TL:DR - Heavy on symbolism, light on substance. Worth the asking price, but no more. Well short of excellent.
Considering this game's almost universally positive reception, I had reasonably high expectations. I can't say they were met. This, primarily, has to do with two things: the game between the rather memorable story moments is more tedious than it is engaging, and the game [i]hints[/i] at many interesting possibilities but either leaves them entirely unaddressed or never expands on them by the ending.
To the first point, the game's strict adherence to a rule-of-six system while simultaneously being heavy on key/puzzle items ends up playing out poorly; it encourages (or forces) constant backtracking to and from the nearest safe room where you can do unlimited storage shuffling. Of the fourteen hours I spent on my playthrough, at least three were spent doing nothing but idly navigating there and back again because I'd yet again run out of storage space. Tedium is probably the most ruinous thing for a horror setting. It would have been better avoided.
The combat itself is mechanically acceptable, but- with select and rare exceptions- you are simply never under real threat in the default difficulty setting. The closest thing to a 'threat' you face is a dearth of ammunition, but once you develop a basic instinct for not wasting rounds willy-nilly that, too, ceases to hold any meaning. Enemies, in other words, are more [i]nuisances[/i] than something that genuinely adds to the horror of the setting. The overabundance of restorative items also removes the possibility of death by a thousand cuts.
The game is shorter than playtimes indicate. Perhaps its most damnable characteristic is that it draws you in with a lot of possibilities, only to leave you wanting in the end. The game implies threats that never manifest.
After the boss battle with [spoiler]Mynah[/spoiler], which is tense and enjoyable, you find a document describing the fact that unit is [i]not[/i] suited to combat, and that a heavily armored, far more lethal combat variant exists. If that unit was threatening, how bad would the variant be? Too bad you'll never know.
On one of the floors of the facility in the first act, one finds mention of a [spoiler]Hunter[/spoiler]. A perfect shooting range record. A penchant for lethality. The level is full of dark rooms that they could be waiting in at any moment. A shot in the dark that'll kill you without warning. Too bad they're just a flavor mention.
One such possibility that borders on the infuriating is [spoiler]Adler[/spoiler]. The game does a masterful job of setting up the fact [i]they know something they shouldn't[/i], and that they are hiding some ulterior motive. The character is downright sinister, and even horrifying in its own way. Too bad you never get to confront them.
The only time the game follows up on the implied threat is [spoiler]Falke[/spoiler], and the result is probably the most enjoyable experience in the playthrough. It makes you wonder why you couldn't get more of that.
The redeeming factor in all this- and the reason I still give this a positive rating- is that, being the creation of just two developers, these things are understandable. It is what it is. The effort was spent on a top-notch presentation, and the presentation is indeed top-notch. No complaints there. But in the end, I want to play a good game between those lines, and not feel like I could've just watched a video instead.
And in that regard, this game falls short. A lesson to learn for their next release.
