Eve of Cultivation

To be honest this game has a nice art style and it is pretty simple in its design being run around, collect food, go back learn more of the story and so on but it is just too pricey for a 20 min game if you play this normally and go for 1 ending. I did get all achievements / endings as well and I still completed the game in under an hour but I still don't get where the "Eve of Cultivation is 1-2 hour horror game" in both store page and main menu comes from since the game from what I've played has nowhere near 2 hours of content unless I am missing something. The endings themselves are simple but 1 has more depth to it whereas the other 2 are basically walk in a straight line to end credits (you can't move or look anywhere but straight) and interact with radio, fade to black, talk to some mysterious dude, eat mushroom and instant end credits. Also idk why this game will send you straight to the main menu if you press escape. Even with the warning I accidentally pressed ESC by accident out of habit lol. Overall this game is ok but my main issue is that it is pricey for what it is compared to other games plus I don't get where the 2 hours of gameplay comes from. I wouldn't recommend the game for its current price but if it was 4.99 then I would if you want a simplistic horror game. https://youtu.be/PByjP5mrhhw didn't notice that my audio was out of sync for a portion of the video in the middle oops lol

Really great lighting direction for a game this small like normally whenever I play this genre of game I end up wandering aimlessly due to having no idea where to go but with Eve of Cultivation the game is lit in a way where you’re guided to points of interest whilst still feeling your exploring it on your own especially on the third day when pursuing the various ending paths There’s a lot of atmosphere here too, when grinding for achievements there was a couple of times I was like “what the hell was that” or I would notice something creepy I didn’t see before on a previous run through. A genuinely solid experience.

For a dev's first game, this was a delightful little experience~ Not perfect, there were a few hiccups here and there like... the sound of the footsteps is a bit too grating and repetitive (and a certain sound towards the end is also a bit too loud), or how if you jump while sprinting your speed goes back to walking instead of carrying the momentum, or a silly little moment where if [spoiler]you go a different path you can see the arm beckoning you in the distance just vanish into a wall because the dev didn't expect you to enter the cavern from the farthest entrance[/spoiler]. But aside from that, a very charming experience that doesn't overstay its welcome, I liked it very much!

I didn't receive this game for free, but I do know the developer so marked that in the interest of candor. That said, it's a tight, queer, deeply personal horror experience that I've enjoyed watching come to fruition and enjoyed playing, and I'm excited to see her sophomore release.