The shadow chase scene after going to the woods and talking about loneliness and the spark of hope flickering away is far, far too difficult. I've only gotten to the tar-water once or twice out of at least ten attempts, and never further. I understand that some games are difficult on purpose, which is part of their appeal, but I didn't expect a game like this to require frame-perfect key-smashing and navigation. I can't learn from the experience because it seems whether the hands grab you when they're close is random. I'm growing increasingly frustrated at what feels like an artificial roadblock that no amount of retries can fix.
I've tried running diagonally, continuously. I've tried running diagonally, in a twitchy, down then right, down then right, sort of way. I've tried walking, I've tried going in the opposite direction. I've tried boosting Charlie's mood prior to the sequence's start. If some method of running is slightly faster than the other, some NPC ought to tell the player as much.
For it to be fair, and not just a matter of luck, the hands need to be slightly slower or one method needs to be dependably faster. I'd rather play this as intended, and not just watch a playthrough, but if there's no way to get past those hands, I'll have to watch playthrough.