THIS GAME IS EQUALLY TERRIFYING AND PLEASING
Thank you Andrew for working hard to make this beautiful nightmare into a reality. I want to give my thoughts/desires/suggestions on my experience playing your game.
Aesthetic
The Liminal Spaces you created are immaculate. I have probably spent 3-4 hours just walking around in both versions of the beta. I've explored every room thoroughly, and spent plenty of time messing with the shadow... I have even tried breaking the boundaries by clipping out of the map, but to no avail. This game is tightly wrapped within its boundaries.
The music is incredible. JORDANN and 4REST nailed the vibes. The genres fit the environments perfectly. I hope there is more of this in the final product. The horror ambience and music blends well, but I hope there is more of a balance of relaxing vapor/slush wave to counter the menacing horror sections.
Each room has it's own feeling and curiosity. around each procedurally generated corner is another empty space to be explored. I hope with time you can add some randomized interactivity within these spaces. It would be interesting if after walking through the generated rooms for a certain amount of time, you come across an empty trashcan that did something wild if you interact with it.
The small touches like the blood on the pool ladder and the glimpses of the shadow got me thinking about the lore of the world. Who's blood is that? That means someone else is here right? What is the shadow? Is it good or bad? I hope to have more questions like this and hopefully some of them answered in the final product.
Suggestions
I love what V2 has to offer, but there are some things I enjoyed more about V1.
For example: Bring the music back to the pink room. In the beginning of V1, I could hear the music of the pink room when I was solving the ladder puzzle. There was a sense of urgency to find out what the sound was and where it was coming from. It sucked me in, queued where to go, and got me excited for more.
I preferred the level progression in V1 more. It made sense to have the locker room toward the beginning. It was more mysterious to not have any idea what to expect until you are stuck in a locker room with it. It made me feel like I was letting the shadow out. the beginning of V2 feels more cluttered. like a collection of levels rather than a progression.
Also, it seems like the aspect ratio is different in V2? I noticed the field of view is smaller and there is a blurry border around the view. I compared versions and preferred V1 so I'm not sure if this was on purpose but imo it made the resolution worse and broke the immersion. I think this game needs to lean heavily on resolution/graphics/lighting so I assume this will be fixed in the final product. I did like the ability to zoom in though. I can really just sit there and count the holes in the ceiling tiles.
Desires
I think the concept of this game has amazing possibilities. I imagine this game could be similar to "the backrooms" in terms of lore and world building. I think this could be an incredible indie title that rivals the best of the horror genre. I hope this game gets more funding and a team to improve sound design and level design.
photo mode - I think it would be interesting to have a photo mode just cause it looks so damn good.
world building - is the labyrinth real? is there an exit? There should be a hub level of sorts so you can revisit your favorite spaces. this would allow for more puzzles that can be re visited when you have the right items.
Lore - I hope there is a plot of some kind that explains who the character is, or who the shadow is, or what the labyrinth is, or why there is blood on the diving board, or what was up with that body, or why there is so many beach balls?
more puzzles - I think each level has unique assets that could make for interesting puzzles. I hope to see more than just one kind of puzzle.
functionality- I hope the abilities are expanded more. I would like the ability to swim under water, crouch, use a flashlight, pick up a beach ball and carry it to the shadow...