Generic Sega Master System-esque platformer deliberately subverted by a very slight multiverse twist, which takes Link to the Past's white lodge / black lodge conceit and quadruples it. While the cute-thing-secretly-evil motif is done to death and usually obnoxiously edgy, I'll take a game that attempts to weave its scary elements into its design over the current interminable trend of walking-sim mascot horror or copy-paste low-poly Silent Hill knockoffs. Unreal Engine lighting templates don't create more interesting "creepypasta" games; thoughtful game design does.

Still, you can grasp that the aesthetic, while intentionally simplistic, lacks enough of an anchor to establish real personality. The movement doesn't feel great here, either, leading to more than a few needless game overs. Arguably worse, the puzzles are just not quite at the level of sophistication that may have elevated the game to an actually memorable status for its day. The last couple of stages — that is, the last proper level and then the bonus stage — were complicated enough that they had me scratching my head for about as long as I spent on the rest of the game to that point. I was just wanting to dig more out of the layered conceit, and then it ended. Probably right when it needed to, though.

Added a half star for the fact that this remarkably came out in 2008, amidst a burgeoning but largely by-the-numbers indie scene. Subtracted a half star because the music could be so, so much better.