I bought this game thinking it was a horror version of bioshock, and it turned out to be something much more... boring.
The whole game plays like some sort of walking/fetch simulator, with lazy horror elements and lots of really discount-grade jumpscares.
For example, the problem isn't merely that you're walking around; it's that the game repeatedly gives you "go here, find X, activate X, return here" objectives without enough interesting decision-making, meaningful environmental interaction, or discovery to make those excursions satisfying.
The overall setting and the art direction is quite interesting and strong at first, but its visual novelty wears off quickly.
the whole game, knowing nothing but sepia tones and ink-black, makes environments visually repetitive and uninteresting in the long run.
The original English writing is perfectly serviceable, but the other language translations — especially Italian — feel like "just google-translate everything" to the point of stripping the writing of any personality.
Combat is atrocious and feels more like a shoddy facade than a properly developed gameplay system. The few combat-heavy sections are frustrating rather than engaging, thanks to extremely janky mechanics.
Death is simultaneously frustrating and almost meaningless: some encounters can kill you through janky or poorly telegraphed mechanics, yet dying carries virtually no meaningful consequence.
The last boss fight is so atrcious and RNG-focused i was glad i somewhat managed to escape.
All the moments where the Ink Demon catches you throughout the game are really cheap deaths.
the story itself makes little sense either, with its lore tied to "chapter-to-chapter behind the scenes" production. The employees log messages a-la SystemShock/Bioshock never really hooked me. Rather than making me curious about what happened or eager to uncover the next piece of the story, they mostly felt like mandatory lore dumps.
Overall, it feels like the perfect game for youtube/twitch streamers fishing for reaction memes.
