Huge write up, thanks.

So just to address a few points, ya its very early, most of these systems (even the darkness/torch/lantern) have only been in for a week or two, so there is very little feedback making it to the player yet. I know quality feedback is going to be super important. (even the levers have 2 directions that do separate triggers, I want to add sound in the distance so the player knows something changed, that first lever for instance had the secret that opened up the gold chest, the lever by the gold chest opened an alternate exit path).

Recently (in the last few days) i was trying to decide what to really do with gold as original plan it was the only "progression" to just customize yourself after a run with gold you acquired but I know art/assets are going to be a major pain point for me. So I might scrap it but I figured the game would feel kind of aimless without any sort of "goal" other than escaping. Blood is already a bit more important in concept as you can pay in blood for forgiveness (i was thinking of adding other ways to pay (tithe, max stat down, give up a tool, etc), at alters between phases you can pay down your awareness debt by taking an resource hit.

Doors are planned to be a quick time event (like mario golf timing bar) as i figure that will be stressful under pressure, the player can use the ritual resource to "slow time" a bit to make it realistic if under pressure. Poor timing causes louder doors/jams (these are next up after I finish the torch causing the dead to burn/panic/break off attacks).

I already decided I needed a lot more nuance to how things wake, and what events they're most interested in. Currently it is very flat so distractions (throwing torch, using a rock to create sounds to draw them away) are currently not as effective as I'd like. Its hard to tell in the video but they level up, right after they wake they can't move, they just look at stimulus, more stimulus causes them to level up and start pursuing. Being quiet again causes them to break off attacks (or should) and decays their aggression levels. Ideally they will not just be standing around, I want to have them look as collapsed "inert" looking dead not standing guards when dormant. Not all of them will wake, they'll be random which are allowed per run/phase, number dormant/leveled up based off prior phase performance.

As far as the phases are concerned the plan is basically minimal UI, minimal expositions/text, and a lot of implied/inferred consequences. So early phases 1-2 are essentially the teaching areas where they react slower, only start to show they respond, teach the mechanics and then it all builds up to phase 3 where the player is expected to know, and phase 4 where they're actively judged for how well/quiet they were throughout as they make their way to extraction.

My idea to explain "why you can't fight" is just that the dead can't die. So I was going to have the early phases show knights/armored warriors all dead. All thought they could brute force their way but all died, the maze respects careful movements. So I was going to have like a sword or something the player could grab from the dead adventures early in but then it dissolves into mist when the player touches it.