itch.io

how do I even start... First things first: I played around 60 different entries so far, and I think this one is - without any sarcasm - actually my favourite one. the strange part is, I am not even sure if that is by accident or design, so bear with me, I will have to do some monologuing here.
the game succeeds spectacularly in creating a deeply unsettling feeling - this much I am sure was intended. the thing that fascinates me so much is how all of the games imperfections adds to that feeling: the low poly graphics, that are so basic and (please excuse my honesty here) obscenely ugly and shown in clear daylight, the enemy behavior that isn't clearly communicated but then does weird stuff like teleport you randomly making the game seem to glitch out, and those creepy shadowy crawlers that seem invincible(? who can really say), the obscure UI that make simple tasks like putting in a 4-digit code feel like a true accomplishment, the need to jump up stairs, the capsule collider shadow of yourself, even the massive framedrops down to 1fps seem intentional. the whole game feels like it was found on a cursed disk in some 90s psycho-thriller-black-mirror-episode. I thought about why I kept playing this clearly broken or at least rediculously unpolished piece of a game, why I was so fascinated with it even though I might have just discounted it as a pretty badly developed game, and I think I came to the conclusion that it was the sound design that brought it all together. it was the part of the game that was so clearly expertly crafted, that it convinced me that all the other pieces were intentional as well. it convinced me that you used the language of broken and unpolished video games to intentionally create an unsettling game that at least for me was therefore so much more interesting and compelling than a game that would simply expertly recreate the optics of big budget horror movie.

so, yeah. I don't know what you will make of this review, but I had to get that out.
Also: can you tell me if there's anything beyond the blue flag? it feels like a symbol of a goal that should be reached, but as nothing happened I can't be sure if this it the end. which - following my above logic - again just adds to the mystery of the game, so maybe don't tell me ;-)