Man, I'm a game dev myself and I know how hard it is to make games. You did a great job for this demo and it looks fantastic. The effects, the environments, the sound, the atmosphere, everything is unique and awesome! Except actual gameplay.
The gameplay feels like a chore. There are indeed great ideas in it but they are buried under tons of text(that I'm not sure does anyting to affect the gameplay) and confusing gameplay loop. The "story" or "goals" are not clear, the quests are unbeatable(the machine with numbers and paths for example and I'm not even sure if that's the quest that affects smth) and confusing. I was constantly unsure whether smth exists for the sake of it existing or will move me further in progress. And what is the progress in this game?
You said "for like 2 years. I’ve never seen anyone other than myself play through it". I beg you, please give your game to people and watch them play and take notes of what irritates them, what they can't figure out, what they find fun while playing, etc. Then iterate, iterate, iterate.
Please take this as a fair feedback. I do like what you are doing and want you to succeed. Your game has potential like a raw diamond but it needs a lot of cutting :)
Hell ya- thank you for the in depth feedback. Critical feedback can be tough to give so I appreciate ya for doing it.
I agree but Im also unsure of how to fix it. Clearly the atmosphere/etc is what I adore...and the gameplay part is absolutely not my strength. Ha which is problematic for...a game. Since you clearly have a solid grasp of these concepts, let me know if you'd be down to talk more at length about your experience. No worries if not - and either way, again, I appreciate you writing all that out.
(oh! and the number puzzle *is* beatable - i just made how it works far too unclear. youre supposed to cut the power to the music dudes apartment so he can hear you and give you the key to the main apt. haha i started writing out how it works but writing it out, and realizing how complicated it is, made me realize it's both not worth it and that it's prrrrrrobably too complicated)
Glad you are open to feedback. I'd be down to talk but probably not in the next month cuz I have pretty much of my own stuff rn.
It's important to remember that no one knows how to make YOUR game. Not even the best gamedesigners in the world. They sure know some stuff that makes their life easier but that's it.
Again what you need to do asap is to give your game to people and watch them play. Do this in batches of 5-10 people, take notes, ask them questions afterwards, fix/redo the problematic parts and strengthen the parts that brings joy and repeat the cycle.
After like 10-20 iterations you will get your game that is loved by players, that still gives players the fellings you wanted it to give initially(maybe even X5 times more) + community that await its release. That's gonna be a hard journey and you will have to make lots of tough decisions but I'm sure you can do it!