This game was a masterpiece i'm sad i'll never experience for the first time again but am glad i did at least once.
A haunting and sorrowful soundtrack crowned by a beatiful art direction that leaves nothing to be desired both in its depiction of gritty industrial sci-fi and in it's depiction of the more fantastical "cosmic" areas to say nothing of its level and monster design with elements combining cosmic horror with what i guess you could call "body horror". As for the gameplay you might find the combat somewhat simplistic as it is more about careful planning and positioning to manage to "place" your shots well (and using the right tools for the right enemies) than it is about constantly moving around and shooting like with the more action-oriented modern "survival horrors", the puzzles however are a truly outstanding point of this and if you're someone who enjoys a lot of creative and clever puzzles in your survival horror (such as myself) this'll be right up your alley. The story (and the way it's told) however is in my opinion the crowning jewel of this game, it has a flawless way of presenting the conceptual basis of its world and fully immerse you into it though some may find it's irregular timeline and liberal use of "glitching" of Elster's mind to convey additional information somewhat confusing which is for all intents and purposes intentional as the story also draws heavily from cosmic horror inspirations like The King In Yellow and An Inhabitant Of Carcosa and it gets better the more of the references and inspirations you get (have i mentioned that i really like cosmic horror?) which is not to say it can't be enjoyed on its own although i feel it's worth pointing out that this is crucially also a deeply personal, psychological and emotional journey for the protagonist as well as the player if they get invested (and trust me, you will) with an ending that brought me to tears, although i can't elaborate much on that without going into spoiler territory, it is also worth mentioning that this is a game worth playing multiple times, as there are little things that you might better piece together or appreciate on repeated playthroughs. All in all definitely a fantastical game that has restored my faith on the survival horror genre offering more puzzle-oriented and story-heavy art pieces like some of the older games in the genre and defintely a game worthy of carrying the "Some parts of this game may be considered violent or cruel" mantle