SPOILERS:

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I only got to the first chase scene, it proved to be so frustrating that I gave up for now.

The 'prepare for the descent' bonus challenge seems to have been implemented by offering you a choice between two types of lanterns. Well, I chose the "Distance" version of the lantern and immediately regretted it. It just doesn't work properly. Especially during the chase scene as you can't really see what's around you and thus get stuck easily.

I like the setting, that underground street is an interesting idea and the overall atmosphere is good.

The part of the game where Flint has to break into the safe in the mayor's office doesn't really make sense narratively though. Figures he could've just asked for that key and there's nothing suggesting you can do that save for a random paper on the wall that says that the key is somewhere nearby.

Overall, good job!

Gameplay:

I really liked the puzzles! I thought many of them were a little clever but not very frusterating. My favorite was the one where you have to light the torches, and then use the colors to find out the code. Very cool idea.

I appreciate that time was went into programming some of the puzzles, like if you need a key for a door, then you have to first find the door (or some item like a lamp) before you could open it. However, it wasn't always my favorite puzzle, I thought the one where you need the broom makes sense but I disliked the one where I had to backtrack all the way back to the mayor's office to get a pickaxe. It wasn't too bad, just a little confusing since I didn't know exactly what I was looking for.

Now I'm biased here, but I really hate chase scenes. There was one game on here that I adored, Ouija Sleepover I think, which I never finished because of how frustrating the chase scene is. They can be a bit spooky the first time they happen, and give you the same shock as a jumpscare- however, having to redo a chase scene over and over again just becomes frustrating, at least to me, especially if you get stuck on stuff or don't know where you're going. There are some games where it's a little more palatable, for example I think the game 8:11 had a chase scene that was pretty alright. In that game I managed to get through the chase scene without being killed too many times, and even when I was killed I would only go back like a couple steps or a level or two, so I wouldn't have to repeat the chase from the start. But that's still a project that had been worked with a long time, and in general I think having a good chase scene is actually pretty hard to pull off, at least for me.

All that to say, the only gripe I had with the gameplay in this game was the chase scene. The first time it happened I jumped out of my skin- but after replaying even just the first section upwards of 8 or so times, it just became frustrating and kind of broke the momentum I got from all the puzzle solving. I was also really unprepared for it, since so far the horror had been more environmental and there weren't a ton of indications that it was gonna happen besides general vague spookiness.

I'll also admit, I'm really bad at chases personally. So bad that I can't finish the game. I'm gonna keep trying, but I'm really stuck on this chase scene. So most of this review is going to be based on what I've played so far, sorry.

Story:

I was worried the story was going to be a little bland since the opening seemed a little too straight-forward, but I actually grew to like Flint and even find him a little funny, and the world building is subtle but interesting. I didn't really love the stuff with the mayor, his assistant and him felt a little too straightforward for me... starting the search for the missing kids felt more like accepting an NPC quest more than anything else. Basically, it works but it's not very interesting.

Given the nature of the disappearances I wonder if there might be a better person to be the point of view character? I like Flint fine, but I think it would have made more sense for the player character to be like a parent of one of the missing kids, or even a fellow kid themself. It makes it a bit more personal, I think, and a little bit spookier for like- when the horror does start happening, if you're a kid you're scared you're going to end up like the other missing children. If you're a parent, you're worried that something even worse happened to your child. But when you're Flint, you're scared, sure, but it's not as personal a fear, if that makes sense.

The premise is great though, and the stuff about finding stuff older than the town underground is super interesting. It reminds me a bit of some of Lovecraft's works, but I actually like the world building better here, hahaha.

Presentation:

A lot of the art and UI is made using the basic graphics supplied by Kadokawa themselves, but most of it was used cohesively so it thankfully didn't distract from the other elements in the game. I did notice a little bit of tinkering with sprites, which looked pretty good!

I think some tweaking with the map could have improved the level design, specifically the Mayor's house which, for some reason, the stairs just make it look odd? Especially since you go up through to the right but go down the same stairs also to the right... that and some other details made moving through the Mayor's house feel oddly clunky in a way I didn't experience in other maps.

Creativity:

I want to award points for the light + jewel puzzle alone, I thought that was so clever hahaha, but I already talked about that in gameplay. As mentioned before I also enjoyed the worldbuilding. It was subtle, but there were definitively a lot of creative moments in here that made the game feel decently novel.

Horror:

Once I first got the oil to light my lamp and saw that I could still see pretty well even without it, I was ready to write off the horror in this game. Even while going through the sewers, I thought, this seems like just a cute game where I'll find the kids in no time and we can all go home.

Then the cave-in happened, and I started to get really really uncomfortable. In a good way! The sudden darkness, inability to access the previous "safe" areas, and not to mention that dreadful music really kept me on my toes, even as I started to get a better since of the map! Even during the light puzzle, where I would walk back and forth from the statues several times, I was still on edge because of that music and the impending darkness- that and Flint's own discomfort with the statues made me worried that they would come alive and hunt me, hahaha, even before the chase scene. So overall, well done! A lot of it was defused by the chase scene itself, but well, I've already talked about that.

Theme:

The theme was utilized very well! The whole setting is in a town which is already half underground, they basically reused a mine to create a partially submerged city. As well, the game has you "go into the depths" of the town, and then into the deeper, less explored parts of the old mine as well.

The "Cave-in" and "Maze" were also included. The cave-in wasn't quite how I thought it would play out, but it was a surprisingly good moment! The maze was also pretty literal, it wasn't as interesting but also wasn't too frustrating to work through. I know it's mentioned that they also implemented that you can choose to take stuff down with you... but I'm not sure where that is? I think I was looking for an explicit "choice" that you have to make between several items, but mostly I think in the process of just trying to find a way into the deeper cave system, you are kind of forced to pick up and use every item available to you. It's not a bad thing, but I don't know if I would say that this game incorporates "Prepare for the Descent".

-Final Thoughts-

I didn't have a lot of expectations due to the pretty straightforward opening, but it was surprisingly decent. I liked the puzzles and some of the dialogue with Flint, some of his dialogue felt bland but at times he could be a pretty enjoyable character. The mystery and world building were also pretty good, and the horror was genuinely pretty scary at times!

However, I think some of the issues this game had could be fixed by reworking some of the maps- the Mayor's in particular felt clunky, and the maps with the chase scenes felt impossible due to all of the obstacles. Some of the entrances and exits also weren't very intuitive- the second map of the chase was particularly frustrating to me, I kept thinking I was spawning in further left than I actually was, but even the first map of the chase scene doesn't really make sense in the context of the cutscene before it.

I think also for the chase scene, starting the monster event even later and giving the player more time would help, or even just turning down the monster's speed. Even lightening the scene would have helped to be better able to see the obstacles. I don't think overall that the chase is all bad- I think even the obstacles, could have been clever, adding a bit of tension when you get stuck on one you didn't see coming. But all of these elements, the obstacles, the monster's speed, the lack of visibility, put together they made for an almost impossible chase.

But, as you can see mostly I just dislike the chase scene. Other than that, great job!