Discomforting, surreal and daunting experience, yet, I still had 1 major issue with the game, concerning the theme of mental illness itself.
Now, was this the closest experience to the mentioned theme compare to many other indie games, which are trying to have more of a shock value? Yes. This game did not use cheap jump scares, it did not mention the problem with words and "notes" rather showcased it brilliantly via interactions and visuals. For instance - the year when the picture is taken with the family changes from 2018 to 2017, then back to 2018, after a while becoming truly mind bending for the player itself. Same goes with the shirt color of the woman and child - it deteriorates as the player progresses forwards.
Not mentioning things that can be observed simply by most of the players - like window doors closing and disappearing, the color of the light switches from blue to white, the pillow disappearance, the classic art work being changed and etc. All of the above masterfully showed the concept of player, who might question the reality and feel the struggle of the character.
The sound design, which mainly consisted of just static ambience was executed astonishingly, as the music was out of place for this type of horror experience, rather the player's thoughts and curiosity guided the game's protagonist.
I can be talking about this game all day, as during the playtime and after the playtime, instantly I was not able to get out of the world, which developers have created and this just goes beyond applause and giving the game top spot on the horror game's list - it's just superlative in every way. The level of quality and immersive environment just took me away, really far and I just came back and realized what the game truly was about.
Now, I wanted to add a minor concern about the game's theme as it uses to showcase mental illness and I am not fan of that at all, but, once again, this game did it justice and did not butcher or make it out as cheesy and fun.
Can't wait to see more from you, developer(s) and just simply thank you for making this.
Thank you so much for playing my game :), I'm very glad you liked it and that it was able to produce the emotion that I was going for.
I loved the humorous commentary you had in your video, keep the jokes up and it'll do wonders for your channel! Also, your interpretation of this game is on point :). (maybe without the part where your wife drugs you lmao, actually, if I make that canon I'd have an excuse for why the water magically reappears in the glass.)
Speaking of commentary, your thorough feedback really helps me understand what I did right and what I did wrong :), it really means a lot to me.
I'd like to know why you are not a fan of video games exploring this sort of mental illnesses. Is it too controversial? I thought about that too but then I scratched that idea, as presenting it in an artistic way would hopefully overpower its controversial nature.
Thank you so much for making this game. It's been more than 12 hours and I am still confused and fascinated by your work to be honest. This is something, that should not be overlooked as a short indie game, rather a true surreal experience, which affected me a lot. I have no criticism about the game, not because I loved it, but because it was a decent, actually playable and unsettling experience, once again, the immersion is the key to success for any game, no matter what genre.
Well, I have a prejudice towards games that tackle mental illness, primarily because I am a RN (registered nurse) in real life and I do YT and game development as a hobby. Shortly speaking, I've seen real patients, who I took care of and most of the horror games, which include themes of dementia or schizophrenia mostly have a shock value, rather than meaningful gameplay. It's upsetting, because people are tackling ideas, which they can't grasp themselves or even comprehend to the slightest. That's fortunately not your case, as you treated the project as an experience and you were trying to questions one's mind (in this case players) by focusing on simple yet disturbing moments.
Generally speaking, this type of horror, should be done correctly and be not scary, but unsettling, questionable, mind bending and a bit ambiguous. You managed everything on the highest level. Can't wait to see what stories you can offer in the future. Cheers!
And yes, this is true art, this game is a work of true artist.
I'm very glad you feel that way about the game :), a surreal experience is what I've been trying to achieve.
Ahh, I see now, it must be pretty hard to be a nurse, I think that personally I couldn't work as a nurse, the emotional weight would be too much, even if I don't see traumatizing things with my eyes, the cases themselves are tragic.
I'm glad you think I was able to make it somewhat realistic and true to the real conditions. I tried to make the visual hallucinations realistic too but as this is a virtual game it's above my skill level so I just made them look like computer glitches instead.
I will try exploring different concepts in the future, thank you very much for the support! :)