I am not sure I would call this a game. I mean, technically, there is gameplay even more gameplay than some walking simulators, but it's more of a movie. Probably more of a movie than TellTale games. And it's an art-house movie to boot. If this was an actual short movie or an episode of some anthology like Black Mirror, I'd give it top marks, but as a game... This is a bit more complicated.
The atmosphere here is great, but I do not think they went deep enough with kind of "insanity". Not really "insanity", but they definitely had chances to do even more weird stuff. The fish factory reminded me of Little Nightmares games, and I enjoy how slowly escalated to moving walls with a crane. There were 2 sections of delirium, as well, that were used for some nice and simple puzzles, and they looked pretty cool. But all of that felt like... Weirdness for the sake of weirdness. There was not much behind that. You probably can pick up some hints of deeper philosophy, but I do not think there is anything more serious behind them. Little Nightmares still had "themes" in their weirdness, something grounded in reality, something more tangible. Since Indika was on a literal journey, that went awry, it would make sense to somehow associate all of that weirdness with her stress and her coping mechanism.
And it's not like it was not done at all: the last segment of the game did exactly that (and also switched to first person which made it even "heavier" and more "tangible". A certain phrase there even reminded me of my own past, when due to stress I started developing almost a 2nd personality, and resolved it by finally coming to realization that it was always a part of me, and not something separate (thanks to "Forty Six & 2" and "Lateralus" by "Tool"). Use of 2D mini-games for Indika's memories also worked nicely in this sense (especially as indication of a "split"), but the switch to them was kind of abrupt (exactly like a sudden flashback in a movie). Those games, at least the jumping on windowsills and jumping on toads, were also a bit too unforgiving, considering they were not the main attraction.
On the other hand, I am not sure what could be an approach if the game was to be longer, even if it was something closer to Little Nightmares even, which would be like twice as long. Perhaps more sections with delirium? More interactions with other people, that would make Indika question her path and explore her past and her "sins"? But perhaps it would not matter as much, as long as the voice acting would be just as good (at least the Russian one is top-notch).
Despite the criticism, I would still recommend the game even if just for the atmosphere and for the sake of supporting devs and hope of more games of this level (besides the optimization, which is abysmal at times even with 7900XTX). On the other hand, I am not sure who is this game supposed to be for: people from post-soviet areas probably will find it most relatable, but it's not as "attractive" as Metro games, since it's more "niche". At the same time it is also essentially anti-religious, which may not suit the tastes of those post-soviet people, unless they already question orthodoxy (at least).
So... I guess if you are interested in soviet(-like) setting, if you are ok with questioning of religion's reasons (and dogmas) - definitely worth a buy and an evening playing it, including at full price. For everyone else - try the demo. If you like the atmosphere of the demo, then you will probably enjoy the game as a whole.
