Project Songbird

I really enjoyed this game, the writing was very poignant and the voice actors were excellent. I love that the game highlighted so many actual musicians. The environment is absolutely gorgeous and I loved that you have a camera purely for your own enjoyment (thought the camera viewfinder and photos themselves tried to go for a old-school film look that washed everything out, making just looking at the environment more fun than using the camera. I also kinda wish the sound sample gathering was more connected to the music writing/inspiration beats of the story. As is, the mechanic was introduced as a little scavenger hunt but wasn't super rewarding to pursue, especially since a few of them required going a while out of the way to collect. Combat wasn't really anything special but I had more fun playing those sections as stealth levels (until they throw so many enemies at you near the end that it becomes impossible). Personally, I didn't find that the gunplay worked super well with the themes or story, and the combat didn't justify it's inclusion either. With the depictions of self-harm and an unreliable/unstable narrator, I was actually super on edge about what finding a gun would mean for the story and character, but nothing really came of it. I did like the sound design of the monsters (they really did sound pained) and I genuinely enjoyed the levels that involved working around the weeping angel type enemies, that really ratcheted my tension up. Puzzles overall were also fun. The meta elements felt very earnest and heartfelt and were fun in the beginning. I genuinely very much enjoy when an artist carves out some space to speak directly, especially in passion projects, though the glitch stuff ultimately felt like it clashed with the WV backwoods or grungy basement aesthetics. And by the end, it did feel like some of those sections would grind the main narrative to a halt right as it was reaching a climax, so the movie section might do better at the end of the game. Really dug some of the cinematography in that section though. Overall a very enjoyable game that is truly a delight to both look at and listen to, with some very emotional writing and acting. Definitely recommend!