Warning: long post below (probably riddled with grammar errors as english is not my native language), kinda reviewish, kinda bug reportish, but mostly a draft and with spoilers;
Disclaimer:
I'm not really familiar with the SCP concept. I mean, i get the general idea behind the organization, but honestly i don't know any of the entities, even the most popular ones. As a matter of fact, i won't be able to tell whether SCPs present in your game are faithful to those of the SCP foundation site or not. Still, they're goddamn creepy <3
"Review":
I almost never play horror games, because i just can't stand playing while anxiously waiting for the next jumpscare... I'm not saying jumpscares are a no-no, but damn game devs use it wisely! Anyway, i started playing your game due to my interest in the SCP concept. I saw it and thought "meh why not".
Sooo, to make it short: the blinking mecanism is... kinda like a diamond in the rough. It may needs a few tweaks, but overrall it is goddamn efficient.
I love the general mood: even without jumpscares, even when the SCPs are (probably?) secured, the threat is present and i fear for my character. And this sir, is a thing i rarely experience in horror games, moreover in 2d pixel art ones.
I also love the fact that when you die, you start back in the room before your death (i've played v0.1.0 and i'm speaking of the SCP who moves when you blink and kills you when he's too close). Imo this... level? was perfect: i enter the room and immediatly see the horrible creature (mood: "oh boy"). The doors are open because of my previously "hey a switch! Better turn it on!". And so here i am, waiting for it to move. Seeing it stands still, i move toward it and the moment i pass throught- it snaps my neck (in a way it's a jumpscare, but a good one because i highly expected it at this moment — mood: "OH F*** - ok, note to self: don't get to close"). So yeah, at this point, i did not realised that it moves while i'm blinking. So i get in the room again and wait, my flashlight directly into this creeper's eyeballs: "come get some!".
A few seconds go by, i blink.
...
Mood: "WOW S*** OK THAT WAS SCARY."
The creatures is closer to me, and i immediatly understand that it moves while my eyes are shut. So i get past it, retrieve the key card, exit the room and voila! I'm safe now (mood: everything is going to be ok, everything is going to be ok..."). I keep wandering and "OH F*CK YOU WTH ARE YOU DOING HERE?!!". The creatures is next to me. In the hallway. Mood: "oh you smeghead, you forgot to lock the door didn't you?".
So, one death later i got the key card, and the SCP is still secured in his room. But still, in the hallway: "OH DON'T YOU TELL ME YOU CAN GET THROUGH YOUR EFFING CELL!!!" — so yeah, i checked and it was definitely secured, so i don't know whether it's a bug or a feature ^^
All of this to say: with only one gameplay mecanism and one creature, you managed to scare me not once, not twice, but three times and i almost never expected it. This is a really really really good thing, because it has changed my way of playing for the rest of the game (mood: "okdeathisaroundeverycornerandi'mokwiththat").
I feel like i've written many unnecessary things, so in conclusion i'll just say: your game has GREAT potential. Keep coming with creative ideas and creatures, brew it with and intriguing storyline, and mamamia: here is a hecking good game.
Oh and a last thing: thank you for the possibility of changing our controls in such an early stage of dev! As a lefty it always pisses me off when a game don't let me do...
Now, on to the bugs report/suggestions!
Bugs report:
There are few bugs to report, as you just released a new version i didn't finish yet. So, here are the bugs i found for 0.1.03a:
- When you pass the very first door (back and forth), you can briefly see the item "Red card" appear and disappear (it's not grabbable though, i tried many times ^^)
- A few doors later (the door left to the one leading to the aquarium if i remember correctly), i go throught the door and... black almost screen (i can barely see the environment, only the door cause it's white). My characters isn't here so i can't move or go back :/
- So i pressed ESC to close the game and start it again, i chose Load Game, and started in my cell... With the door closed and no NPC :/
- Every time i start the game, i always have to rebind my controls.
Suggestions:
- Personnally i find the lighting in 0.1.03a too dark. From my point of view, the game was already really scary even when you could see even just a little. I feel like it almost a cheap trick to set the mood to "ooooooooooh it's scary bewaaaaaare" and i honestly don't think your game need this to terrorize poor souls like me. But this is entirely subjective and i may be the only person to think so! /o/
- Binding the sprint on a different key make the action a little difficult for me (again, personnal experience as a lefty with my binding). I move left and right with keyboard arrows, sprint with right shift. It's usually ok, but mostly because in video games you sprint while going forth. In you game, where you can only move sideways and where sprinting occurs when you fell you're in danger, it makes me either change the position of all my fingers or take a really weird hand position. I know this is a really tiny peculiar detail (and again, i may be the only one bothered by it), but it contributes even in a small part in the game feel, and it could be easily avoided for exemple by allowing sprinting on double tap (left or right).
- Concerning the blinking mechanism it's a though one: when i'm exploring and when there is no "danger" around, i feel the natural blink is way too long. The black screen is present enough time for me to break the rhythm of the game. BUT, when there is danger (like this sun of a beach who moves when i blink), i find the timing perfect. So i don't know whether the time the black screen is display should be overall shorter (but i feel it might impact the fear), or have different blinking time depending of the situation? (no danger: quick blink, danger: longer blink). Again (and again and again and...) it's just my personnal feeling ^^
- And finally, still with the blinking mechanism: i should be forcefully blinking repeatedly when i switch on the lights for example ;)
So, i think (hope even) i'm done with everything i wanted to say.
TL;DR: SCP Foundation has a great potential: polish it, love it and it will be and great game. I wish you the best on your dev, be sure i'll be following the next updates as well ;)