Cool stuff

- Nice title screen and BGM. Logo is fire

- sound effects for buttons. nice polish and they sound cool too

- the assets for 3d look pretty good. there is something about the old playstation vibe that is creepy.

- camera movement feels good. and the fps seems high. i played another 3d game that frame dropped like a mother so this was refreshing lol

- nice level ambience.  i am hoping there is more horror to the game than "dark place" just starting out - i guess we will see - but i can tell there was alot of work put into the vibe. and that is often more trepidacious than a zombie jumping out or whatever. silent hill 2 was all vibes.

- the stamina bar is easy to use and seems tuned pretty well to a decent rate (but i would like it to reset even if shift is being held as having to micromanage the shift usage is i dunno, not fun. maybe that's just me thuogh]

- i like the idea of being a power guy, it fits into the horror because yo uwill be going out into the dark places and the woods as part of your job, you don't have to have a lost wife or whatever lol. it's also  alittle different, which, obviously inspired by the theme, but i would like more of that in horror, a different scenario, besides just SPOOKY CULT HOUSE O NO

- the post breaking on the 3rd level was nice, it's that sense of "surprise" that is often scariest, and i don't mean jumpscares but something unexpected that is threatening.

Dealbreakers

- i gotta say at least at the beginning i'm not feeling very scared. I think, if it's dark, it still feels too bright.  Like, the background is dark, and there is some fading out into the darkness, but it still feels everything is lit up pretty well.  THere is a reason games like to use flashlights and candles and stuff...rather than everything being lit similarly, having lie pockets of gradual light going into darkness, looks and feels a lot scarier i think.  i feel like over-relying on darkness or obscuring vision too much is a bit of a trope in horror games, but if you're gonna do it, it can be tweaked a bit. 

- the ending to the first section was a bit anticlimactic. i was suspenseful (only because i knew i was playing a horror game and something was probably going to happen) but then you just leave.  i'm all for building suspense (The Birds is my favorite horror] but you do need to have a threat hinted at or the player will just feel like there is nothing there to get them. if that makes sense? i'm not advocating for a monster to jump out ,but i dunno, something a bit more than owls and darkness.  it could even be something like text of the character saying "Something feels off here...but I can't place what it is" or something. Or more environmental, you can hear an animal scurrying in the bushes occasionally. i dunno.  (ok, on the 2nd level, it seems there is that sound. but then you leave again with nothing happening.  and play the level again. so i am starting to wonder when it's going to "get good" horror-wise so to speak. the level does have nice ambience and you are looking for something to come so there is that.]  the note in the 3rd level about "did you hear weird noises in the trees?" that is what i'm talking about. it's not a jump scare or a zombie jumping out that gives away the game, but it is threatening. but that doesn't occur until the 3rd level.  i would maybe start out with that.  so the player is looking out for something.  ]

- by the end of the 3rd level i was kinda bored and saying if nothing happens on the 4th level i'm gonna hang it up. i say this not to be mean but to highlight the issue with the pacing/level of suspense in a practical way.   but then the guy kind of came out of nowhere and killed me. he did scare me when he came out though. lol.  I don't want to replay the level again, so i'll quit here.

Nitpicks

- I say this on about every game but it really helps to have the controls listed in the info and on the game. For example, the title screen didn't show mouse cursor, so I used my keyboard to start the game, but then the level wants you to use your mouse to look around.  I guess these are default pc controls, but not everybody plays pc games all the time and you still want those new players to be able to jump in without confusion. As a guy who mostly plays console games I still have to clunk around for 2 minutes before I remember to try WASD.  Especially if the mouse is important, i would add a regular cursor for menus and maybe a small crosshair for the gameplay. all that being said thank you for telling me what buttons to read and exit menu in game. I would probably never try Q to exit the menu otherwise even htough i reckon it's a normal PC key for WASD layout.

- when you click off the game, the game still takes mouse movement for the cursor but not arrow keys.  maybe that is on itch side but it might not be a bad idea to build in a pause when the input is lost on the window.

- the classic leave a note telling everybody what's going on stuck on random places.  maybe it's iconic, maybe it's necessary for game design and to have story but also create loneliness, but i dunno, i'm a bit tired of seeing that sort of stuff in horror games as the notes in them often don't really fit that well or make that much sense why somebody would leave them.  but i guess it is what it is, i'd just consider brainstorming other options for future horror games just to break outside of the box a little.

Conclusion

I like that you went for a horror and the light pole was a unique idea.  It is a good setup for a horror because you have to look for it and then come back down into the forest hopin something isn't down there. I think the idea could be expanded with a bigger level, multiple poles to hook up, more ambience/sense of threat, etc.

i was also getting the sense that maybe gideon was a monster or you are in  a timeloop or something. dunno if that was the case, but that would be a cool twist if so.

You're clearly talented and have the start of something, and there is a lot going on for a game jam game so good job!  Thanks for sharing