Project Paper Lily, for a demo there's definitely still plenty to dive into here There's clear passion, thought and a lot of polish that went into make this demo feel like a cohesive and engaging experience.
The games art is great for what it is and is cohesive in its presentation, I really liked the character designs which really helped bring the characters to life. Some of areas such as the tree with the embedded mirror with particle lights floating were beautiful, and none really stood out as unfinished or out of place.
I really loved the soundtrack, it felt really rpg maker esq but still has its own unique character. I found myself immediately after listening to the ost and wanting to write piano arrangements of various standout pieces like Lacie's character theme and music box. The tracks and sound design were well used, with the absence of the ost at times really building tension and tracks during story sequences such as the one involving miss knives really elevating the whole sequence.
Also the whole bush hiding sequence with the trail leading to your guide's corpse was honestly really terrifying and built its atmosphere well, though it felt a bit too predictable with the same amount of time outside of the bush being allowed regardless of moving (besides running) slightly breaking the immersion of it.
While not seeing too much of the characters so far, I've still been able to feel a clear sense of direction in each one, each being likable in their own way. Also the dialogue in general is pretty well put together as far as I can tell.
The puzzles, while not revolutionary were fun and intuitive without feeling like an absolute cakewalk. Besides that it had some interesting gameplay elements. The whole spike/knife dodging fight thing was fun, but while it was initially presented pretty early on, it still feels like it was a little underdeveloped and more could of been done with it to make it more engaging or interesting.
My main gripe would honestly be the whole sewer/underground sequence, which felt a bit drawn out and confusing, maybe I'm just dumb though. I'm not sure if you're able to complete the game without taking out the power for the prisons door, but either way getting killed over and over while having to edge in and out of screen to respawn enemies to be able to get past felt pretty tedious.
After playing this game once I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of the demo alone. I can see clear inspirations taken from its predecessors such as pocket mirror, ib, yumme nikki/omori and others, but the game still very much has a unique identity of its own. Its got a good mix or quirkyness and charm, but can also be downright terrifying. I'm excited to see where you bring this game in future. Although tbf I was high on shrooms the entire time so probably skewed my perception of it a bit but still I enjoyed it a lot lol.