even as a pre-aplha, this was a very solid and intriguing experience! :D
i'll try not to get into the visuals too much since obviously it's almost all placeholders right now, so i'll focus mostly on the story and writing, which were really strong all the way through!
(SPOILERS)
i love how the plot toys with expectations all the time; howard's demeanor going from completely detached from morality to guilt-ridden to surprisingly nice to others, the reunion with thomas seeming friendly at first but eventually turning violent, thomas' true intentions, the culprit of the mystery, hell even the fact that there's a mystery at all is not 100% obvious (aside from the mention of the pill bottle moving). i never knew what was coming next and it kept me really wanting to know how everything was going to end, and the ending itself was damn brutal! you're really great at ending stories in a memorable and satisfying way :> and the dialogue is really solid too; it captures the personality and demeanor of each character extremely well (though i'm guessing it'll do that even better when the character portraits are implemented). there's a lot of moments that got stuck in my mind, like howard calling mike by his name and his window tag changing from "bartender" to it, or howard having guns stored everywhere throughout the house haha. aaa the plot is just so so good. it's a really interesting concept executed in an intriguing as hell way. and the multiple meanings of the title! ohhh that's good, that's so clever.
despite not being a full-on horror game (at least not in the traditional sense) the story and atmosphere kept me pretty tense all the way through. obviously the plot's themes are really dark and morbid, as well as the ending, but the way everything is presented also really helps in setting the mood. like the footstep sounds in the middle of the night, or the music and sounds at key scary moments. and tbh, the presentation not being overtly "horror game" made it so the few spooks that were there really got me haha. just great work all around.
(i was going to mention that i got a bug that softlocked my save file, but then i saw that you just fixed it with an update, so thanks for reading my mind! :D haha)
this was reaaally cool, and i can't wait for the full release! no rush to you, limin and bujinski though, obviously :>