Thank you for this awesome feedback and the comments! :) So, you are dead on about a lot of the assumptions haha. This is not exactly my first project, just my first project using Unreal and C++. I've worked almost exclusively with Unity/C# previously but figured it would be good to get some experience in both :)
I realized as well about the Unreal lighting changes and I assume this has to do with a few things, from the low ambient light to the baking and the attenuation of the candles in that area. I would definitely have to place a couple of more candles to offset it but in a way I found that it keeps the player focused on the center of the room although perhaps it would be good to allow some inspection of the detail too :)
There is one ambient sound but it is definitely super low (it's a wind blowing, the sample is meant for a cave), but I could probably tweak that to make it seem less like a penetrating silence and also maybe find some creepy forest ambience for the exterior portion :)
I'll post a link to my Assets in the game description. I am definitely not a good 3d Modeler so the visual assets are licensed but not originals :) A lot of my visuals in my game will be from Synty as I really love their low poly art.
Thanks again for the comments and taking the time to write some thoughtful feedback, that really means a lot to me! :)