Au-Delà

It's a nice little game with an interesting story theme. I really like the artwork. I brushed my teeth 3 times and died.

https://youtu.be/1QXfylhocP4

Full playthrough w/ true (glitched) and good ending + time stamps here : https://youtu.be/xtb_X0ZVJPE
True Ending (Not Glitched+Bad Ending) 100% :
https://youtu.be/N9VhMjIrkzg
Edit: So my original play through was glitch so I went back to get the real true ending and 100% the rest of the game.
This game's story is absolutely awesome and I adored the true/good endings. I will say my main complaint is the constant badgering of monsters MAN it's toxic trying think about a puzzle and having to deal with a monster everytime you enter a room and they can wombo combo. Fortunately if you make the right moves you can deal with all of them eventually THANKFULLY. The art is great as well definitely recommend checking this out and supporting the creator.

Actually, I enjoyed this little horror game way more than I expected, it has a lot of optional content including multiple endings, even befriending characters that tried to kill you, but I must admit, while I liked the puzzles and the narrative, it can be pretty frustrating because there are so many ways to die, which creates constant backtracking over the smallest mistakes or even misclicks. Also, the inventory system is based on the idea of having 2 hands, so you can only carry 2 items (4 when you unlock a cart), and sometimes you have to use both hands, which does create some unique puzzles, except that it's extremely unintuitive and I can't tell you how many times I had to shuttle the items between the floors. The UI needs a little work with the hints, it's not a point&click adventure, you have to use both WASD+JUMP and Mouse, so it gets a bit confusing with the interactions that are based on the distance. For example, the character often will not comment on the objects, even though it has a hotspot on the cursor, so it's hard to say if the item has any relevance, but most of them do have a purpose for the side quests.

While it is technically a horror game, the story has some pretty hilarious dialogue and character interactions, even some lighthearted moments which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, the endings that I got were a bit underwhelming in terms of giving me some closure, but I suspect that I didn't find the best one because I still have a few unsolved mysteries. Now my save file says I played for 2 hours, probably closer to 4 because it does not take into account the death resets, so I would say you should be able to get most of the content in 3 to 5 hours, not counting some of the hard achievements like replaying the game with no saves (I don't care to do that). Overall pretty enjoyable animation, the death cutscenes have a nice sketchbook feel to them, and in general, I think the game is just nice to look at, almost has that pencil-made look to it.

I was surprised by how many mechanics they decided to put into the game, for better or worse. If you are not in the light range you will die, if you don't have your toy you will die, if you make too much noise you will die, if you don't go to sleep when you should you die - it's just constant hazard. I mean I appreciate the programming behind doing all of it, but it's hard to say if it makes the game better when you trying to solve a puzzle while constantly backtracking to safety - I don't hate it, but it also didn't make the game better. All technical notes aside, I think most of the puzzles had some creative ideas, I am sure a few of them are a bit convoluted, but I appreciate the effort to make something new.

Pros:

(+) I think the game handles optional interactions, achievements and story endings very well. Almost every hostile character in this game can be turned to your side or dealt with at the end, which is very satisfying. Not as short as I expected, you will want to befriend several characters to see how they change the last cutscene.

(+) The story definitely has some good moments, I think the cook is my favorite character, I was laughing pretty hard during that whole scene, love it. It's a little spooky, pretty funny sometimes, and even lighthearted - a weird mix but it worked for me.

(+) Overall I thought the puzzles were very creative. I think the gameplay mechanics got a bit annoying but just based on the idea, I kinda like that you designed a game around a child that can only use his arms, unless he has his cart to bring more items. Cool concept, just not very practical.

Feedback

UI notes - I wish the character would always comment on hotspots that are out of his range, like: "there is something written, but I can't read it from here" or "I don't know what to do with this doll at this moment". I had issues clicking on some interactive areas, mostly because sometimes the character would block the actual hotspot, like the damn toothpaste. I had to take screenshots for the painting puzzle, would be nice if you had some unlocked notes for them, so I took like 6 for paintings, 1 for names, and text document to actually put it together - outside of the game. The way the screwdriver interacted with a certain object was somewhat hidden, I did it by accident. I think the hotspot on the cart select should have been wider. The items that you drop on the floor should have been bigger.

Platforming - it's a bit hard to tell what is a platform and what is not.

Overall Thoughts: 7/10

It's a fun but potentially frustrating game due to constant deaths and creative gameplay, that said, I still enjoyed playing it because of visually enjoyable spooks and a few good jokes. The puzzles were unique, maybe a bit convoluted, but overall I liked the optional objectives. For that price, about as good as I could hope for, I had a good time, for the most part.

Review by: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ 

Some monsters are more trustworthy than others. Close the blinds and check those cupboards, just in case.

https://youtu.be/On011p3xKME

absolutely needs an autosave function or at least more save points. the game is too unforgiving if you get caught by a monster, you lose too much progress and it's a slow slog back to where you left off.
it's a cute game with a good concept and the art style is amazing, but i'm struggling to find the motivation to finish it.