The Cathedral of the Deep uses the scale of its structure and its individual elements to make the player character feel small and powerless
The player passes through many maze-like corridors that extend into long passages, increasing the feelings of claustrophobia and confusion from this restriction in movement
When the player character is in an open space, however, the surrounding magnified structures emphasizes how small the player character is – whether it be the width and height of the interior spaces that take many minutes to traverse in, or the relative size of nearby objects such as the stairs of the massive altar in the cathedral
All these instances of powerlessness prepare the player for the final boss arena: The Deacons of the Deep, where Aldrich clerics reside. The sheer colossal size of Aldritch’s sarcophagus, and the towering interior surrounding it with its endless windows’ emphasis on its overwhelming scale – making the player feel smaller by comparison