Though you say this is a project you gave up on and slapped an ending to honestly it was Amazing.
Though I was a little sad i couldn't set everything on fire..... I mean who doesn't want to set a evil tree/root monster on fire.
(totally not just because i want to watch the world to burn and to create chaos)
The ending slapped on as it is still sets it up for a future project where the roots have taken over the town, which honestly would be amazing.
The game gave me vibes of a mashup between Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
The story structure the fact that no one is around. The environment ever so slightly changing, the eerie feeling, and the bedroom being replaced with a basement gives off the Silent Hill feels.
The monster on the other hand made me think of resident evil 7's Molded, both with how it looks and how it seems to be multiplying and taking over in the end.
The only thing i could think of for changing is the interactable objects only having one side of the cabinets open was a little strange.