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ahhh this was so great!! i love mind-twisty mystery games like these, and this was super intriguing and creative! :D
(SPOILERS)
love the setting and overall vibes; it really made me feel like i was in the middle of nowhere, investigating something and getting no results every day. and an arctic wasteland is a perfect choice to cultivate isolation and dread of the unknown. i got really frustrated every in-game day (but like, in a good way haha) with how few answers i was getting, and more questions kept pilling up. left me wanting to know what was going on sooo much.
i think the repetitive nature of the gameplay has its pros and cons, but it's ultimately a really clever choice; it's a bit frustrating to do the exact same things every day and only having minor shakeups, and sometimes while i was playing i kinda wished you had different assignments every day to keep things fresh; but on the other hand, it makes the small events thatdo happen all the more intense. things like the energy system not working seem just as important as a colleague getting injured when you're going through your tasks, trying to find any clues as to what's really going on. it's really effective in that regard :>
i really liked the characters as well! and THANK YOU for not doing the obvious "main character is suspicious but all their friends just think they're being paranoid" (that trope is so annoying-), cuz everyone being on board, discussing their viewpoints and trying to piece together what's happening is a LOT more interesting. i loved their discussions and how they found out more odd things with their combined knowledge (the scene where they realize they have pretty much the same memories was really eerie, and the dialogue felt really realistic). and their plans and deductions always felt reasonable. and speaking of characters! i really love how things that seem like odd character quirks (like the professor not leaving the room or the one guy who's always sleeping) end up also being things that indicate something is very wrong. that was really clever!
(also i didn't know where to put this but the busts change depending on your outfit?? such a neat detail)
if i had to nitpick stuff, i feel like while the repetitive aspect of the gameplay is really effective, some parts of it took a bit too long, like using the drill or changing clothes. and on the way to the laboratory, the map you go to in the middle of the map is flipped in terms of the direction you're facing. and this is probably really unfair cuz art is really difficult, but i kinda wished there were character busts for the other friends too. but like i said, these are just nitpicks!
overall this was a super intriguing and creative ride! and OHHH a mimicry of life!! cuz the scientists are trying to mimic life!!! aaahh that's so clever. i love that sm haha. great stuff.
Oooo an Oxy review™ XD
I'm glad the gameplay loop worked, maybe I should've added a note that holding the confirm key speeds up the game cuz of those long sound effects. I like to keep things realistic.
Adding busts for the rest is a great idea, buuuut I already submitted the game 8 days after submissions started sooo yeah XD
Also yep that's exactly why I chose that title :)
I'm glad you liked it!!!!