Orten Was The Case

Initially, it will have the vibe of being a beginner Unity programmer’s first game, which it is, and starts off seeming very very cheap, but…
It’s incredibly complex and well-layered as a curiosity-driven mystery with several characters’ schedules all interplaying with one another that is interesting enough to keep me hooked despite the cons. Very reminiscent of Majora’s Mask, complete with a timeline for each character that you fill out as you witness what each character is doing when, including branch-offs based on your influences.
In terms of cons, it’s hard to tell where ledges are sometimes because of the art style but there’s checkpoints for the sections where that matters and fall damage is pretty dang forgiving.
On Steam Deck it can occasionally crash but only after it saves your data at the end of a run so it’s not ruining the experience.
*TLDR*: In short, this game outweighs its occasionally clunky cons with its interesting complexity and it gets much less cheap-feeling over time, but it does occasionally have another quirky cheaply-made moment every now and then.
I think I’d recommend it when on sale if you’re ever in the mood for an intricate interesting time loop puzzle. I’m hooked trying to figure it all out.

Very fun execution of a time loop game. There's a couple poorly clued bits but for the most part it's very well designed. My biggest critique is the jankiness of movement on flat backgrounds, but the art style is kind of required for the types of secrets the game hides.

Very clever game on the whole!

This is such a beautiful game. I don't even know where to start. I almost tear up just writing this. It is so beautiful...

I went into this knowing only that it involved time travel. What a delightful little surprise this was! This game checked all my boxes: time loops, knowledge gates for progression, a compelling mystery, and puzzles that are challenging but fair. The art style very quickly won me over; it's surprisingly detailed, with a unique charm. And--I just found out this was made by a solo dev! Really impressive work, I had a lot of fun with it.

Almost a masterpiece. If you've heard of this game, then you're probably well acquainted with the metroidbrainia genre and you've probably played some it's biggest hits like Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn. This game is a metroidbrainia is it's purest form. You'll learn to traverse every nook and cranny of a quaint town discovering secrets and mysteries that are quite unique. Your knowledge builds as you play the game, figuring out secret passages, locations of key items, and the motivations and actions of NPCs who all have a role to play. The only thing that holds this game back from being an S tier metroidbrania is that it is a bit unforgiving. The pseudo 3D platforming is tricky, which would be fine if you could just keep on trying if you fall, but alas there are death pits, and puzzles that need to completed on a tight schedule otherwise you fail and have to start over. It's very easy to overlook important clues, and the final endgame sequence is quite complicated. Even with all hints enabled I still needed to look up more specific instructions online (even though I try to avoid guides as much as possible with these kinds of games). Overall, an amazing game filled with depth , lore and creativity, which is only slightly held back by it's lack of polish.

This game is such an incredible flavor! The gritty street setting, the characters that become more complex with each pass through the time loop, the complexity put into the puzzles. I would never have imagined that a game consisting of a 12ish minute loop could introduce me to a world with so much detail and energy and subtle nuance. I have not yet finished and there is clearly so much more mystery for me to unravel here! Huge win for: the creativity, the puzzle complexity, the story intrigue, THE DRAWING. Clearly a passionate creation and I am with it all the way

Went into this expecting the game to be a joke because of the low price tag and name ("Orten" is Swedish slang associated with badly integrated adidas wearing immigrants). While the game jokingly has a lot of those elements in it, I was surprised to find a solid well thought out experience that kept me engaged to the end.
Strong points: The story is very well written and everytime you uncover something new you want to learn more. The setting and characters are really what makes this game stand out, even if they are heavily satirical. Huge plus if you understand Swedish here, I laughed out loud at times hearing what characters are actually saying.
The overarching mechanic of time looping is cool and well executed. The game really nails the idea of how small changes in the present can lead to huge consequences later on, and it makes you think about what you are doing and what to try on your next run. The time window is the perfect size and allows for steady progression while still providing a challenge. Especially when you go for some of the harder endings. Also, having "hesa Fredrik" as the loop end signal is genius.
Though this game doesn't emphasize combat, it has to be said that the combat was good considering the genre and price. It's not amazing or anything, but I expected it to be way worse. I didn't use weapons because I didn't pick one up and it got pretty challenging.
Weak points: The gameplay is a bit janky. Especially when climbing and moving on the axis away/towards the screen. You will eventually fall to your death 7 minutes into your run at a critical point and go FUUUUU!!! There are checkpoints to remedy this, but in some places you have to move for quite some time to get to one. Again, considering the budget it's still very well made IMO. You could also see this as a feature in a masochistic dark soulds kinda way I guess.
All in all 9/10. Definitely recommend it.