Before I mention anything else, I want to just talk about how it took me 5.5 hours to finish a playthrough of this game, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.  I'm simply floored by how much narrative there is here!  Truly ambitious scope, especially considering this is a Jam game.

The game beautifully illustrates the weird limbo that people in their 20s just out of college go through: the need to make money, chase your dreams, be away from parents and be grown up and independent.  Friends don't come as easy as they used to for most people, and it's even harder if you were never that good at making friends in the first place.  This is where we first find Anita, perhaps mourning an old life, and now trying to establish a new life and space that feels safe.

But we quickly find that things are perhaps more complicated for Anita than your average person.  She's coming off of a bad relationship, her confidence is non-existent, she's in therapy--evidently for an anxiety disorder, and the real complication: she sometimes sees things that aren't there.  Anita is such a great protagonist.  I rooted for her, winced at her foibles, and wondered often whether her position as the narrator of this story was a reliable one.  The other characters are also well realized and round out the narrative nicely--as a bonus, they are also well designed, helping the in game compositions to pop with life and color. 

Speaking of character design: there are monsters in this game, and they wonderfully designed, and scary as hell.  When things get going, these guys push the tension over the top.

If there's anything to complain about here, it might be that the writing needs an editing pass.  There were some issues with tenses, and in some places the narration probably needs to be cut down a little--but this is all easy to forgive when you consider the breadth and scope of this game in the context of a game jam.  I played through in 5.5 hours, and only got one ending.  Just astounding!  Definitely give So Below a shot! 

Where do I even start? 

The monsters are among my very favorite designs in the whole jam. I'm not usually big on outright horror, but I absolutely love a fantastical, otherworldly monster, and these monsters are exactly the surreal sweet spot for me! (Spooky Long Neck Friend, are you by chance cousins with The Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth...? ✨) I was equally horrified and delighted every time one appeared on screen, and could never land on whether I more dreaded or looked forward to their rare and impactful appearances!

The backgrounds are invitingly warm and organic; I enjoyed the hand-drawn and painterly qualities in each of them, as they add a distinct sense of the personal to each separate setting. The music during tense moments really adds heft to the darker turns of the story, and the phenomenal sound design further fills out the game's remarkable sense for building atmosphere and dread. 

Both character art design and narrative direction are superb: the sprite expressions are dynamic and emotive, and moreover, each of the characters feel lived-in and flawed. This sparkles perhaps the most in the protagonist Anita: her deep anxiety and heavily-etched trauma add a layer of additional alarm and discomfort--as someone with an anxiety disorder and trauma, I relate to her; as a player, I desperately want to protect her; and all the same, given the heavy and ongoing influence of her trauma and self-doubt, I also cannot help questioning how reliable a narrator she is. It's a fantastic set up for a game of existential horror, and still never ever undermines Anita as a character or a person who harbors genuine compassion and kindness. Nothing is a clean good-evil-black-white binary here, and in a story with such high stakes, that is a thrilling choice indeed. 💞

WHY IS THIS SO SCARY?! I thought it would be a cute neighbour-ly story with cat, a bit of occult-y things, and wholesomeness, I didn't anticipate the spookiness www. I actually stopped playing mid-game at night and resumed it when the sun was up, because I got too scared but very intrigued by the story! Good job to the monsters' artists! They're reaallly scary! (≧ ﹏ ≦)

I love the story and the music set the relaxing mood and completely caught me off guard when it changed into the sinister part. The characters really loveable, especially Vivian because I know she is a good person.

Anita: "She looks scary."

Vivian: "I have birb."

Me: "Don't worry, she is 100% trustworthy." XD

There are many things that I couldn't really catch up with (maybe it's just because English isn't my native language) but the ending gave a bit clearance as to why all of that happened, even though I still have question about the how. Still, this is very enjoyable story! I love it! Great job! (≧∇≦)ﾉ

Loved everything about this! It's a full, lengthy title that gives plenty of room for its story and characters to breathe.  Anita's an interesting protagonist who's easy to sympathize with, and the side characters all get their moments to shine as well (Vivian being my fav, but Mory's so sweet!). It shines when you get to the creepy parts; the music really sets the mood perfectly. I also have to mention the excellent spritework and backgrounds (the contrast with the different style creature sprites only making them more eerie and otherworldly). A part where your cursor becomes a flashlight was also a big surprise that put a grin on my face! Such well done atmosphere.

It's amazing what this team has been able to achieve for this jam. You should all be proud!

And on a final note, Void is such an adorable little cat! ^^

Sadly, I'm somewhat short on time at the moment, so I can't write as detailed of a comment as I would like >.< but I just want you guys to know that I absolutely loved this! The story, art, and soundtrack were all brilliant :3 

I especially adore the character designs (with Vivian being my fave!), and my favorite music track ended up being 'Stay Tough' (though, 'Thoughts' is a close 2nd) cos it was so funky :D I really enjoy listening to tracks that have a sinister but ethereal feel to them ^-^

Just a wonderful game!

Props to the whole team on "So Below." Without spoiling too much, I just want to say that Anita's story resonated with me, and I enjoyed reading how her story was layered within the context of horror and the supernatural. The sprites by Santana were just stunning and crisp. The monster designs were charming and interesting to see how they differed in style; I think that aided in making them appear more unsettling.  The CGs were lovely as well! I also enjoyed the music tracks- Vivian's theme is probably my favorite, and the background and UI designs were very nice; the entire media as a whole came together well. I tried for two endings!

That being said, I think a few changes could be made to help enhance storytelling overall. I wasn't sure if it was intentional for some parts, but sudden interjection of sprites would disrupt what seemed to be casual dialogue. I think I would have liked to see a bit more transitions between each appearance, like a "fade-in," or the sprite sliding in from a side of the screen. 

The point-and-click features and flashlight effect were fun! 

I was wondering if the lowercase "i's" of the text were an intentional artistic choice, given what is revealed towards the end of the story? I thought it was a nice detail.

I think there may be a bug regarding CG gallery, as I've unlocked one for Anita that I do not see under her category, instead they all appear with locked thumbnails instead.

Overall, a nice spooky story. This was my first VN to review for the jam! Well done everyone, and good luck on everyone's future endeavors! Happy Spooktober!