is there still a monster?

[エロ音声作品学者]

i think i prefer the idea of the game without one, where the fear comes from the environment being what it is. i remember there was one at one point in a demo, which i thought was a bad call. cheapens the horror.

[Sleepy]

Nothing I saw unless I was just really oblivious, it just seems to be the little bits from the demo. It seems to be more environmental creep than game horror.

[SpookyCat]

I did notice a manikin would change positions and move to different locations in one part xD

[SinAscendant]

He's not a monster, he's a friend. He still exists in the pool area, but there is zero danger, I walked up to him in the lockers and he just floated around me harmlessly

[エロ音声作品学者]

Originally posted by SinAscendant:

He's not a monster, he's a friend. He still exists in the pool area, but there is zero danger, I walked up to him in the lockers and he just floated around me harmlessly

interesting, i wonder if that's intended

[SinAscendant]

Originally posted by エロ音声作品学者:

Originally posted by SinAscendant:

He's not a monster, he's a friend. He still exists in the pool area, but there is zero danger, I walked up to him in the lockers and he just floated around me harmlessly

interesting, i wonder if that's intended

I mean I dont remember him hurting you in the beta either, so probably?

[SpookyCat]

think the music and the writing on the glass saying to keep moving makes one think this is a hunt and you have to run away

[foxstomp]

Originally posted by SinAscendant:

Originally posted by エロ音声作品学者:

interesting, i wonder if that's intended

I mean I dont remember him hurting you in the beta either, so probably?

In the v2 beta you'd "die" if it caught you, and start you over in that zone if I recall correctly.

[samfzgames]

That's right. It didn't give you the usual 'jump scare' or anything like that, but if it caught up with you, it would fade out and restart the area from the checkpoint. So it was a "death" but not a cheap jump. It was a chase, now it's... I'm not even sure what. I've been theorising that this is was in response to Gamespot's liminal spaces video where they complain about monsters showing up at the end of backrooms games, including this one as an example.

[エロ音声作品学者]

yeah that's how i recall it.

i definitely think having actual monsters who kill you in a liminal space game significantly cheapens the experience.

there's an upcoming liminal exploration game, Interior Worlds, on steam - which promises outright that there are no jumpscares, no monsters, no real danger - and yet the demo makes my skin absolutely crawl, it's so tense and unsettling even knowing that for sure.

glad anemoiapolis went the right route.

[samfzgames]

I'll be honest, that sounds very boring to me. Might as well just look at pictures of liminal spaces.

[rosesoma]

A devlog on itch.io mentions an option to "turn off monsters for those who want a more atmospheric experience". It's not in the options right now, but I hope they add it in, if there's something out there, that is.