Here are my impressions after playing through the demo. This is approximately an hour of gameplay of completing Night 2 + previous nights.
Overall, the game is alright. I applaud the risk-taking with the various innovations and new ideas presented, but I believe the execution was rushed and not assembled together very well.
The visuals appear to have a lot of care put into them, they're very well made and look appealing, but there are some design issues that I have. One is that the characters, despite their detailed and varied designs, are difficult to identify. When all you are given are names, it is difficult to assign a face to them. For the most part, they appear to be like several identical enemies. I also have a nitpick with the T-Lure parts graphics when they are on the floor, as the lack of shadow makes them not blend in well with the background. As with other players, I seem to have experienced minor framerate issues. The drop in frames wasn't too significant on my end, but it was quite noticeable.
The gameplay is actually quite simple, despite all of the various details on the screen. The ladder section is very simple in gameplay, but the distinct lack of any sort of instruction or warning is frustrating, and requires the player to trial and error through it before being able to pass it. I would suggest adding some sort of hint about defending yourself for this section. As for the office section, the introductory night does a good job with explaining much of the base mechanics, but fails to explain countering direct enemy attacks. While the loading tips explain the keyhole mechanics well enough, it is difficult to tell why you are attacked in the hallway sometimes, as you will see nothing in the keyhole and hear no distinct enemy noise, and still be attacked for exiting the room. Navigating the rooms is also a bit confusing at first, and requires the player to piece them together on their own, especially with how the hallway view makes it so the place you just left isn't behind you, so it can be difficult to tell where you just came from.
However, those issues are minor and can mostly be fixed with some better instructions. The creativity and uniqueness of the main gameplay earns some points, as the dynamic open area of the map makes the game feel more interesting and varied, and the sleek HUD gives a high end feel. However, there are several flaws with the design of the gameplay. There are several superficial delays in gameplay, such as the randomized password and the need to repair and wait for the T-Lure to leave every single time you begin a level. The game also seems to rely quite a bit on luck, as if the enemies move towards the bottom right corner, it is practically impossible to lure them to any of the storage rooms. Avoiding the enemies in the hallway also feels random, as often times you will be attacked with no way of anticipating or avoiding it. On top of that, the T-Lure will often be deactivated before you have a chance to move it after repairing it, so there's no clear way for the player to do anything about it. Because of how little the player can do to avoid these lethal threats, it feels like skill has little impact on success, and due to the non-replenishability of certain resources, it ultimately encourages the player to replay and hope to get lucky early instead of sticking to every attempt.
The concept is promising, but the execution seems flawed. The mechanics don't leave very much room for strategy. I believe that with tweaking of the gameplay design and rebalancing, the game can become more exciting and interactive.
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