(I hyperfixated and wrote a super long review because of how much I got impacted by the game, but since it doesn't seem to allow me to submit it, I'll post it here. Spoiler alert ahead if any new player passing by don't want any details of the gameplay)
It took me a while to try this game, mostly because horror atmospheric games that keep you tense are a bit too effective on me. And OH MY GOD I don't regret at all finally playing it, I spent the whole afternoon and evening on it ! I love every aspect of it, I can't find anything I would change about it personally, only few suggestions that I think could be nice if they're ever used !
The audio :
It's incredible. All the eerie noises are really effective, from the crawler's noises to the random short noises in the ambiant at night. It kept me tensed so much more, especially since I was wearing headphones. And I'm really impressed at the steps noises changing depending where we are walking. The noises that we make we step on a bunch of tall grass got me so many times because I thought it was the deer's steps right next to me. Also, I don't know if it's intended or not but it's really stressful how loud the boat is whenever we are repairing it, and it take so long to fill up the bar, I was just terrified to miss the noises of an incoming crawler, so it's really effective ! There's just 2 small things I noticed ;
- The song on the main menu doesn't loop, it just ends abruptly and leave us with nature ambiant. I don't know if it's a voluntary choice or not, it just surprised me when I was afk on the main menu.
- When we are using the well, I noticed an additional noise that I can't describe. I don't know if it's the sound of birds singing far away in the background, or the well squeaking as we use it. It's not bothering at all, just sharing in case it wasn't intended to be like that !
The visuals :
I absolutely love it ! The 2D models in a 3D world, the colors, the artstyle, everything fits the theme and atmosphere so well, it's incredible ! All the animations are also so clean and fluid too, it's unique and I love it !
The crow :
Really loveable, I love how the caws have been arranged to simulate them talking at the beginning, it's pretty cool ! I was thinking a lot about this crow, mostly because I would've love to see them a bit more. In a way their job of bringing stuffs to pick up is really helpful, and if it's always the same one bringing everything, then I would understand that it's not possible to do anything more with them. I would've loved to see the crow keep an eye on us from the rooftop of the house, sometimes giving us a bit of advice, or just some piece of thoughts. I love the idea of the game being wordless except the tutorial, but at the same time, having the crow being the only one that can talk is also an idea that I like. And to keep that feeling of wordless gameplay, maybe they could just have very few words of dialogue in game, maybe just enough to create an opening for some lore behind our character and why is this crow helping us ! But at the same time, since the deer appear right after the first night, I could understand that the crow doesn't want to stick around. So just leaving my thoughts here in case it can be useful.
The monsters :
All of them are incredibles ! And even if they seem like concepts already well known (clowns, wendigo, etc...), I still feel like they were created in a very unique way here ! I'm also really thankful that all of them make their appearances right in the first day and first night, I stayed so stressed and in alert that maybe another monster or another deer will end up appearing after few nights, but luckily nothing like that !
- The crawler : Even tho it's a simple and common mechanic, its appearance is really what made it so special to me. During my first playtrough I just casually walked into my house and waited, and when I saw it crawl rapidly near my house and bang my door, it left me horrified ! It looks like it's straight up from a nightmare, and even tho the visuals of the game already have a dark spooky feeling, I was still not ready for something that nightmarish.
- The shadow under the bed : This one really got me good. It took me 2 tries to understand how its spawning worked (I died the second time because I accidentally summoned it at the same time a crawler was about to appear), it's still a really east to catch and clever way ! We're not safe anywhere at all, and it's pretty chilling to realize that, I love it !
- The clowns : I really love how their mechanic work ! I find that wholesome in a way that we are the one delivering a gift from one clown to another to comfort them ! But it's really difficult to locate them, I needed high quality headphones to correctly track the music. And btw, I love the detail of being able to hear the clown wind up the music box ! For me, it was a cute but really fear inducing moment, especially once the deer was roaming around. If I didn't had time to locate it before the music box started to play, I was just terrified of accidentally running into it.
- The deer : Oh yeah, I really need to talk about it... It's one of the greatest idea I ever saw in a horror game. I really felt non-stop tracked, it's literally that famous immortal snail meme, but more horrifying because of how quick it moves once it turns into a wendigo. I tried the strategy of pissing it off in front of my door, and then run inside immediately, I thought it will run into the woods like the crawler. I was horrified when I finally understood that it was NEVER going to leave the farm AT ALL. Pretty sure it's gonna hunt me in my nightmares now, 100/10, best idea ever for this game.
- The random screamers : I usually think that screamers are just cheap and boring scares, but in this context they were a great idea. I got the shadow in the well, and a zoom on a crawler passing quickly in the woods, I don't know if there are any others, but they are really effective. I got really scared thinking I just discovered a new monster that was about to chase me, really good execution !
The gameplay :
It's easy to understand and to keep going, honestly just like everything I wrote above, my whole experience about it was highly positive ! I just wanted to add this part to give some suggestions that crossed my mind :
- I love the idea of being able to customize our avatar's colors, and I think it would be really cool if we could even customize more things, like our interior ! Just the downside I find to that, is that time keep going while we are customizing, and so I'm doing my changes as quick as possible to avoid summoning the shadow. So I just feel like the game would be more enjoyable if we were able to have a small moment where we can just take a breath and customize some stuffs. Also, it's a bit sad that we can't try on the colors before buying them, I feel even more in a rush.
- I really love the idea of not being safe anywhere, it makes us even more tensed and alert. But I was also thinking, it would be nice to have the possibility to get a breath without pausing the whole game. So how about maybe multiple gamemodes ? So we can keep this current one that is really amazing, and once we're able to finish it we could unlock other gamemodes ! Like a more endless one that would be more based around settling there instead of running away in our boat (maybe at the new location where we go with our boat ?), build defenses against the monsters (befriending the clowns ?(pls)), expand the farm, maybe even explore ? With a way to save our game, and maybe even temporary shelter to catch a breath, like sleeping a bit in a tent, but it end up falling apart to force us to always find ways to survive. Overall, developping more the farming part of the game ! With still the danger of course, it would be like an alone, horrific survival Stardew Valley-like.
- (Also adding something I noticed with the death screen. I don't know it it's intentional or not but the game just keep going with out character dead on the ground. I got killed by the clown at night who stayed next to me, and as I stayed afk a bit I could see my lantern run out, the crawler come and attack me, then the deer appearing, walking towards me, turn into a wendigo and eat my body, all the monsters ended up stuck around me either doing their killing animation or just staying there)
This game is by far one of my favorite now, and I will gladly play it again and follow any future update. To all the people who participated to it, you did an amazing job !