The apartment complex was indeed a scary setting - constructive criticism below:
Pros:
- Good use of sound design - the unnerving lack of any ambient music really immersed this player in the 'real' setting of the apartment complex.
- The mechanic of having the player put up flyers gave this user a sense of purpose - most indie horror games have you going to 'place A' for a reason, but that's usually to find a lost brother or sister, etc. The fact that going up every floor had purpose behind it.
- As this user ascended each floor, things were starting to go a little 'strange' and the nail head baby and crayon graffiti was a nice touch.
Cons:
- Wasn't a fan of the floaty head movement. Understand that this creates a sense of movement without moving and immersion, but this user thinks that the 'bobbiness' could be turned down a few levels. Especially when trying to hit the elevator buttons.
- The monster being 'half seen' in the elevator was creepy, but seeing it on the TV brought this user out of the experience. A lot to be said about 'show, don't tell' with this particular instance.
- Ambiguous storytelling - It was this user's understanding that the crayon graffiti created a narrative, possibly about a couple who brought their son into the apartment block and ended up throwing him off the roof, but this wasn't really explored. Did the father become the monster after he hung himself? Felt like a few notes alluding to this throughout the character's journey to the 9th floor could have made this narrative a little tighter.
Not a con as such, but I think it would have immersed the user experience by having the main character question why he was still putting up flyers (say around the 5th floor.) If you were in the same situation, would you really still be putting up flyers in a crack house after you'd seen some of the things in that building!?!? Even if there was a throwaway comment it would have immersed the player into the role a little more. Other than that, a great experience and hope to see more in the future!