Explore old malls, empty water parks, and existential dread · By
Very nice! I'm playing through it now! If you don't mind, I'll be leaving my thoughts here as we keep going.
First off, we's got options, sweet, my potato computer can finally run this game more smoothly! So yeah, my game's graphics are on low, so keep that in mind for the review, maybe it'll affect something. The title screen animation's neat too. Kinda weird we don't get to listen to the call between the dude and his wife, I felt that gave more context for why we are there.
In terms of controls, YES, we can run now! Thank you! Other than that, yeah, it all feels good.
In terms of graphics and interface, I love the camera filter, and the new font is really cool, though I'm not fond of how it labels doorways into the next area as "go to the next level", that kinda breaks the immersion a bit. Maybe just "open door" or so would be better. I also find it odd how you can try some of the doors that don't open, and some don't say anything, some say "locked", and some don't even let you try to open before saying "locked". A little inconsistent I guess, but very minor.
One thing I also found odd was how the protagonist calls for help, he says the short "hello?" after the long "helloooo?" I know this is EXTREMELY nitpicky, but given how they sound, I don't think I've ever heard a single person say it like that.
Also, I find the ambience noise in the area with the short pools and the electric door a bit... grating? Maybe that was on purpose, but it felt like someone left a really loud ventilator in there. Edit: same goes for the Pool area before the Lazy River, apparently.
As for the new bathroom after the electric door (really like it btw), I realized it's not lagging at all when I keep the graphics at a balanced level! Even on high it runs well! Not sure why it lags so much on the first two areas... too open? Too many objects with physics? i dunno how this works, I'm genuinely curious. Either way, I'll be keeping it at high for now.
Oh, I like how we can turn on the faucets... but when we close them, the animation for them just... stops. Like, the water suddenly disappears. So that's kinda funky XD The water's light reflections also are hella blinding if you stand right in front of the faucets, but I know that's probably related to the engine. Same thing with how only the lockers that are sheltered from the lights are reflective, I bet.
I know I may be sounding harsh, but fear not, I adore this game. I love the new area, the atmosphere, it's so good. These are all rather minor things, but I feel like a game like this kinda thrives on the details, as folks always feel immersed in games like these, especially one about liminal spaces. I know I certainly do! So that's why I'm taking notes about the things I notice.
Ah, now the showers' water streams are all good! I'm loving the addition of new areas to the early part of the game, it keeps things fresh for folks who got the Beta like me! I guess the Lazy River is coming up a bit later then! The lobby after the showers is... unnerving with how big it feels, I really dig it.
Also, the tickets that everyone was talking about! Folks were mentioning some issues about those, but I only started playing after the patch, so I dunno the differences, they seem to work good. I like how they appear at the top corner too! The elevator was done really well too, but part of me wonders if you could avoid the fade to black, to make the transition more smooth.
I'm gonna stop for now, don't want to spoil anything past this. I'll only mention some details I may notice after this, but so far, I'm really loving all this!
Ok, I love how every location feels so different from each other... though I feel like they're a little lacking in commentary by the protagonist, minus in the areas that were already in the beta. The Movie Theatre was also an odd one: I wasn't sure I was climbing through where I needed to in the first room, or if I was abusing the game's collision and geometry. Also, its ending definitely leans more on surrealism and dreamcore, thought I'd leave that here, hehehe! But yeah, it's been quite the fun experience!
What else... oh, there were some floating tickets in the Conference Center (close to the small red room), the cost of the elevators seems to default to 10 after you use them, even if you can't ride them back up, and the slide button was the best addition in the game. It's kinda weird how the most expensive area in the game, the one folks may leave for last, also ends up being the one with the most commentary, all old commentary too (we comment on how the Lazy River may have an exit, despite the fact we already know of an elevator that will lead us to the surface back in the hub), and easier haywire puzzles. Speaking of which, I only found, like, one more of these outside of the beta areas... The control panel was surprisingly detailed compared to the others tho, and It was definitely more complex, but I would've liked to have seen a few more of these more consistently.
Also, the final area was... rather short. Like, it's huge, yes, but I feel like you could either be wandering around in there for a long time... or find a way out almost immediately. The latter happened to me. It had some great build up before you go down there tho.
Finished the game! Well, the chapter that is. Despite these minor things I've mentioned above, I really enjoyed this game, and I can't wait to see what other ideas you have in stock for Chapter 2!
