POOLS

Well executed lighting does bring the environment the atmosphere it needs for this type of game to work. The sound design is great, the water looks beautiful (if you don't mind SSR artefacts), game looks fine (if you don't look too closely), some of the corners spark imagination, some levels are nice navigational puzzles... but the novelty wears off pretty quickly. It's not long before the game falls back into typical jumpscare-less horror tropes and fails to keep things interesting in terms of its visuals. The game's not confident enough to push the envelope all the way, so at one point the game just gives up with its main selling point... the pools, the liminal vibe, and goes on autopilot relying on straight known imagery with no substance. I've seen the photos this game was based on, I've seen the stories people have written regarding the setting, I've seen the potential this setting has to offer. The game does not do ANY of that! By the half-way point I was convinced the game won't end in a satisfying way whatsoever that would fit with what the game was doing so far. I was right. The game felt like a journey into the unknown with mysteries along the way, but the ending manages to CRUSH all of that intrigue in the most unimaginative way possible. Even just going to the surface just to find an infinite ocean under a sunny real sky would work much better as an ending! There is no pacing or buildup whatsoever, it just ends. Playing the bonus post-game chapter just sullied the experience even more. I love this setting, but the game does not do it justice. The game feels like a 30 minute demo that has been stretched to 2 hours without proper planning on WHAT needs to be added in order to meaningfully expand on the concept.

I find some of the places in this game so calming and soothing and others genuinly terrifying. The feeling of being lost in these liminal spaces is really interesting! Note: Dynamic water is making the game unplayable for me but it's not a big issue.

Nice video game very cool and refreshing, a great game for summer with zero inhabitants more game like these

It was an experience like visiting a museum that will remain in my memory forever.It wasn't a work that stimulated a sense of exhilaration or satisfaction, but I feel like I had a new experience that I couldn't have had with other works.

This first-person exploration title reminds me of a dream I once had. You're in a huge tiled labyrinth that looks like indoor swimming pools, but their shapes get stranger and stranger. The visual fidelity is incredible, especially for a title like this. There were lots of lovely weird moments that really made this something to behold, and the sound design was just the right amount of unnerving. Not much else to say, but if you're into this sort of thing, you'll probably like this.