in my head

I like the way the gameplay and the narrative influence each other, though sometimes I felt it was either too on the nose with what it was trying to say or it didn't go far enough in its endeavor. I really wish the game had a darkest hour moment in which the player, for a room or two, truly got abandoned and had to proceed without any help, as that would solidify the final gauntlet as a glorious finale even more. Still, the idea is there, and overall the execution wasn't too bad either. I liked it.

The idea of hiding mechanics from the player seems very interesting to me. I'm working on something similar, but your way of attributing it to the narrative suits the game very well. 10/10