Okay, so, finished game, and lots of thoughts (And feels!)
Uhhh... so first off, the game is fabulous, absolutely enjoyed, great characters (RUNE! I love Rune so much! Rune is the most adorable demon.). The Art is lovely. The music rocks, characters are fun. We got to see our Girl Kat again. Fabulous. Puzzles are good and fun, and I already know that this was while playing the "Standard" playthrough, and that there will be all sorts of alternative solutions to those puzzles once I try for alternative endings (So many unexplored locked doors!)
**SPOILERS BELOW**
Sai is suspicious as all fuck, and I love it. (Did he knock you out in the stairs? I'm pretty sure there's no one else available who COULD have knocked you out)
I'm... going to play around with some critique, not to give crap, but just because it sounds like you are working on polishing things, and maybe it will be helpful.
Something that really stood out here compared to Project Kat is... I died a lot? Like A LOT. Death was cheap- you just get killed "You died. Retry?" And that.... creates a *very* different tone to Project Kat. Like, at the end of Kat, death is *heavy*. Actions have consequences.
Chpt one leans more on jumpscare, less on creeping dread? I think it also leads to sort of... when you win, its like "Well yes, THIS Lacie survived, but 100 others didn't" - it feels less Lacie wins through being smart, but just through the power of save scumming.
...I'm not entirely sure where to go with that though, as the death and danger are an important part of gameplay, It's just something I noticed. Whether you *should* change anything is a question I'm not sure of, but figured I'd flag it as "this is a thing."
I wish the results of burning things in the wrong order were more than just "Game over, try again", though I do like the phrasing "You have made a terrible mistake". EDIT: Oh- apparently the alt endings will be in the full version. Never mind them, looking forward to it!
OH! The clocktower room.
The clocktower room that Sai can't enter is magical. I love it.
That room by itself just does like... so much work to sell this sensation of "Rituals are weird and mysterious and *no one* knows how this works", which I think is super important in a game like this... and having moments even Sai is flumoxed by is really nice.