I think your feedback is spot on. Have you tried the first version? Repercussions for getting caught are a bit harsher in it. I think all your critiques still stand, but the first version feels like it's pushing you to be stealthy a bit more.
And... I improved on the last run almost immediately. Still has plenty of room for improvement (that first jump is kind of embarrassing and the last room is ugly.) I think if this were cleaner it could be around a 3:15. If I could find a way to get through the spikes without the float then we could get really low.
Welp, found a better route. There's a way to skip the double jump which saves a ton of time and cuts out the mini boss. Pretty sloppy. I'll try to clean it up.
Just played the first version. Oddly enough, I think it's actually a step up from the second version. It felt like it played off of the concept of her not destroying things a bit better. The level design also had a lot more going on. In the second version I learned very quickly that you can just constantly trip the alarms and the consequence isn't too bad. There were time in the first version where I really wanted to avoid getting caught.
Tried again this morning and immediately got a better run. Shaved 6 seconds off. A few places I could've played a bit better, but no major mistakes like last time. If I clean it up I can get sub 5. Better RNG or routing changes could bring it lower.
5:09 was my best time. Some sloppy bits. Biggest mistake was the boss. If you wait for the spotlight to go by you once after hitting the heart for the first time, you can two cycle it without ever setting off an alarm. Sub 5 is totally possible.
I thought I was doing something wrong, but I guess there's no way to avoid a few deaths. I thought the crystals were supposed to be healing. I think if they were both collectibles and heals you could route a really interesting and difficult deathless run.
I know it would add a lot of extra work, but if there were a few paths or side exploration, it would help a lot. Everything felt like it was on rails and I was more of a passenger than a player. The only things I found that seemed like extra elements were going into the garden for two extra scares, escaping the killer for a few rooms, getting caught by mother, and finding the motor oil, which I never found a use for. Some puzzle solving could get me more invested. Good atmosphere though.
Love the art and music. I never really got a handle on predicting what the computer was going to do. Found that just spamming jab is the winning strategy. It also had me make a name, but that name isn't reflected in the actual game.
Not a fan. The design and use of the female characters coupled with you pretending your misogyny is somehow liberating is as clearly immature as your game design. I thought it was going to parody the objectification of women in horror media, but you just amplified it and claimed it as bold.
Bad writing. Lousy art. Long drawn out sections of walking. Bare bones puzzle solving. The monster's attack pattern makes no sense. Reloading takes forever because you're kicked back to the main menu. Twist ending is telegraphed a thousand yards away.
I'm pretty sure I've soft locked myself. I'm in the sky playforms section with the spike posts. I managed to collect the strawberry by backtracking to the springpad, but I think I needed it to go forward.
There are many stats that aren't listed on the page where you can use the tooltips. When I'm upgrading my gun I have no idea what things like "Movement Power" mean.
You get a unique cut scene and the game literally ends (you have to get through the opening scene again.) So I'd count it. If it restarted you from a checkpoint or something I wouldn't.
Played through ti a few times. Very clever, but the paths didn't branch very much. Many times you're given a false sense of choice only to be forced to end up taking the path the game wants you to take. It seems like there should be multiple endings. Maybe a way for you to actually pay off your loans. Not entirely sure what upgrading the kitchen did. Not really sure how advertising helped either. I started paying hundreds and hundred of dollars for advertising expecting more customers, but it didn't seem to have much of an impact. Planets don't seem to pay a premium for the items they want. They'll generally just go with whatever is cheapest, so setting prices seemed sort of useless. In the post game I started getting to planets that wouldn't buy anything, but I didn't know why. I tried not working any weekends until I had plenty of supplies, but then I was already dangerously exhausted. Wasn't sure what crew moral did or how it changed from week to week.
I don't understand a lot of the stats. Many of them don't even display when you're upgrading things. Some weapons nerf your stats even though it doesn't mention it in the weapon description.
The Hemoglobic add-on (or whatever it's called) that's supposed to give you health when you kill an enemy actually takes away your health. Many of the upgrades don't seem to do anything or actually effect you in a different way.
I beat it the first time with ease by only pressing yes. There need to be tougher decisions. Things that reward you or punish you for paying attention and more things have both positive and negative outcomes.
The "Space Jump," which allowed you to get crazy air by canceling an upward grapple, has been patched out. It was integral to speed runs. It's frustrating that earlier runs of the game will now always have shorter times.
