June 27, 2023, 4:27 a.m.   (Last edited: 6 months ago)

This is a hauntingly weird and beautiful specimen. Despite its postmodern guise, which may seem stylishly like a halfway in-game world evolution between The Metal Age and Dishonored with definite influences within Thief of authors like DrK and outside with occasional scent (given the technical environments) of a long lost Half-Life level (either part) and which, especially on first playthrough, can definitely feel very abstruse and impenetrable (but that does only good to the air of mystery), it is actually a classic romantic tragedy of the sort typical of fm mansions of yore - spiced with weird horror (also very much in line with that vintage). And its wonderful architectural madness with moments of visual poetry is even embellished by unexpected fineries, scripted events and occurrences through which the environments are changing as you go in the vein of the very best works of past and present.

With that, it is not perfect. If you're just beginning with it, note that the relatively uninteresting opening area with its dull layout is not representative of the rest of the mission, especially as its only excuse of existence appears the linear transition to the actual main complex (the linearity also seems to play a role in the even worse deus ex solution to going back again via the same route). The starting building could definitely be reduced in size or reworked/eliminated completely and, for the approach to the main part, a number of different possible routes could have been chosen instead. The game can also be excessively long and laborious with very small value loot stubbornly refusing to add up to the very high total. For that, one would definitely wish to be able to get into more of the (especially bonehoard-)themed side areas, or rather teasers, you meet on your way.