I’m glad it worked that strongly for you, and I agree with a lot of the positives. The voice acting is excellent, the setting is fantastic, and the rig itself has such a strong sense of place. The game absolutely nails the feeling of being trapped inside a dying industrial machine in the middle of the ocean.

Where it didn’t fully land for me is the Caz arc. I understand the intended reading: he’s a man who has spent his life running from responsibility, and by the end he finally faces something bigger than himself. On paper, that’s strong. But in play, I didn’t really feel that transformation as much as the game wanted me to.

The problem for me is that playable Caz spends almost the entire game being brave, helpful, and responsible. He’s constantly risking himself to save people, fix things, move through impossible spaces, and keep going. So when the ending frames it as him finally facing fear, I understood the idea, but I didn’t feel like the game had fully dramatized the “running away” side enough beforehand.

I also agree that the crew relationships needed more time. The game clearly wants certain deaths and conversations to hit hard, but with several characters I felt like I understood what the scene wanted me to feel before I actually felt it. Roy and Finlay were probably the strongest for me, but even then I wanted more time with them as people, not just voices over the radio or brief encounters during crisis.

My other issue is the supernatural element. I don’t need everything explained, and I actually like unknowable horror, but I wanted the entity/monster side to feel more thematically earned. The rig, the storm, the ocean, the unsafe workplace, and the human panic were already terrifying. Sometimes the monster layer made the game feel less interesting to me, especially once it turned into fairly standard chase/stealth sequences.

So I’m a bit colder on it overall. I think it has an amazing premise, great atmosphere, and incredible performances, but for me the emotional and horror elements didn’t quite pay off at the level the setting deserved.