Reviews - KiraImmortal

This was pretty enjoyable! To start things off this is probably my favourite mod of the author so far, whose work I found mostly controversial in other mods such as the Hunting Grounds series. It looks like the solo format worked out better for this one. I will break down my points into 3 categories below.

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Good:

- The design is very atmospheric, and uses the content from AMFP well, with a pinch of Amadeus and other larger projects from the past in there.
- The outside sections is particular looked sublime!
- Monsters were overall good choices for the theme, even the AI being stupid - on the first one - in some ways helped the concepts behind it (being an undeveloped child or so).
- The recurring monster had GOOD MUSIC. This is very rare in custom stories, where music usually just takes away any surprise factor an encounter might have. Here it finely increased tension.
- Music overall was enjoyable, kudos to the composer!
- Player goals were clear, and I like the way progression was set up.
- Puzzles are nothing too refreshing, but for the author's first scripting work, they do the job fine in most cases, and aren't overcomplicated without clues (didn't have to check a walkthrough once).
- The bossfight was quite enjoyable with the point above in mind, nice of you to include such a thing for the finale!

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Mediocre:

- Voice acting had overall better quality than I remember in the Hunting Groudn series where I often felt like they lean into very low quality.
- The actors however didn't really resonate/relate all that well with their characters, but for the amount that was put in there, it was okay.
- I didn't like the little subsections at first that held seemingly nothing on first glance, but later on with the Lab puzzle they all made sense. However in these later sections I think you introduced a bit too much backtracking that might set some players off (especially the 3 keys in the other world!)
- Player character reacts strangely to certain smaller events, like no scare / concern when seeing the blood pool did indeed belong to his wife (that he mentioned earlier).
- Resources such as oil and tinderboxes were a bit too excessive when it comes to amounts, and I wasn't really trying to save them.
- I didn't really see a reason why so many blockboxes and static objects were placed. In AMFP, the reason was for you can focus on the story and narration, but in here I'd say that was a bit unnecessary because..

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Bad / Things to improve next time:

- The story was not nearly as complex to actually be Lovecraftian. I felt like creatures from the mithology were included in some texts only to justify this designation. The areas while being nice also lacked the weird aspect of said mithology, and the "other world" looked way too much like the one we started in. To give an example, the narration mentioned irregular shapes, or black spheres on the sky, but we didn't really even see ANY sky there once..
- The setting and the buildup lacked any kind of mysticism to further reinforce above statement.
In gameplay we saw nothing supernatural for a while and the player actions nicely unfolded, while on the other hand we were bombarded with squid creatures on the loading screen and an obsession with the unknown that felt like it served no purpose.
- All that would have been forgiven, especially as the author's first solo work on a story, if the proofreading / english in general wasn't downright AWFUL. Please ask someone with native or at least experienced english for proofreading, as it really broke immersion almost every time I was reading a note.

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In addition, little bugs I found in current (1.1) version:
- You can break the fungi in the outside small room with rocks, yielding no poison gland. You can address this by using "SetEntityCallbackFunc" from the HPL2 scripting page with "Break" type in the function, on top of using the hammer on it.
- You are missing the leveldoor sounds for the wood panelling door. I think they are called "afx_events_leveltransition_mansion" + enter and exit for reference.

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All in all, I liked this mod. I think that tackling a lovecraftian theme requires a bit more story complexity, and a lot more work in the proofreading department. Good job on making it on your own, but don't hesitate to call upon help next time if you need it!

Feel free to submit this as-is on the Steam Workshop with the next update applied (and mentioned proofreading if you can help it), you could benefit from more players playing it there!
If you don't mind a bit of extra work you can even make use of my AMFP asset pack submitted there with instructions, but at this stage of the mod that is highly optional, just spend the well deserved rest.

PS: I may go back and give Aftergame another chance and try finishing it this time, after playing this one.

Solid 9/10

Reviewed this multiple times in DM and in the server, but to sum it up quickly:
- the best gameplay on overdose I have seen throughout the years
- improved lackluster weapons from the arsenal
- mostly good secrets and creative easter eggs
- you made my most hated levels my favourite ones (Riot, Air Combat)
- some questionable difficulty (CH1 vs the others) and music choices, but most are minor and subjective to each person
- just a fun time to be had overall, with good arena additions in certain sections, and backtracking option
- no eye burning effects, true to the original creation while bringing improvements

it could still use some technical improvements in the future but great job overall!

Releasing your first mod comes with the difficulty of entering the TDD scene at this stage.
What I've said in the earlier release still holds true:

You had quite a couple of things going for this from the technical perspective:

- Usage of custom assets and even a custom monster!
- Music and general ambience in the levels
- Puzzles besides key quests
- Narration, intro, some smaller cutscenes
- Possible ending choices

The new version still lacks a kind of favorable atmosphere often, levels are often extremely short with basic details, and the quality of most things like the voice acting stayed the same. I however highly appreciated the quality of life changes such as autosaves and such.

I wouldn't say Remastered fully lives up to the title, let's call it an enchanced version, but you truly put your heart into this and it deserves a 6.5/10 (rounded up) for all your efforts as a first timer.

I hope we can see something new from you in the future, as you proved to be able to stick to what you make, and I'd like to see how you handle better lit, more atmospheric environments next!

I replayed some custom levels of my own with this, there were only some minor visual issues I noticed but they could have come from the texture pack I was using alongside.

Very nice job, thank you for your work!

Enjoyable "little" first mod!

The design is nice overall, lighting and atmosphere could use a bit of work, but good looking all in all. I have seen creative usage of original assets in a lot of places, and nice merging of different assetbases occasionally. There are areas with tension, only held back by the one and only monster used constantly, so the player knows what to expect. Surprisingly expansive for a starter project too.

- Mentioned length though is a bit excessive for how much you encounter the same monster.
- Moreover, the mod lacks any cohesive player motive or direction, puzzles are mostly loose reiterations of the original game's as well.
- Story is also completely missing!
- Ending is a bit resource heavy, particles should be toned down or activated/destroyed via script (especially the rain that can only be seen outside).
-The thing I least liked are the overly highlighted puzzle items with white, I recommend using candle or natural light sources next time for such purposes!

In consideration to all of the above, this is a nice experience for the most part however. Kudos for the inclusion of hidden resources, only a tad too much tinderboxes in the levels. Definitely want to see where you go from here, will be on the lookout for future project announcements.

7/10, good job!

This was a decent start. Nice level design and atmosphere to befit such a melancholic story. However there are quite a few details that need to be pointed out that broke the immersion in what otherwise could have been a much better experience with a higher rating.

Pros (especially commendable for a first mod):
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+ Level Design
+ Atmosphere
+ Nice details in some places
+ Usage of custom assets
+ Fitting music

Cons (going into more detail for future improvements):
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- The player movement is majorly impeded, the intention must be to provide a slower, narrated experience, when in reality it feels like a forceful drag. Changing BOTH move and runspeed to 0.8/0.7 would perfectly do the trick for gameplay and would still keep an accurate feeling for the player character's state.
- No puzzles besides key quests, which is the number 1 first mod mistake. The description promised the player to find keepsakes, but other than notes and some paintings in the environment nothing interactive was provided.
- Barely any cutscenes or events, which would fit a short narrated story very well.
- Despite using some custom assets, many are packed alongside the mod that end up being unused, needlessly increasing the download size.
- The story itself could use a lot of refinement, and I'm opening a whole section for this.

Story problems / suggestions:
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- Even after the proofreading there are some grammar and sentence casting mistakes, and the text in poem-like notes is often truncated in a bad way.
- The voice acting doesn't feel immersive at all
- The emphasis about sadness is put on drinking and smoking a lot, and addressing the lost sister countless times in similar ways, instead of more thorough feelings a person experiences in such a situation. A few brief notes address self pity and loneliness in a makeshift way however.
- More background should have been provided about the characters' past so players can better relate or feel touched by their fate.
- Being russian yourself, more such environmental details and local folklore could be added to aid the story's depth.

Wish you the best of luck for future endeavours, or even any updates related to this one. Feel free to hit me up for more suggestions regarding such efforts! You definitely have potential, and tackling a story-focused experience for the first time is definitely a risky and difficult task!

A brief concept that piques some interest. It's of course very short and has only a few tasks to do before it ends, while showing decent design and detail in some areas, and average in the rest. Monster encounters were nothing much, but fit the area as it was. Ending was a bit abrupt and unrefined, yet things still came to a conclusion. I liked the readables on the other hand, nice micro lore that isn't hard to follow.

I'd really like to see what the author does with a more ambitious project of similar aesthetic. For something as small, this was worth trying out, and depicts a good road forward. 6/10, good luck on your plans for the future!

I remember rating this, but alas I was mistaken.

After extensively testing this in the past, now even on recent Steam version, and providing update ideas along the way, I can say this is a super useful source modification many projects could take advantage of.

Only downside being the missing support for FBX meaning the AMFP pigs/gent/maid etc. models, but it is not the author's wrongdoing, so a full score is deserved!

A colossal story that took me many years to realize I've never finished..

In today's standards especially, there are many things to be nitpicky about:
- The story has some shortcomings with its average english, not so innovative concept and several things being connected in a makeshift way.
- Many puzzles only involve unnecessarily hidden objects in plain sight, and vague clues, if any.
- Design, even to the creation's age's standards is average. There are some nice details here and there, weird innovations and some creative fantasy locations. But more often it's just monotonous, overly large and very mazelike structures.
- Mixed scary encounters, varying from very cheap jumpscares to environments with tension.
- Sound design also ranges from the actually unsettling to the cringy section.

Yet, undeniably, this has insane work input. It fits together well in general, and is definitely a good upgrade on the previous episodes. Probably not one of my favourite mods, yet it's definitely one of the more impressive ones.

If I would have only rated how engaging it felt like playing this in 2023 with so many more advanced mods around, this rating would have gone into the 7-8 territory. However I can tell how much of a passion project this was, and as a fellow modder how much time this must have taken to complete. I had a fun (and LONG) time overall, despite the issues. For these facts above, it deserves a 9/10.

The greatest hybrid of Crash Bandicoot and Amnesia to date. The true Dark Souls were the friends we made along the way.