itch.io

I enjoyed the game, but not for what it's trying to do. It uses horror tropes as-is without trying to subvert them, and thus is not even slightly scary (to me at least) but has managed to build an atmosphere that resembles what someone who actually gets put into the experience would find both intriguing and uncanny. It uses space very generously and seemingly intentionally - Your starting den is crowded and dense, forcing you to navigate to the next part without lingering, while only giving you space when the space introduces confusion as you soon find out that the entire area is an arena where something is not right. It has this appeal of a liminal space where you are aware that the place is built by real people to serve a purpose, but the place no longer has people in it and your loneliness from failing to be involved or engage in its purpose is shared by nothing but the darkness in the corner lurking harmlessly. That said, while the environment design was strong, boss fights are... Somewhat fun, but they do not feel challenging, and every one of the boss fights has you respawning immediately before the trigger, where as any other horror game would put more lag time forcing you to travel from the checkpoint to the trigger, giving you the walk of shame to add emotional weight to the fight. For example, the first chase with the wall spider would have worked without respawning on the door but all the way outside the cave, which would give the player an experience where they have to get in and suffer every time, adding weight that can be lifted off when they finally rid themselves of the challenge. But that's just how I like my games designed to be rewarding and if this was made for reputation since it's a title drop of a major game then yeah it does the job. Overall it's a simple story told in a simple way and the experience would have otherwise been lackluster if not for the use of good visuals and sound design. It's really good at not letting me feel like the game has been a linear experience even though that's what it was. It doesn't have a payoff and the only characters introduced (the developer, the protagonist) have so little buildup about them that for the game to end in an interaction between them (if it can even be called one, since it was a one-sided monologue) is almost comical and did make me laugh. I liked your other games. This one feels like an endeavor that didn't deliver (unless that wasn't the point), but I'm still looking forward to what you make next. Good luck ^^