i definitely wasn't expecting a game like this browsing free itch.io games lmao. the most impactful part for me was the maze - i can't explain why, but everything about it just felt some kind of way. it's also strange how just a few lines of dialogue can make you feel so much for some ai-generated pixels, jeez. really enjoyed the atmosphere of this game too - it's just so right. the tone of all the text to the player is spot on as well - omniscient, encouraging, but just distant enough. and i have to give credits to the soundtrack because it's brilliant.
i will say: during the third painting, i didn't encounter a monster whilst looking for key cards. i was definitely terrified waiting for a monster to pop up during that whole segment but nothing happened, so i assumed it was a thing the game hyped up on purpose as some kind of metaphor deal, but looking at the comments apparently there's meant to be a monster? so i'm unsure why that happened :( i played in browser fwiw.
overall though i loved this! and i'll definitely be thinking about it for a while.