POOLS

Have you ever wanted to dissappear into a place where no one will find you? Then strap in and walk through this dreamscape. The high-fidelity sound design is exceptionally good, enhanced with reverb that has a lot of care put into it. Seriously, I'm deaf on one ear so a lot of games sound "artificial" to me but in here everything feels very real to my brain - from the flow of water, electricity hums to wind passing through giant passages. And I don't even have a VR headset! The game also lets you enjoy the experience your own way. By default the game comes with an unsettling lost footage CRT styled filter, but you can adjust them to your liking from 0% to 100% (they start at 50). The movement also feels too slow to me, but the speed, even the acceleration can be tweaked. I used 0.05 for a Source-like experience along with turning off most filters and setting lighting to minimal for a cozy familiar experience. My only complaint is that you still hear a breathing sound when you sit despite turning off the "mouth" volume down (maybe that's a bug?) and not being able to adjust your base height. No other game comes close so I am still giving this a solid 5, but them's the breaks, yeah. The place has inhabitants, sure, but there is no concept of "scary thing trying to get you". Everything scary you see or hear won't scream loudly or barrel towards you like in those weird jumpscare games. I just treat them the same way I treat my neighbours. The game has let me calm myself down in ways I really needed, and for that I thank the developers wholeheartedly for making the game despite them not thanking me for playing the game despite doing so in the demo. Maybe they will when I actually reach the end, who knows, lol. Remember to take a break and sit every once in a while. You might even find a corner of the world you like existing in. You can stay there as long as you'd like. <3