Very conflicting experience. On the other hand you have worked hard on the game, making it vastly different from anything I've seen before and the fascination for it is behind truly creepy atmosphere. Yet, the subject matter is somewhat sensitive and I fully understand the "free choice" of making the game, publishing it for others to be shared and played, but still it is a story, which should not really be showcased in a way like this, rather more conventional and educational way.
From the start, I could easily figure out the concept - trapped girl, the basement, too many movies and messed up reality to be part of nowadays. Although, still to the end I was hoping it would take more "ambiguous" approach, until the credits scene, which directly tells the audience what was going on.
The game is superb. The sound design, mechanics, atmosphere, the diary and the dreams - perfectly executed. I felt eerie even playing the inside game, where the single dot was trying to escape many dots. Weirdly, I know it is not part of the game, but it felt like the main character was also chased by "ideas" like in that game, trying to dodge the fear and impulses telling the truth to them. Very sad.
As I already mentioned, the quality of this project is fantastic. My personal attitude towards developers, who want to deal with serious themes like mental illness, wars, abuse, it still stays the same, but for this game I made an exception and there are many other great games too.
Best of luck with the future developments and hope to see another installment from you soon, maybe less dark, less serious and more towards the scary side, rather then creepy and edgy, although, as I said 3 times already I liked the game for what it was.
Cheers!
Thank you for taking your time to give me your honest critique. I fully agree with the subject being sensitive.
The game aims to discuss many themes, such as abuse, false imprisonment, dependence, isolation, perception, the subconscious, war, etc. Personally, as a developer, I wanted to create an experience rather than a game. An experience where it's not just the typical scary mansion with supernatural events. However, in retrospect, I am sure to say that tackling such a trope as a first attempt at psychological horror was not the best idea.
There are myriads of things that could've been portrayed in a more careful manner. Lastly, there are many things I wish to learn in the future about game design, and I hope this experience won't define me as a future creator.