfectly, either reserved to enhance the chill vibes, or for intensifying the scares, and I just absolutely wish, YEARN, for the soundtrack to be on Spotify (waaahhh, I'm sad). And each character is, unsuprisingly, incredibly lovable. Not to mention, because of the multiple endings, achievements, and second chapter (coming soon), you can milk this game for hours on end. I only have five hours on it right now, but it's completely and utterly excellent.
11/10