The demo promises an atmospheric game, with a true sense of story and really thought-out characters, locations, plot, and setting. The writing is engaging, and sometimes charmingly technical. Although plagued by frequent phrases betraying a non-native English writer, and the occasional typo, the care that has gone into each scene overshadows these mistakes. (It would be nice though if the text were proof-read before the full game is released!) Though the game mechanics are very simple and sometimes too punishing partly as a result (4 points of health, of which 1 is lost every time you sleep in an uncomfortable place, meaning that 4 nights sleeping outside are certain death!), they are discreet enough to let you as a player feel like you're only engaging with the story, which I'd say is really a victory for such a game. The visuals are really a gem, if you like pixel art. I would go on praising the excellent pixel art, but (especially since there's no animation whatever in the game) the screenshots do actually say it all. And, as I still struggle to believe, there are those among us who are immune to the irresistible magic of well-executed pixel art. It was rather striking (and annoying) that the default font was not pixelated, so as to be more readable, but higher-res that everything else. A shame for the first impression in the game menu, and definitely worth changing immediately -- the high-res font is less tiring for the eyes, of course, but what's the use if it ruins the visual effect of the game? The soundtrack is superb. Only very distantly reminiscent of the famous Diablo (1) guitar track, its soothing, melancholy plucking ties in superbly with the pale earthly palette of the pixel-art visuals, immediately immersing the player in the atmosphere of the game's setting -- the feeling of an overgrown wilderness teeming with indifferent yet dangerous monsters is impeccably transmitted. 4/5 great! proofreading?
