Not sure why nobody has commented on this. Is it possible that others had the same experience as me? I wanted to see more of it but I was too stupid to figure out what I was supposed to do at the first playable bit. If you want it to be unapproachable in that way then fair enough - I've made games like that myself before now. Otherwise a hint or two might be required.

Yeah, I must have downloaded the error/non-sword version you mentioned in your previous comment because this version allows me to progress. Made it up to stage 5 - Shoots & Ladders - and became paralyzed with futility. Thankfully the ghosts materialized and crushed my aluminum-boned self.

The written passages you came up with this are by and large fantastic. I especially enjoyed your Long John Silvers rant, but the story of the game's name earlier is also strangely touching.

The text-to-speech interpreter you use is fantastic...! "Slurr pies." I love it.

What's up with the occasional light-blue timer that shows up on stage 4?

I finally finished this, although to be honest I was still playing the playtest copy I had, since it let me play it over multiple sessions. This is by far the best masocore trainwreck platformer I've ever played, which I'm pretty sure I already said lol.

The levels really are amazing! A wicked combination of oblique puzzles and broken platforming. The atmosphere is so crushing and distant, and even the music doesn't feel like a soundtrack- it feels like just another level to the barren noise you are being confronted with. The audio work is so good.

I don't have anything new to say on the story, but I think the personal exploration through it is good. It's variously unpleasant but feels focused on processing abuse and oppression, which repositions moments that would otherwise be needlessly edgy.