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(+2)

It would've been nice if WASD and Space/Enter were options, as well as the ability to resize the screen. The auto text was sudden and I ended up missing the first bit.  I felt "crowded" by the bottom of the screen and ended up holding the down arrow to counteract this.

The platforming was solid; the movement speed and jumps felt "right." Finding out that you can "look" down when you first drop down from a platform was a good way to teach the player a mechanic. The level design was well-made, except for how you can bypass the second screen and continue straight to the third. I enjoyed the puzzle, but it felt out of place. The flashlight felt like an unnecessary addition that didn't add much to the game because you could easily see without it. They both felt like "padding."

I tested  what would happen if I didn't take the flashlight. It's good that you took this into account, but the "barrier" was artificial. In comparison, a later barrier in which you need to get gems to continue (organically forcing you to go to the "gem room") was done better because the barrier itself was part of the game. Instead of telling the player "no, you can't go this way because I said so," you were telling the player "you can go this way, but you need to use this elevator which is activated by gems."

Despite having few words, the story was well-presented, but I didn't like how abrupt the ending was. It felt like the game was telling me "okthatsitbye." Both the art and music were well done -- I loved the cute art style! The only criticism I have there is the music choice for the puzzle. It felt like I was on a time limit, but when the music ended, nothing happened. Using intense music while nothing is happening leaves the player feeling fooled, and they may not trust later intense music, both of which can detract from their experience.

The game fits the theme; I interpreted it as the character's nightmare caused by their experiences. The horror was decent, especially for a first attempt. It had some scary parts, and the "psychological horror" atmosphere can be unsettling. It made use of Descent into Horror; I forgot I was playing a horror game until the music stopped and the environment changed, creating a creepy atmosphere. The game also had False Hope, which the music contributed to. An earlier part of the game, although not false hope, gave a similar feeling. The elevator tricks the player into thinking they'll be able to return, but when you drop down, the "escape" is taken away. I also feel that "The Dream is Changing" applies because the environment changes as you progress through the game.

Overall an enjoyable game with solid gameplay.

(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! Now I understand a few issues the game had, most because I had to rush some features (because another game jam was starting 1 week before the end of the jam so my time limit was 1wk shorter), although others because I didn't consider it necessary.

I will keep WSAD control in mind; I previously played games with primarily arrow keys control and so I didn't think WSAD was necessary in this game. Auto-text was probably indeed not really the best choice to implement but unfortunately it was the only one I could go with with the limited time I had -- all I can do is apologize (^.^;

The decision to add the flashlight was for what I thought would be atmospheric reasons; since I saw many horror games have very dark environment and usually in those games I saw flashlights; though again this is my first time ever making a horror game. I didn't put as many lamps in the following rooms after the flashlight so I thought it would be difficult to see without it but perhaps it's not the case for you.

I will keep your feedback about artificial barrier in mind; I definitely also got similar complaints from my testers.

Glad you liked the artstyle and the music. Regarding the puzzle with intense music (and yellowing screen to represent toxic gas) I definitely DID intend to make it a game over; but in the end as deadline was approaching I had to settle for not giving a game over screen and instead pretend "Hey it's just a dream turns out this puzzle is not as deadly as I thought" m(_ _)m

I definitely do not have enough writing experience indeed, hence the rushed ending. Even after you gave your feedback I must admit I am not sure how I could've presented the ending better hahaha

I'm glad you enjoyed my interpretation of the themes  and found it good enough to be a horror game. Definitely glad you enjoyed my decision to turn off the elevator during the earlier part just before the start of the horror section -- I remember many horror stories involve the helpless protagonist unexpectedly getting thrown into situations they cannot easily escape. Definitely also very glad you find the atmosphere to be unsettling enough for a horror game; I took some inspirations from the game "Purgatory" -- and although it's definitely nowhere near as horrifying as that game looks like it's horrific enough.

Thanks for your helpful feedbacks. I will keep these in mind for my future projects :3

(+1)

I completely understand having to rush and not being able to add things you want! Me and my friend's game suffered from that greatly since we didn't start until the third week in. And honestly, I'm not sure how you could have ended it better, either. Maybe with a short sequence of the character waking up, and a little more story dialogue? And yes, this is definitely horror! I view horror as more of a "theme" than how scary it is, since whether someone is scared or not is completely objective. I, for example, am not phased by psychological horror at all, but it's all still horror. So yeah, the themes in this game, atmosphere, and events that happen 100% make it horror. I hope that makes sense! ^^