I got this game for free from Steamgifts by the developer (I believe?).

I was caught instantly on the writing, seemed right up my street. The whole nightmare almost 'Silent Hill' esque vibe got me hooked.
Upon launch, the menu felt a bit tacky with the only options being, which graphics settings you would like. In game the mouse felt a bit too quick for me but I got used to it.

The game relies on cheap jumpscares every few seconds, removing any possibility of scaring you at all. The assets used look great, when you spawn in the initial room I looked out the window and thought, wow, this actually looks quite nice. Ended up in a few rooms that were trying to be scary but was lacking. I opened a door and got hit by, to be fair, a creepy jumpscare. I went back and walked into another jumpscare. At this point I realised the game was going to rely on that. Simply spawning and despawning something in your face with 'AHHHH' over it. After the 2nd time, it really isn't scary and more annoying.

I persevered and ended up in the next area with a jumping sequence, which you need a 'jump potion' for. I don't know about you, but I've never needed to drink a jump potion to jump a tiny bit off the floor, which leads to my next complaint. When you die, you have a quick respawn but you have lives. In these sort of games, that's not a good thing. If I fail a few jumps, do I have to start from the start?
Then I found a stamina potion. What's next, a vision potion? It popped up with "Stamina +50" and I was wondering if this was going to turn into a full fledged RPG.

The jumpscares got worse. A flashing 2D image of a womans face with a scream, a teleporting man at 7ft tall whom punches you in the face? And lastly, a man in his underwear walking towards you yet held on the spot going 'help me' in a robotic voice.

They introduced a 'hide' mechanic, which in horror games means danger ahead. I thought this is nice, so I hid and found a 'pursuer' of sorts. I hid once, then walked past him and didn't use the mechanic for the rest of the game.
18 Minutes in and I hit chapter 6. 2 Minutes later I beat the game.

OVERALL THOUGHTS;

The initial level design is good until it starts to merge. I understand it's a nightmare so it's not supposed to make sense, it just felt clunky.
The jumpscares are all so tacky. Normally it's scarier when you build the tension up more first, perhaps some different sound design? The walking footsteps sound that appears 3 times got old quick.

I don't know what I was expecting with this game, but it leaves me feeling disappointed for now, although I believe this is the "beta" stages. If it were to be updated, would I play it again? Sure. I would give the developer the benefit of the chance.

I think the key thing is to work out what game you want. Jumpscare sim? Chase game? Jumping puzzles? After the one time you need to use the jump button (around 6-10 times) it is never used again.

Once again, I received this for free and it helped kill 20 minutes with an extra 10 minutes writing this.

I fully understand this is an indie game, but it really lacks the polish to be a "full release", the $7 price tag adds insult to injury. The chapter system makes no sense, next to nothing meaningful happens from chapter to chapter and it feels like they were just thrown in at random. Overall the world doesn't feel cohesive. It feels like an amalgamation of whatever free assets you were able to throw together. And the story is almost entirely told via notes, but none of the notes really add anything to the story or world building.

Also the jump scares are really bad. A well timed jump scare can be fine, but these don't even make sense, they just happen at random and its just goofy assets appearing in front of you. Why would a clown bowling pin appearing in front of me be scary? I'd recommend the developer study other horror titles and try to emulate what they have crafted.

3.0/ 10

is a thrilling journey through the unknown, where the line between sanity and madness blurs, and where the truth can be more terrifying than any imaginable nightmare. Prepare for an experience that challenges the limits of the human mind and delves into the darkest depths of the soul.

The game has five graphics settings that each does something it won't explain. I had it set to Very Low to get a playable frame rate and the resolution was changed to something very small and lots of screen tearing. Everything was blurry and really dark, but I could continue past a glitched opening.

Walked around and heard some loud noise the first minute in and for the long hallway. Got stuck in the torture chamber with no opening. Saw another playthrough that showed an opening in the torture chamber. More walking and met a Uruk-looking guy who was a victim and he followed me around. I got a key to a locked room and the guy ended up blocking my path to that door and I had to start all over again. Found a way to dispel the guy and did a minor combination puzzle.

Chapter 2 had a room I can actually see in and another minor puzzle with paintings. There have been messages about some cult possessing people and I got stuck in someone's dream related to this cult. One message said to hurry and find an item to keep away the chaser ghost. I saved at a point where I can get a key and then the chaser would be waiting for me. My movement also slowed down so I don't know if that is because of the ghost or another glitch.

I am giving this an honest review, as I know it is still a relatively new game and done by a small team (1 person maybe?).

Pros:
SCARES: The game actually tends to have a lot of good scares, whether they are jumpscares or just feeling a bit uneasy entering rooms or going around corners.
STORY: The story does kinda just jump straight into it, with no explanation, but as it is about nightmares, there really doesn't need to be much. However, while reading notes and listening to conversations you do get a backstory of what is happening.
PRICE: The game is actually priced quite good considering how long the game is (approx. 2-3hrs first time playing). I do recommend when it is on sale, as it is right now, but for $2.5AUD its still not bad.

Cons:
SETTINGS. The BLOODY settings are very minimal, 4 buttons to change the settings. Doing so changes resolution and quality at the same time, which is quite a bummer since Ultra for me runs at 20fps and the motion blur makes me feel very sick. I have had to play the game in Medium settings and deal with the resolution issue, but would be nice to have multiple options.
DOESN'T SAVE GAME PROGRESS BETWEEN CHAPTERS. Please add this, as most people may not be able to play the whole game in one sitting and would like to continue from where they left off (only found out when i left the game from the start of Chapter 2) and currently the game feels like you are playing a long game demo.

I do hope that the developer continues to work on fixing these things but as I mentioned in the beginning, small team and their first game, they haven't done a bad job.

I will begin by saying that I received this game for free. With that being said however, I believe I read that the team was basically 3 people and I must say that for them to have put this together is pretty neat. Could the game use some work? Absolutely, as does every other new game that comes out. Some suggestions though for the menus is to make selection of graphics visible. I could't tell which setting I was on. Also adding other setting to control even during gameplay the menu only had a resume and exit option. Motion blur was a bit much so maybe the option to remove? The first guy you come across that follows you does so but too closely. About as far as I've gotten so far but honestly everything else is good in my opinion. The concept I believe is fantastic and unique. Excited to see where this goes and what else comes.

Amazing game, really fun and look forward to more Chapters if they're going to be added. So far there are a lot of scenes I really enjoyed, and some spooked me a lot. I enjoyed the fact that even if it is a short gameplay for now ( approx 1 hour) it is still very immersive and fun and I enjoyed the puzzles, though would definitely love more of them!

I was enjoyin the game up to a point then I got stuck on a number wheel puzzle. Argh. Besides that I thought that the atmosphere was nice. I dont recollect seein the house/rooms used in other horror games so that's somethin'. I'll still thumb it up. Have definitely played worse made horror games.

Gameplay Impressions: https://youtu.be/iYZsYqWBRNw

Despite the wonky movement (even after lowering the settings), this was up my alley until the chapter 2 "avoid being possessed" scenario. Find the red pill? Nope. Please do not tag something as casual if there are danger elements. I respect the conspiracy-minded devs with their thinly veiled references. The game and story does need some polish, though.