I finally got the chance to play this and I must say it impressed me in a lot of ways. I'm a huge fan of the original Lost Crown which has really resonated with me throughout the years and I did enjoy Midnight Horror as a fun distraction.

After seeing this however... I think the first thing that grabs your attention is the visuals, I was just floored. I didn't know how Lost Crown's unique aesthetic would translate in a 3D environment, but damn you hit the nail on the head here. The downside? Well, first off, performance is not where it should be. I'm running a modest Ryzen 3 1200, 16GB RAM and an RX 480 8GB and no matter what I did performance was not great at all, usually hanging around the mid 40s producing a stuttery experience. This is like I said a modest system nowadays, but I'm fairly certain it's a step above what most people interested solely in adventure games have. The other issue is that animation and lipsyncing issues, as well as WIP interface stick out even worse here because I was so floored by the presentation. Just to give an example, I think that perhaps the portraits should go since you are always so close to the characters anyway that you can see their faces. Granted, there was no point & click "fixed" camera angles in the demo, so perhaps that works better there.

The controls are interesting, I tried out both mkb and the XBOX One's controller and they both work fine, I think this is a matter of polish more than anything much like the interface and animations. It is a little sad to see so many people complaining about the controls, especially since Jonathan has promised and even showcased that a point & click interface with fixed or semi-fixed camera angles is in the works.

Where this gets top marks for me was the atmosphere. I tried this late last night with the speakers cranked up and I just took it all in, it was just a thing of beauty. Felt like I was really there exploring the place. It has to be said, Jonathan Boakes is masterful in this regard, playing this demo reminded me that I should really give the Last Fall games another chance since I never played them proper.

There's something about old countryside churches, I had the chance to visit one in Bakewell last year during a trip I had to the UK and it was eerily similar to Lost Crown's Northfield Church and because it was a snowy period, it was actually even closer to how it is in Silent Night. I'm not a spiritual guy at all, but there is something to be said about walking in the quiet countryside and stumbling upon said church and just taking it all in, walking amongst the last resting place of people that have long since left this world, then walking in the church when no one's in early in the morning, with every footstep you're making creating an echo within the church... It gave me the chills and I was with 2 other mates! Lovely experience and I felt just like it last night when I played the demo.

So, in conclusion, I think there are brilliant bits here and if given proper care this demo could blossom to something truly special and also far reaching in terms of audience. There are glimmers of something unique here and I hope you find a way to create something special that will touch and inspire as many people as possible.