Not really speedrun related, but just wanted to share some of my findings from searching through the Sweet Home & Sweet Home Prototype roms.
This one is really interesting. I found a secret passage that leads from the dungeon to the basement! You just need a mallet. Also, you have to use the mallet on the dungeon side, and won't work from the basement side. None of the maps I've seen online have shown this. I think this is more useful in casual play, but if anyone has any ideas of how this can be used in a speedrun, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
In the prototype, the Generator was considered more of a typical puzzle (like the Blue Candle Statues, Projector, or Fountain, etc). Too bad they removed this first-person view in the final release. Also, what is very interesting is that there is a second gas container you can find along with an NPC who speaks to you about using the gas. Perhaps the Generator needed to be refilled at some point?
Here's a bunch of items that went unused, were removed, or just never seen in normal gameplay.
Magnet, Torch, Thermos, Kazuo's Lighter, Iron Plate, Emi's Key, and Box. Unfortunately, none of the items besides the Key and Lighter seem to have any function.
The sprite of the Cookie / Pills was changed for the final release. In the prototype, it looked more like a cookie to me lol. In the game's official manual, it shows a picture of the cookie (Here it kind of looks more like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup haha).
Here's some other cool enemy sprites I found! A "fake" Yamamura (for some reason his face is missing), Prototype Mirror (along with someone else in the reflection), Hands (possibly a removed Quick-Time Event?), Chairs, and Crows (I assume they were similar to the Bats)! There is also some awesome Lady Mamiya art that I found (Maybe from a removed cutscene?). Also, if you enter Lady Mamiya's bedroom in the prototype, she just floats there and the event where she sends you to the fireplace doesn't trigger. I haven't found a way to beat the prototype version yet.
I found two long hallways in the prototype. One vertical and one horizontal. I'm not sure where in the mansion these were intended to be located or where they lead to.
In the prototype, there are a lot of changes to the layout as well as additional items found in certain areas of the mansion. Very interesting!
Found a removed Lake puzzle from the prototype! What's interesting about this one is that you can see it for a brief second at the end of the official advertisement commercial for Sweet Home! Not sure why it was removed or what the intended purpose was. I haven't figured out what to do here yet. For now unfortunately, there is no function.
In the prototype, there are additional NPCs and/or different dialog. Very cool! If anyone wants to help translate these, that would be awesome!
Here's the original song that was meant to play during the Yamamura cutscene!! This song perfectly fits the length of the animation, where as in the final release of the game, the song that was used gets cut short.
Here's the COMPLETE Sweet Home soundtrack including all of the music and sfx from the final release and the prototype! There are 4 prototype exclusive songs and a few unused / removed sfx too.
