First of all: Lust for darkness is not a Lovecraftian game. It may contain inspirations from Lovecraft's Cthulhu designs but is in no way in a Lovecraft type universe. However, even if I don't want to be in the devs minds, we can see a theme about freudian principles of Conscious, Preconscious and Subconscious. The protagonist being the Preconscious Character, finding himself in a universe full of immoral desires and primordial fears (fear of being left out symbolised by the cult and fear of death). Willard would be the subconscious level while the cultists are purely on the conscious level of the mind, only reacting with their perception. The duel Between Jonathan and Willard would be in this game the metaphor of the fight between the Preconscious and the Subconscious to take over the individual (the Cultists). That could also explain why the cultists are at various times reading books and talking as to show their dedication to the present time and the conscious part of the mind. Jonathan is obsessed about the past (the role of the preconscious) and Willard of the future (subconscious desires).

We also find references of Schopenhauer's book "The World as Will and Representation" about the desire. Insatiable desires like food and sex are the reasons for him as the will to life present in all humans. These desires were dictated by the universal will, an entity that makes us fall in love to procreate indefinitely. Schopenhauer believed the continuation of the will-to-life through procreation was not just pointless (because of the cyclic nature of love), but also the cause of all our suffering. The only way to stop the cycle would be to kill ourselves, or just stop to procreate (the mutilation of Willard's genitals could be an influence of Schopenhauer's ideas).

The lovecraftians references are badly placed and off-topic. I guess no one would be able to understand what made Lovecraft what he is and copying his imagination is simply pointless. I'm going to play the sequel "from beyond" to see if I can see Albert Camus' influence or the one of Spinoza. I was pretty disappointed by this walking simulator on the puzzle level which could have been much more entertaining and prolonged the game's life. Instead I've finished the game in less than 1h30.
The story is fine, I could resume it in two words: Cult and Fear. When i say fear I do not talk about those jump scare episodes but the fear in the Sartre's sense of rejection and loneliness. "Hell is others" and that is the only conclusion I see for this game.

I'm really torn apart between an universe that could have been great and in the other side a bad ripoff of Lovecraft stories. I am just mad that it is impossible to see a dev reunion and see what could have been better. It makes me want to start making a game to see what is actually possible in term of storytelling and gameplay.

The graphics are ok but not so much for the level design. The manor do not make a freaking sense on the protagonist's level. It would be good to see a map of the entire building.

To conclude, buy this game if you want to make some crazy theories about the universe and ideas from philosophers. If not, you will be disappointed in the level design and horror levels. And if you wanted this to be a sex game, shame on you, pervert.