This game is so close to a masterpiece it’s unreal. It does almost everything perfect. The story is fantastic, the gameplay is buttery smooth, and I’m not typically one that pays attention to soundtracks, but the soundtrack here is superb. My only complaint is that there’s a slight bit of jank that shows itself every now and then with physics and getting stuck on the environment, both with your character and with enemies. In any other kind of game, this level of jank would be so minor that it wouldn’t affect the experience at all, but in a game like this that requires razor tight precision and extremely quick reactions, it left me feeling like a couple of deaths weren’t exactly my fault. I’m sure if I put enough time into it and tried for deathless or hardcore runs, I could learn the controls well enough to know the nuances of what works and what doesn’t to avoid said jank, but it was definitely present in the simple 6-7 hour run that I did. There’s also a few design choices that go against the crazy fast momentum that makes the game so enjoyable. There’s a few moments that even border on tedium where you have to pause and solve lengthy puzzles in order to progress. Unfortunately as well, the final boss battle is a bit underwhelming. It doesn’t culminate into a large test of every skill you’ve learned up until that point, and instead feels like a glorified QTE sequence. These issues are minor and not nearly enough to drag my opinion of the game down significantly. Although this review may sound fairly negative to this point by just pointing out flaws, it is more just to justify why I didn’t give the game 5 stars and instead gave 4.5. Everything else about it is perfect and I can’t recommend it enough!

I was already a huge fan of the base game, but this DLC blew me away. It stays true to what the base game is, but improves it in almost every way. It was way more terrifying, the enemies were much more difficult to outmaneuver, and the level design was incredible. This is a must play not only to fans of the base game but to horror game fans as a whole. It’s a masterclass in how to do a horror game, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It’s a perfect conclusion story wise and the music is top notch.

After playing and completing the DLC, I can safely say that this DLC should be played only by players who really loved the base game. It doesn’t introduce enough new mechanics or have an enticing enough story to hook any player unless they are already invested in the base game. It is just as good as the base game. No better, and no worse, which is unfortunate. I feel a bit let down as I couldn’t wait for the developers to expand greatly upon the fantastic world they created, and I didn’t get that feeling of wonder as much as I wanted to. For the majority of the DLC’s run time, you are facing the exact same enemies and doing very similar puzzles as the base game. The developers played it very safe and stuck to what worked, with only little experimentation with completely new mechanics throughout. What new mechanics are introduced often feel undercooked, and rely heavily on the game’s already wonky controls. It’s still a good DLC that brings a lot of enjoyment to the table, but I could only really recommend it if it’s on sale or if you thoroughly enjoyed the base game and are dying for more.