Hi Undaeumbra! I apologize for the late reply, but I could get back to my PC only today and I wanted to be able to write a long reply ;w;
I'm a shy person and I still don't think I've put into words my thoughts the way I wanted, but I'm honored of your comment ;\\\;
I read your comment when I was with guests and you have no idea of how much it made me happy. They noticed I was blushing for apparently no reason after looking at the phone (I was on itchio) lol! Thank you for playing my game and also registering on itchio to let me know your thoughts! I see rarely players spending time in the library on the tearoom, from your comment I see you took in account everything and caught also my hints... from the cracks in the floor to the suspicious naming of the characters, I feel understood and at the same time honored you were so attentive to the details ;\\\;
(It's exactly how I wanted the game to be played, I mean, the little hints leading to the plot twists! The library was intentional because:
Bluebeard > corpse of lover hidden in the house
Othello > irrational murder of lover for jealousy
Ignem Magnum Imperium > Nero starting a fire and blaming the victim
The fall of the house of Usher > house collapsing after the reveal of a forbidden love
The biblical quotation > judgement day)
And I'm glad you liked Zakhari too! About the hand, I was going to draw a CG of that but I thought I'd gross out the player too much *cough*
Thank you again for the time you dedicated to Deep Inside and for your comment, I'm really glad to have had you play my little game ;\\\;
Oh no, it seems I was just as late to read your reply... My apologies...
First of all, I'm very glad to hear my rant-comment was well received!
I hope it's not inconvenient of me to reply again but--my god, we could have had a CG for that scene. Now I'm going to have to sit down and process the countless possibilities for that, I would love to know if you had any in mind for it? I'm sincerely still reveling in the CG for Zakhari during those last moments of the story... Not only did it take me off guard initially but it also leaves such a pleasant impact and fits perfectly... Remembering it now makes me want to play it again...!!! I cannot stress enough how much I love the entirety of this game.
And! Yes! Every detail was incredible I can barely keep myself from replaying it so I can go again through the trail... If it were not because I'm busy I definitely would but I suppose the memories will do for now. Something that came to mind about them while thinking further on it is how the puzzles were mostly concerned with things that one could not only indeed find at an old elegant manor but also how it aids to the immersion in the way they all interact with the rest of the aspects... I apologize that the explanation sounds a bit odd... The entire place is really just one house and an adjacent small building to explore but it captures that essence of never ending rooms and space so well that one can almost hear the low echo when walking through...
I'm also glad to hear I caught most of if not all the clues!!! I adore puzzles and also eerie manors and also eerie manors with puzzles and especially when there are literary references involved. Initially I didn't intend to scourge through everything on the very first playthrough but when I found a coin randomly, I had to. And actually the library was one of my favorite places... I'm quite certain I interacted with the books there multiple times while exploring as well... It gave some food for thought about the plot as it advanced and Gareth's character as well... He seemed very interesting from the first apparition and, I realize that against your intention, I decided to give him more thought since Zakhari's comment... It was truly curiosity inducing, so Gareth was also the first character I invited to the tearoom, and laughed for a good minute at his reaction LOL I really enjoyed the tearoom feature, it's the first time I've seen it implemented and I'm fascinated especially that there are even variations depending on...ahem...inventory. (Also, this isn't exactly relevant, but one thing that truly did add suspense and caught me off guard was that the toys--and especially the teddy bear--in that one room did not attack Aidan. Or maybe they do but the way I played didn't cause them to...? The teddy bear at the Witch's House game left some memories there lolol. The whole time I was expecting it to start chasing but I wanted to approach either way in case there were a coin...) I'm honestly baffled that the only thing I missed (until the exposition room) was the cookies in the inventory (are they interactable? I'm not even sure) because at the moment I was focused on looking for Zakhari and forgot I even had them... Oh, and that is another thing I realized afterwards, how he isn't around as much while the others are with the exception of the tea party... very subtle, I loved that.
And, lastly, thank you so much again for creating it and sharing it as well! I cannot imagine my brain-space without the memories of this game and I am eternally glad for it. I also meant to check out the piece of media referenced in the exposition room since I was very curious but I forgot the name and have yet to do so...!! so I need to re-open the game and definitely not fall into playing through again. (he said, most certainly intending to play again as soon as possible.)
My apologies once more for the long comment, I seem to be unable of putting halt to all the thoughts this fascinating game caused...
(On a very small last note, I cannot properly express into words how much I love the idea that there could have been a CG for that scene. Ah but I don't mean to say that it's disappointing that there isn't, nothing like that, I'm just eternally glad to know of the idea because personally and, pardon the oxymoron, in my most subjective and biased opinion, I adore that kind of thing and even more to see others having those ideas as well! I'm not sure if I've seen any posts on plans for or other content itself by you since I uh, might have forgotten to check last time I opened the page, but will also be looking forward to that!!!)