Despite the good rendering of light, the Bioshock-like aesthetics and the dark atmosphere, it's not a good game. Gameplay is bad. You don't know what to do, you cannot understand what's happening; environmental puzzles are not compelling but frustrating. Too many documents and writings to read and memorize. There is a guy that everytime come from nowhere and gives you a lot of tips through messages, and despite the many tips it's very hard to progress. Some messages get stuck into the furnitures and you cannot read them! I went in to the electricity room and messed with some fuses, but sincerely I can't understand what I did! After that, the fuses disappeared! Bah! I randomly entered some doors with weird symbols and something happened, but I don't know precisely what and why! Was it me doing something right or was it the game? Bah!
The inventory is badly implemented, a sort of clunky bulky belt hindering visual and movements. You are supposed to acces a sort of safe room by smoking some cigarettes. After two hours I cannot understand how to store cigarettes in the holder, where to find the holder, how to open the holder, how to access or where to find the lighter. I entered a weird room with a (dead?) woman stuck in the wall, the room had no exit, I couldn't understand what to do; the cigarettes holder materialized in my hands from nowhere: Was I meant to access the safe room by smoking cigarettes? As I said I cannot do it, so I was forced to quit the game! You have virtual hands but they are badly implemented, collecting or interacting with items and documents is painful and frustrating.
Every 10 minutes you die and respawn. That's no novelty, see the Outer Wilds. Sincerely I cannot stand such mechanic; maybe it's just me, you might like it. The moment of death is announced by earthquakes. Then it gets dark and you're killed by some kind of monster or ghost, but you cannot see what killed you. When you respawn you can see the photos of the monsters or ghosts that killed you! Weird! You're supposed to use a lamp to search in the dark, but it's very bulky and clunky and you cannot store it in the inventory.
There is a story, told through 3D static and stylized characters talking in empty rooms. But it didn't catch me. Sometimes the walls or doors or rooms of the hotel are changing; it reminded me of Layers of Fear, but we are very far from the good quality of the Bloober Team's title (the flat version, not the vr version).
I cannot understand why developers made it in VR. I can feel no sense of wonder or depth or immersion despite the good aesthetics and rendering of light. The visual is too foggy in my opinion. The only good thing other than rendering of light, Bioshock aesthetics and atmosphere, it is the diapason mechanic; I liked to put it in vibration by hitting walls or furnitures.
End of the story, after 2 hours I'm bored and frustrated by the repetitive and abstruse experience, no willing to play it again! Developers have good technical skills, but they failed the gameplay and the design; narrative is just on the background and doesn't help.
