I really wanted to love this one more. The mystery was intriguing, the ever-expanding house setting, the boatloads of puzzles and clue investigations, and the surreal nightmarish imagery and vibes. Even really liked the graphics that had the character model animations reminiscent of mid-90's PC games.
I found the writing and dialogue a bit obtuse and it made me feel distanced from both the characters and the plot itself. Several cutscenes and entire chunks of dialogue when speaking to characters just felt either poorly written or alienating to the player; entire sentences seemed like you weren't in on the bit or were leaving bits of information or context out on purpose. I can't really explain it, it wasn't all like this, but there were several instances. It does help to know the game is about mental health issues, but I found it touched on those elements better using visual moments. I felt the same about the lore pieces you'd find around the house of the owner/visitors/history of the house, etc. Not much of an explanation or payoff to mostly all of it.
In terms of the scare-factor and the puzzles (the main parts of the gameplay), the creepy killer was really cool at first, and I'd continuously get freaked out when it'd appear when/where I wasn't expecting, and running away from it with the old-school tank controls was always a tense encounter. But after a couple hours when you're well into the game, running all over the house trying to solve puzzles under a time limit of when the killer finds you, the scare factor just turned to annoyance when I'd see or hear it coming and it's like "fuck, alright let's get this over with", it kills you and then you retry again. The tedium of having to redo certain puzzles, even if you already knew the solution, wasn't all that fun, and in terms of the puzzles in general; some were kinda cool, but several I felt frustration with. Lots of them were just trial and error, trying whatever until you figure out the solution with no rhyme or reason. I struggled with a fair amount of these, some just didn't feel like you had to use your brain or logic, but just, keep fiddling with the gadget until it works. Not all were like this, and some were definitely exploration-based and rewarding if you make sure to check every nook and cranny in a room for clues.
Anyways, wanted to keep this a short one but alas, I got on a tangent, but I liked what this game was going for in terms of presentation, mood, and trying to say something personal underneath everything, but mainly I was kinda glad this was over when it ended and kinda felt nothing from it. I want to love this game, and there are definitely parts to enjoy here, so others definitely will get more out of this than I did.
I found the writing and dialogue a bit obtuse and it made me feel distanced from both the characters and the plot itself. Several cutscenes and entire chunks of dialogue when speaking to characters just felt either poorly written or alienating to the player; entire sentences seemed like you weren't in on the bit or were leaving bits of information or context out on purpose. I can't really explain it, it wasn't all like this, but there were several instances. It does help to know the game is about mental health issues, but I found it touched on those elements better using visual moments. I felt the same about the lore pieces you'd find around the house of the owner/visitors/history of the house, etc. Not much of an explanation or payoff to mostly all of it.
In terms of the scare-factor and the puzzles (the main parts of the gameplay), the creepy killer was really cool at first, and I'd continuously get freaked out when it'd appear when/where I wasn't expecting, and running away from it with the old-school tank controls was always a tense encounter. But after a couple hours when you're well into the game, running all over the house trying to solve puzzles under a time limit of when the killer finds you, the scare factor just turned to annoyance when I'd see or hear it coming and it's like "fuck, alright let's get this over with", it kills you and then you retry again. The tedium of having to redo certain puzzles, even if you already knew the solution, wasn't all that fun, and in terms of the puzzles in general; some were kinda cool, but several I felt frustration with. Lots of them were just trial and error, trying whatever until you figure out the solution with no rhyme or reason. I struggled with a fair amount of these, some just didn't feel like you had to use your brain or logic, but just, keep fiddling with the gadget until it works. Not all were like this, and some were definitely exploration-based and rewarding if you make sure to check every nook and cranny in a room for clues.
Anyways, wanted to keep this a short one but alas, I got on a tangent, but I liked what this game was going for in terms of presentation, mood, and trying to say something personal underneath everything, but mainly I was kinda glad this was over when it ended and kinda felt nothing from it. I want to love this game, and there are definitely parts to enjoy here, so others definitely will get more out of this than I did.