To start off with, that was a very impressive change in mood there. I was in no way expecting that - I was thinking along the style of a completely different type of horror. So - yeah.
I’m not sure where to begin. The beginning? Sounds reasonable. At the start, I already felt clued as to just what might be the ending with the colour palette. That was the first, subtle giveaway. In this game, visuals seemed much more influential on the outcome than many others I’ve played. I thought pictures were cool, giving me a good idea of who I was looking at, although I’m not sure it felt necessary after the first try. The gray-scale change was too sudden, going from full colour to completely gray then wavering through different variations on the gray-scale. It felt slightly too jarring to me.
As I played through, I felt more and more like the game stayed straight on track with my original expectations upon seeing the guy: he’s fairly normal, but he certainly is going to be a violent murderer and you’re gonna have to escape. The only thing that clashed was, of course, the colour palette, which felt to me like I was playing a more sinister and bit more bleak version of Sweetpea.
But oh, was I wrong.
Looking at other reviews, it seems like people had very similar thoughts playing through. The thing was very cleverly designed though, finally clicking all the seemingly wonky puzzle pieces together in a satisfying pattern that reveals something much scarier, if I’m thinking in game terms. And yet, it feels like I should have known that all along, and that’s what makes it even scarier - it adds to this sense of “just another person-eating ritual going on upstairs. Nothing to worry about.” And I think that works well.