Loved it!!
The art style is really cute, and the story is already pretty engaging, im really excited to see what happens after the elevator, what the monster behind the bars was, and what really happened to pandora's mom
First rpg maker horror game i've played in a while that gave me the same vibe as the ones from the early 2010's
Wishlisted, cant wait for the full release
Definitively one of if not the best game i played in one of my itch.io horror game binges.
My biggest compliment to the game probably goes to the art direction(Though the story was just as good but i'll get to that later) some scenes looked really memorable, the one with mother standing in between the lit up crosses with her arms outstreched, the creepy video, the completely red sky, the ending with the sphere floating above the tree in the blue sky. it all looked phenomenal. It genuinely made me want to draw fanart of one of these scenes during the gamelay and that's high praise.
The story was very interesting, i have done all 6 endings but have yet to completely piece it together, im writing this immediately after beating the game so i havent had much time to think about it outside of the interpretations i made while working on the different endings.
What i gathered of the story so far is that the story tries to tell you that salvation can only be optained through defiance, one of the first notes you read in game tells you about how you must be stripped of your obedience, and both of what i believe are the two "best" endings, "Deicide" and "Defiance" are obtained by defying the respective characters, the god and the true mother. From my understanding, the god you meet in chapter 3 wants you to sin. By eating the strange fruit(a clear reference to the first sin) you obtain that god's version of salvation, you indulge in his signals and hear his "hum" and are obedient until the end. i the Deicide ending, you betray that god at the last second, where his presence is most clear, but also the most vulnerable, and burn the tree that represents your sins, your defience brings you actual salvation, and if the names anything to go by, this god dies alongsides the tree, setting you and maybe the other people free. As for the "Defiance" ending, you stab the true mother instead of kneeling, and are finally able to escape the forest with your life (This is the only ending in which you do so) at first i was really confused by why the follower (Or at least what appears to be one) of the true mother hits you with a hammer in that ending, but after think about it for a little, maybe the kneeling command was a test, if you kneeled before her, then that means you learned nothing, and cant achieve salvation, you have yet to be stripped of your obedience, and by stabbing the true mother, you make the right choice in the followers eyes and are allowed to leave.
Unfortunately i still dont fully get what exactly the hums, and signals meant, and honestly what most of the game is trying to convey, im gonna try thinking more about this later. These are just my interpretations though, im probably wildly wrong and making shit up in my head lol
My only real complaint is that the game was very scary, dont misunderstand me, it was DEFINITIVELY creepy, very immersive and atmospheric, but i wasn't scared at any moments, only unnerved or unconfortable, though i have to say, the atmosphere was really tense, the footsteps in the woods, the creepy music that plays when you activate all crosss, its definitively creepy, but other than the small scare here and there, th e game doesnt spook the player much. Though i dont see it as that big an issue since the game's focus is on building a chilling atmosphere, and adding a bunch of jumpscares would completely ruin it
Overall, i LOVED the game, and will be giving all other works by the Dev a shot
Omg, Everything about this game's plot was sooo gooood!!
The small details were the best part, when i noticed that the angel was actually giving you advice whenever you prayed to him(the donut hole comment directing you to "fill" the hole in the line to find your spot, the spooky story about counting leading you to hell telling you to NOT count every single flower properly or else you'll meet a bad fate, etc) it blew my mind i though for sure he was just making jokes, but he really was trying to guide you, although forced to do it through very vague messages.
i loved it 10/10
