Explore old malls, empty water parks, and existential dread · By
Well I just finished the game not too long ago, and all I have to say is what the hell happened to this game? The dev took what was once a promising horror game, and turned it in to a hub based treasure hunt that isn't scary at all. The first two betas were oozing with atmosphere and slow burn horror, while the final game is just a tedious, not scary ticket hunt. I wanted a liminal space horror game, not a tedious collect-a-thon.
I agree. The v2 version of the game felt like you were navigating a weird underground facility. The hub really takes away from the entire vibe of the game. I would have been much happier to transition between these weird and fascinating areas one after the other rather than having to revisit a really gamified hub area. Took the immersion right out of it.
Honestly it felt like the dev just gave up on developing the game, and just released what he finished, with the hub being a quick and easy way to get the players in the levels. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't going to be any future chapters. I would like to be proven wrong, but I have my doubts.
I have been sort of grappling with this feeling myself. On one hand, it's presumably one person developing, and I really don't want to dump too hard on somebody creating anything; good on them for even trying, much less following through. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever played something where I got the distinct impression the creator got bored of it half-way through like this, and I was so looking forward to this release that it releasing the way it did was a huge bummer and I've still got feelings about it lol.
My guess is that the beta got a ton of unexpected positive reception (especially on youtube), and it created a situation where the dev probably felt like they were leaving money on the table by not developing further, even if they lost interest. Also, honestly, I think the "wander around liminal spaces" as a main concept to develop around makes a much better brief demo/vertical slice than a whole game. Most crucially though, it's my fault for hyping myself up into thinking an indie Unity project was going to approach double-A levels of polish. An idea the v2 beta did put in my head in all fairness - I really thought it was that well made.
Whatever actually happened, I also don't expect to see much more activity on this project, even if I'd like to be wrong and see it make a huge turn around.
I don't think anybody "gave up" as such, but I feel like some content exists to make a short game long enough for Steam. Their refund policy ruins short games. Since the beta said it was "50%" of the game, something about double it's length would make sense - The pool & spa followed by the theatre and then the office hell (probably originally with another shadow guy chase in there?) would have made a great full game, I expect, as happens with many games, some of the other stuff was to get it to fit around that, and it's a shame.
Oh yeah, what's up with the shadow guy anyway? In the beta, it was shaping up to be a constant threat that would hunt you throughout the game. But in the final build, it just appeared in the shower room, and made a brief appearance in the mall only to disappear from the game entirely. Such wasted potential.
I didn't mind the hub, it itself isn't really a problem. Though I think it should change gradually over the playthrough, get darker, random sounds, etc. keep it interesting.
The real issues are the pointless ticket hunting (It doesn't affect the order you visit levels in at all, as far as I can tell) and the lack of substance to many of the other levels, like the conference and office room levels. The golf course was cool, but that's all it was. It would've been cool if once you realize it's neverending you try to leave, but then it starts turning into a twisted maze of nonsensical golf courses.
Plus the beta made it seem like there'd be more of a horror element to the game, but literally the only horror element we got is what was in the beta.
Yeah, the ticket hunting is what really killed the game for me. During my first playthrough, I couldn't fully enjoy the environment due to the fact that I was constantly distracted by the search for tickets. I don't really know what the dev was thinking by adding this. It adds nothing of value to the game, and just actively hurts it.
uh you know the lazy river was already procedurally generated right? He even has a video up of how it works
The backrooms segment was already in the beta, and the "free" elevator as well as the theatre was not procedurally generated. So basically you're just saying that you didn't like the minigolf course.
I never thought of Anemoiapolis being "scary". In fact, the thing I disliked less from beta 2 was precisely the "shadow man", because I wanted to experience the loneliness of liminal spaces, not escaping from creatures. I didn't play the final game yet (didn't have time yet), but saw some youtube videos and I believe I'm going to love it, because I saw spaces that get me the megalophobia vibe I enjoy.
Thanks a lot to the developer!
BTW, I love procedural levels!!! In procedural games, every time you start, you have a new game. In hand-crafted ones, when you visit all the levels, you get bored of it. Anemoiapolis is only partially procedural... I'd actually love it to be more procedural than it is.
The beta is the superior version. It's the version that has all the fat trimmed out and has a way better atmosphere. The new version is awful. I deleted it as soon as I was done and kept the beta if I ever want to play again. The ticket collecting and new areas are pretty awful. Sometimes less is more. The shadow monster doesn't even show up for me, he's completely invisible when he chases you except for this shadow cast on the ground. I'm not looking forward to chapter 2 after this.
