this is absolutely a recommend: the vfx, sfx, music, narrative, every component and their sum is fantastic EXCEPT the gameplay in the middle of the game. the beginning was enamoring by sheer novelty, horror, and intrigue, and in the end of the game they really stepped up the puzzle and exploration side of things (plus a really frickin cute cat wtf) where the game is elevated beyond the surreal horror walking sim at its core better incorporating player consideration of what tools and items to use where alongside considering their themes and meaning.

i saw movement speed got increased which may help in some areas, but i think there's just some areas to think about for your next works. i actually liked the long walks in a lot of areas because they emphasized distance and scale. in the spoilers i have specific of critique:
1. the pig machine factory looked great but was really boring, i wanted more puzzles here, i feel like i just went on a few ladders and flipped two switches and watched the character hold onto a hook.
2. after the pig factory, i went to check out what happened to the route back to the pig factory and it was blocked, it would've been nice if i could jump into the fire to respawn or just have been blocked from walking all the way there (would be nice to have more of this generally, prevent me from going places with absolutely nothing).
3. The submarine section really dragged. The two buttons seem pointless, especially since the woman's ghost emphasizes of the two-key system anyway. This section was just really long, a lot longer since both going to get the code and leaving to put the code in I tried to make the sub level when instead I was supposed to make it lopsided, which meant i had to walk back and forth both ways. easy solution here, just don't let the player make the ship level if its never useful and only wastes time. spending time experimenting is okay, for example in the last section of the game there's lots of things to try and you learn what works and what doesn't; the submarine is different where there's just an extra option that screws you.
devs please note i mean for this to be constructive criticism, i think you made a very powerful and intense game and i'd love to see what you make in the future.

this is absolutely a recommend: the vfx, sfx, music, narrative, every component and their sum is fantastic EXCEPT the gameplay in the middle of the game. the beginning was enamoring by sheer novelty, horror, and intrigue, and in the end of the game they really stepped up the puzzle and exploration side of things (plus a really frickin cute cat wtf) where the game is elevated beyond the surreal horror walking sim at its core better incorporating player consideration of what tools and items to use where alongside considering their themes and meaning. i saw movement speed got increased which may help in some areas, but i think there's just some areas to think about for your next works. i actually liked the long walks in a lot of areas because they emphasized distance and scale. in the spoilers i have specific of critique: 1. [spoiler] the pig machine factory looked great but was really boring, i wanted more puzzles here, i feel like i just went on a few ladders and flipped two switches and watched the character hold onto a hook.[/spoiler] 2. [spoiler] after the pig factory, i went to check out what happened to the route back to the pig factory and it was blocked, it would've been nice if i could jump into the fire to respawn or just have been blocked from walking all the way there (would be nice to have more of this generally, prevent me from going places with absolutely nothing).[/spoiler] 3. [spoiler]The submarine section really dragged. The two buttons seem pointless, especially since the woman's ghost emphasizes of the two-key system anyway. This section was just really long, a lot longer since both going to get the code and leaving to put the code in I tried to make the sub level when instead I was supposed to make it lopsided, which meant i had to walk back and forth both ways. easy solution here, just don't let the player make the ship level if its never useful and only wastes time. spending time experimenting is okay, for example in the last section of the game there's lots of things to try and you learn what works and what doesn't; the submarine is different where there's just an extra option that screws you.[/spoiler] devs please note i mean for this to be constructive criticism, i think you made a very powerful and intense game and i'd love to see what you make in the future.