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I just finished the early access and I really dig what you've brought to the table here--conceptually, the idea of a time-displaced ghost putting together the pieces of her own murder before it happens is excellent. I have a small novel of thoughts for you.

(fyi, spoiler alert for people who want to play this demo blind!) The environments in this demo were, for me, absolutely the best part; while the locations are a bit too clean to feel believably lived-in (which is totally understandable for a demo/proof-of-concept anyway), you show off a really sophisticated grasp of how to use color and lighting to your advantage. Sound, too. The bit in the hallway, with the breathing? Amazing. Legitimately unsettling. Honestly, there are a ton of little visual touches in here that are just so good, I could go on for a bit. Like all my favorite horror, you emphasize atmosphere over cheap jump scares.

On the other hand, I think the single greatest flaw in the demo as it stands is the writing. The newspaper articles aren't written in a journalistic style that feels authentic. The text exchanges are stilted. Most egregiously, the journal entries feel more like bland exposition than anything a grieving mother would actually write. It's easy to see that visual art comes more naturally to you than written art, which is great! For a horror game, good strong visuals/atmosphere is the most important part imo, but if you really want this to shine on all fronts, I'd suggest enlisting some friends/writer-y people to help out with the written portions.

Of course, I'm just some rando schmuck on the internet, and I'm a Known Snob about writing shit, so what do I know?

The tl;dr here is: Written portions need work but this is so good, excellent atmosphere and visuals, well worth the experience, and I'll happily play any longer/finished version you come out with!!

Woah thank you for this extensive review. I can definitely look into improving the newspaper articles, I tried my best to write it like a real newspaper article, I even read murder articles prior to writing my own. Of course like you said, I'm not an actual journalist so someone who is more well-versed in journalism or writing can spot the flaws. I can definitely look for someone else to do the writing in the future but right now, I'm working solo (except for a friend who's making the music). I also understand what you mean about the text exchanges, but it is hard to write them completely naturally without making the player feel lost, I have to make sure they know who is who and what exactly is going on etc. But I can certainly try to make them more natural, it is a valid criticism. But anyway, I'm glad you appreciate the work I did with the lighting and the sound, a lot of work went into both (especially lighting) and sometimes it is easy to overlook these elements. Thank you for your constructive review, I will definitely take into consideration some of the things you mentioned :)