holy shit.
In Stars And Time may have some lighthearted moments, but this game has plenty of moments showing how horrifying being stuck in a "Groundhog Day" Loop can be.
- Siffrin's deteriorating mental state as the game progresses can be rather horrifying to see as he becomes more withdrawn, empty, violent, and even suicidal.
- Siffrin gets completely fed up with the first Sadness in the House after repeated loops. If you choose to let Siffrin attack immediately, he tears it apart in rage before it and the group can react. Despite Siffrin's attempt to play it off, the rest of the group is horrified, with Odile even trying to shield the others from Sif. This causes time to loop back a few minutes, and Siffrin gains a memory that makes every Sadness in the castle terrified of him. It's one of the first big glimpses into Sif's deteriorating mental state, and boy, is it distressing!
- During Act 3, when Siffrin asks the King if he remembers the name of the Forgotten Country both of them once hailed from, the King can't remember and tells him to say the name. This is where things get very intense. At each moment Sif starts to say the name, the scene fades in to a lone white star in the black background, which lasts a few seconds before the star distorts itself and turns blood red! The first two times, both Sif and the King are injured, and the vision starts fading away. By the third time, the King nearly dies, and Sif is doubled over in pain as the screen fades to complete blackness, with the narration text letters breaking apart further and further, indicating him choking to death on his own blood! It's too much of a nightmare, and it's so depressing!
- The King crushing Bonnie in his hand while Siffrin and the party can only watch helplessly. Even after looping back, Siffrin is visibly traumatized, unable to fight the King properly in the next attempt or focus on anything in the loop. Even after everything is said and done, it's clear that the event haunts Siffrin for the rest of the loops. To make things worse, this all happened because Siffrin chose to give The King the benefit of the doubt, and Loop even cheerily tells Siffrin this is all his fault.
- When Siffrin talks to Bonnie after this event, there's a chance that it'll cut to a pitch black screen with Bonnie's face completely scratched out and distorted music playing for a few seconds, terrifying both Sif and very likely the player.
- Depending on the number of loops Siffrin has gone through, it is possible for Siffrin to talk to Loop and bring up the possibility of killing himself with his dagger to end loops faster. Loop will be (understandably) against the idea. Should Siffrin insist though, they will eventually relent and unlock the option for Siffrin, as if they're being forced to by a higher power: leading to the lovely page image of them staring soullessly at Siffrin without pupils or any hint of emotion. Congratulations: Siffrin can now stab himself to loop!
- The entirety of Act 5 and Sif's complete mental breakdown. His desperation and despair completely overwhelms him, enough so that he alienates the other members in his attempt to get their best skills, verbally lashes out at them when they don't follow along due to their concern for Siffrin, and dismisses them being hurt by his actions, only being upset that he didn't get their skills. It's a far cry from the Siffrin that refused to speak to Loop after the latter allowed their party to die, and it's small wonder the party admits to not being able to trust him afterwards.
- From the group's perspective, Sif went from being his usual self to being cynical, hostile, angry, and completely apathetic in the span of one nap. The fact that their friend is changing so violently for seemingly no reason is terrifying enough, but keep in mind that the enemies you fight in the game are Sadnesses; people that were overwhelmed by the King's negativity. Who's to say Siffrin wasn't becoming one himself..? Their desperation to have him accept help is not unlike someone trying to get their suicidal friend to step off the edge; which becomes truer than ever as the game progresses.
- The fight with Mal Du Pays. As Siffrin's Sadness and self-hatred made manifest, Mal Du Pays imitates his friends while tearing Sif down relentlessly and targets his fears. It's a horrifyingly accurate look into self-loathing and fears of abandonment, and Siffrin very nearly succumbed to it.
