Gloomwood is a phenomenal immersive sim horror for someone relatively new to the genre. It is a thrilling experience and incredibly well-crafted despite being very early access.

This review was given on the v0.1.222 version of the game. Some or all of these criticisms may not apply due to updates.
Unless the developer somehow massively ♥♥♥♥♥ up (I doubt), you should 100% buy this game.
Played on Full Moon.

-Incredible atmosphere
-Great controls and movement
-Well-placed music
-Incredible amount of alternate paths and different ways to tackle problems for almost every scenario in the game
-Being daring is rewarded: you can get better loot and weapons early if you take risks
-Inventory management system feels great; I don't feel too limited but I still have to make hard choices on what all I want in my inventory
-Safes are brute-forceable. This is kind of a double-edged sword. I could not figure out any of the passcodes but I think that's just because I'm dumb.

-Alternate paths best shown here
-Enemies are well placed and provide interesting challenges; clearing them feels satisfying and rewarding
-Great showcase of initial mechanics and many pathways back to the save point

-Forcing the player to turn off the lights to progress is evil genius
-Good use of mushrooms to provide some light

-Very clever intro to this
-Basement area builds a very good sense of fear and tension

-Enemies can be easily exploited by terrain (this happens to basically every enemy). This can really break immersion. However, I do applaud the developer for not massively removing your movement options to prevent this.
-There is nothing that really teaches you how the dogs work. That, or I missed it. They just seem like massively better Huntsmen. Better hearing and sight.
-The boss's triggers on what is too much noise is dumb. Eventually figured out it was opening a dresser. Why specifically that? If you want to do that, can we have an option to open things slowly?
-AI can sometimes feel really dumb. They won't check areas that I think they should and I'll get away with more than I should.
-I've carried an expensive item from a safe found in the docks for a full 3 hours. I cannot find a vendor. Apparently there is one inside the next unreleased area, but it's a bit absurd nothing really tells me that it's better to leave it and come back later.
-Gems are pick-uppable but the first two gems I encountered would not let me pick them up for some reason. I could come back and pick them up later once I picked up a gem the game wanted me to pick up. It was weird.
-Mines had a warning for "unstable ground" and I was supposed to use my lantern to avoid the unstable ground. I figured it was going to be a balance of using your light and not to avoid holes but not trigger enemies. I did not have to use my light. There's so much natural light in the caves it makes it easy.

And my biggest issue of all:
Gamma and contrast sliders do not have fine-tuning. What the ♥♥♥♥.
For a game that requires good brightness, gamma, and contrast settings, why can i not carefully fine-tune these values? You can use your mouse but that's not precise.

Though it does appear like I have a good list of cons, some of them may have been due to me being dumb or not familiar with Gloomwood-like games. I'm also sometimes not the most observant player. But I feel like I played the best I can.

To close this review out, Gloomwood is a fantastic project. Ever since trying the demo way back, it's been incredibly exciting to see this game progress. I can't wait until the final release, but I'll be playing every update going forwards. I recommend buying this at full price!

EDIT FOR MARKET UPDATE:
Gloomwood is still awesome.
-New slide mechanic for sliding down walls is extremely useful and smart
-The new enemies are engaging to fight and to try to stealth around
-The Market itself is a sprawling city that is awesome to walk through and fight. I wish there was more within the city like puzzles and objectives that you can do though.
Can't wait for the next update!

Gloomwood is a phenomenal immersive sim horror for someone relatively new to the genre. It is a thrilling experience and incredibly well-crafted despite being very early access. This review was given on the v0.1.222 version of the game. Some or all of these criticisms may not apply due to updates. Unless the developer somehow massively fucks up (I doubt), you should 100% buy this game. Played on Full Moon. [h1]Pros:[/h1] -Incredible atmosphere -Great controls and movement -Well-placed music -Incredible amount of alternate paths and different ways to tackle problems for almost every scenario in the game -Being daring is rewarded: you can get better loot and weapons early if you take risks -Inventory management system feels great; I don't feel too limited but I still have to make hard choices on what all I want in my inventory -Safes are brute-forceable. This is kind of a double-edged sword. I could not figure out any of the passcodes but I think that's just because I'm dumb. [h2]Docks:[/h2] -Alternate paths best shown here -Enemies are well placed and provide interesting challenges; clearing them feels satisfying and rewarding -Great showcase of initial mechanics and many pathways back to the save point [h2]Mines:[/h2] -Forcing the player to turn off the lights to progress is evil genius -Good use of mushrooms to provide some light [h2]Tavern:[/h2] -Very clever intro to this -Basement area builds a very good sense of fear and tension [h1]Cons:[/h1] -Enemies can be easily exploited by terrain (this happens to basically every enemy). This can really break immersion. However, I do applaud the developer for not massively removing your movement options to prevent this. -There is nothing that really teaches you how the dogs work. That, or I missed it. They just seem like massively better Huntsmen. Better hearing and sight. -The boss's triggers on what is too much noise is dumb. Eventually figured out it was opening a dresser. Why specifically that? If you want to do that, can we have an option to open things slowly? -AI can sometimes feel really dumb. They won't check areas that I think they should and I'll get away with more than I should. -I've carried an expensive item from a safe found in the docks for a full 3 hours. I cannot find a vendor. Apparently there is one inside the next unreleased area, but it's a bit absurd nothing really tells me that it's better to leave it and come back later. -Gems are pick-uppable but the first two gems I encountered would not let me pick them up for some reason. I could come back and pick them up later once I picked up a gem the game wanted me to pick up. It was weird. -Mines had a warning for "unstable ground" and I was supposed to use my lantern to avoid the unstable ground. I figured it was going to be a balance of using your light and not to avoid holes but not trigger enemies. I did not have to use my light. There's so much natural light in the caves it makes it easy. And my biggest issue of all: [b]Gamma and contrast sliders do not have fine-tuning. What the fuck.[/b] For a game that requires good brightness, gamma, and contrast settings, why can i not carefully fine-tune these values? You can use your mouse but that's not precise. Though it does appear like I have a good list of cons, some of them may have been due to me being dumb or not familiar with Gloomwood-like games. I'm also sometimes not the most observant player. But I feel like I played the best I can. To close this review out, Gloomwood is a fantastic project. Ever since trying the demo way back, it's been incredibly exciting to see this game progress. I can't wait until the final release, but I'll be playing every update going forwards. I recommend buying this at full price! EDIT FOR MARKET UPDATE: Gloomwood is still awesome. -New slide mechanic for sliding down walls is extremely useful and smart -The new enemies are engaging to fight and to try to stealth around -The Market itself is a sprawling city that is awesome to walk through and fight. I wish there was more within the city like puzzles and objectives that you can do though. Can't wait for the next update!