Hey Andrew!
Great stuff, honestly. It was pretty much what I would expect from a game about Liminal Spaces. I'll give you a run down of what I liked and what I thought could be improved.
LIKES
The Electrical Panel Puzzle
There was something satisfying about the puzzle and solving it, not sure if it was the animation or the format you laid out for it but it was great. More of those would be a great decision for further gameplay
Graphics and Reflections
I am a sucker for good reflections and did you deliver. The game is well optimised and the style you have gone for really fits the mood for Liminal Spaces. The "eye adjustment" effect was also super nice. Really loved that touch since I don't see a lot of games offer an authentic visual transition like that between differently lit areas.
The Auditory Ambience
Something that is important for a horror game like this is audio and there were some nice touches with the audio. I recently invested in Dolby Atmos so having those auditory nuances in the back was something that caught my eye... or rather, my ear.
FUTURE SUGGESTIONS
Give us some more to fear with the shadow man
Don't get me wrong, that guy in the pool lockers and toilets was my worst enemy but I felt something was missing from him with him being a shadow humanoid. Some visual effects like static/chromatic aberration or an auditory cue when he is close like a constant bassy drone when you get too close would really amp up that chase with him and give you more of a sense of urgency. The future encounters with him could also be posed this way but it depends on what sort of mood you were going with him
Horror ambience
For me, I think some further ambience and tension building in the areas where you want the player to be scared or on edge would be good. Just random sound effects like the ones you have already been doing, just to keep the player on edge. You already know what you are doing with that!
(Potential future idea) - Procedurally Generated Chase Mode
With that chase part in the beta, an idea of an auto-generated chase mode where you are infinitely chased with increasing difficulty through computer-generated liminal spaces. Give the place some puzzles and some indications of how to escape and add a few other tricks in there and you will be set with an infinite runner for that.
Let me SLIDE!
Maybe a crouch option or something but I REALLY wanted to slide down the slide. I would also give the slide you walk back up some slippiness to it or some difficulty walking up it, as walking up a slide without using your hands is a nightmare!
Overall for a part 1 V2 BETA, it's honestly stunning. The fact you have achieved this much solo is really something to be proud of and I am sure as hell excited to see more of this game later on. I wonder whether you left any secrets in that final area but I couldn't find any from my toying around with the area (nice reference to The Backrooms btw!). If you ever consider making a complementary VR-supported experience for this, that would be incredible and also scary as all hell (but that's a future task if you think it's doable). Good work and hyped to see more of this!