Its bonafides as a singular artistic work are overstated, but there's certainly a lot more going on here than most other emulation fetish objects. Systemically the game doesn't do anything new, and despite its oppressive atmosphere, it's actually quite easy, presumably to sustain the narrative momentum. To that end, the added floors in the PS1 port are misjudged, contributing nothing to the difficulty and padding the length of each run. Its true successes emerge with each strange new bit of exposition, and although the slowly unfolding compendium of lore is not a unique storytelling strategy for roguelikes, here they are so often tucked away behind obscure flags and cryptic elision that there's a legitimate sense of mystery and discovery. Knowledge of this world feels deliberate and well-earned, rather than merely random or incidental.

If you enjoyed this, I recommend watching Evil Dead Trap, Malice@Doll, or Riget (the latter of which Yonemitsu cites as an influence).