Playing this was a really wild ride of (neutral, not negative) confusion, thinking I was close to 'cracking the code' of what was going on, and then being subsequently thrown for a loop. A theory I was starting to build up was this idea that he was like, secretly on meth or something, or some kind of drug addiction, which is not only why he looks so gaunt in his portraits, but also why his wife kept talking about 'getting him help'. But that turned out to not be true. There was a review on Steam that mentioned that, to them, the major twist/reveal in the ending was predictable because it had been hinted at too hard, but I genuinely didn't see it coming. Not the reveal that's implied by the thing we see within the first 10 minutes of gameplay, but the main reveal.

I do agree with said reviewer though on the point that they said the main character isn't really likeable, like, at all. I understand that a protagonist doesn't have to be a good person or relatable or whatever, and I do agree with that sentiment, but at the same time, I feel like the writing here doesn't really lend itself well to any of these characters. I'm not sure if this game just had a poor translation or if the dialogue is just really stiff on its own. And in both cutscenes and present scenes there's this like, weird duality of the way he responds to things that are happening, like his reactions flip back and forth super quickly. And apparently the whole catalyst for this entire thing was that he found out he was impotent? Which like, maybe it's just because I don't want kids, but that seems like a pretty mundane thing to go absolutely insane over. Like, life-altering news, sure, but psychosis? I don't know.

As for the art and music, sound design is alright, music is kinda forgettable (I finished playing like 10 minutes ago and I already can't remember what any of the tracks sounded like) and the art is this weird mish mash of asset packs, original sprites, and sprites that look like they're just sized-down versions of full sized photos? The chairs in the house and the telescope in the backyard come to mind. It's honestly not the worst look in the world, but honestly? I feel like it would've been more in their favor to just use the default assets and then try to find or make sprites that mimic it heavily for the things that aren't included. And it's wild that I'm even thinking that because I really do not like the default assets, especially in the modern engines. Also, no hate to the artist, but I think the dialogue portraits are kinda creepy.

But I don't know, it's fine enough of an experience, I guess. There's apparently alternate endings you can get based on choices you make, but I don't really care enough to replay this ever again, nor do I care enough to watch the rest of the endings on YouTube. Some of the horror is pretty good though, I'll give them that.