I really wanted to like this. The setting and obvious inspirations drew my eye, but the awful controls, poor feedback, and shallow combat mean I have no interest in playing further.

The setting seems interesting, but you are thrown into it very quickly, in a way that seems forced rather than for the purposes of the story. The artwork is nice, particularly in the background, and the game oozes atmosphere. It's a world I would like to explore, but in a game as difficult as this, you need to be in full control of your character to fight the enemies. I felt like I was fighting the combat system itself, rather than the deranged inhabitents of the mansion.

The best example of the broken systems is the counter system. Countering a knife wielding maid by shooting just as she attacks staggers her, setting her up for a counter attack. Performing the counter attack then knocks her out the stun state, allowing her to attack just before you recover from the counter. While you can escape or block, it puts you in a risky situation. Alternatively, after a counter you can just wail on them, which will likely kill them. In other words, deliberately botching a core combat move is more effective. Also, as far as I could tell, most enemies are best fought by cheesing them using vertical movement, a very unsatisfying way to play.

While I respect the developers for the attempt, I cannot reccomend this in it's current state.

I really wanted to like this. The setting and obvious inspirations drew my eye, but the awful controls, poor feedback, and shallow combat mean I have no interest in playing further. The setting seems interesting, but you are thrown into it very quickly, in a way that seems forced rather than for the purposes of the story. The artwork is nice, particularly in the background, and the game oozes atmosphere. It's a world I would like to explore, but in a game as difficult as this, you need to be in full control of your character to fight the enemies. I felt like I was fighting the combat system itself, rather than the deranged inhabitents of the mansion. The best example of the broken systems is the counter system. Countering a knife wielding maid by shooting just as she attacks staggers her, setting her up for a counter attack. Performing the counter attack then knocks her out the stun state, allowing her to attack just before you recover from the counter. While you can escape or block, it puts you in a risky situation. Alternatively, after a counter you can just wail on them, which will likely kill them. In other words, deliberately botching a core combat move is more effective. Also, as far as I could tell, most enemies are best fought by cheesing them using vertical movement, a very unsatisfying way to play. While I respect the developers for the attempt, I cannot reccomend this in it's current state.