An interesting twist in the story I did not expect in a seemingly hard-boiled-detective-esque game at first. The banter between the main characters were great, and the custom art was great especially in the second half. Well done!

Okay, this is my very first review and while I am already the artist for another game in this wonderful Jam, I'll try not to hold any biases and will try to stay positive with this as this game has a lot of positives to it.

Advent of the Cosmos is a bit deceitful at first. Initially I thought it was just going to be an RPGMaker Horror game only using the custom art as a small confetti over RTP sprites using default tilesets. But then there were things that surprised me when playing this blind with my SO watching to make sure I haven't gone mad. 

1] The Point and Click Adventure Bit - I love this bit initially, however I am more used to using the WSAD controls in my RPGMaker games so it took some time to get used to clicking my mouse across the screen. Either way, I love how this game made you explore and investigate initially in the human world. I feel inspired to do something like this in a future game I do however will hope to still implement keyboard controls for those that are usually comfortable with it.

2] The most RPG-ish part of the game is [SPOILERS] however, I will add the [SPOILERS] were nice. Why I am trying not to spoil anything here is while the game DID crash on me in this part of the game during the climax of the game [that's why Gameplay got points docked for me] is that I love this supernatural world they went in. It's like a twisted version of one of the special maps in the 2D village in Dragon Quest XI but you control characters that give me mad vibes to a Life Wonders game [Tokyo Afterschool Summoners and LiveAHero for those that are not familiar with mobile games with turn-based combat, which seem to be Life Wonders' bread and butter]. I won't say anymore though, my only criticism is that Gui's human form made me read him as a bearded Son Goku archetype more then what his actual supernatural form looked like. It isn't a bad thing of course. It just made me keep on guessing.

3] The Dialogue - The best part of the game. Marcus and Gui both read as fun people to watch [and possibly ship, even if those that don't ship it can read Gui's cute little 'taking Marcus out to breakfast after this is all over' as something fun to read aloud. Though, I wish I could say the same for the NPCs as while the humans are passable, the [SPOILERS] range from cheeky to something ABSOLUTELY cursed and in the 'just scrolling through Tumblr and found a cringey furry' kind of way [but don't worry. What happens after that interaction is actually funny].

4] The Art - Like I said, the Art surprised me. The Custom Art showed up more than I was expecting and that is a pleasantly good thing. I've often had people give RTP Chibi sprites that we got with the default assets in RPGMaker MV and MZ a bad rap, but here, they use the default assets as a sign of how mundane the human world is compared to [spoilers] so I find it here using the default sprites here for the first time as a positive due to what came afterwards with [spoilers].

5] The Puzzle - There's a maze puzzle in [SPOILERS] which while was simple to navigate for smart people, made my gameplay experience take longer due to my incredibly bad memory. I hope people have more fun with it as well as you get an important item for the battle after it!

OVERALL: I would give this game a 4.3 out of 5. Please keep it up! And I hope to finish the game properly very soon!

This is a game that showcases what these two devs are best at: emotional storytelling, custom artwork, tight maps, and a few surprises along the way. The game started in very Lovecraftian fashion - disheveled wreckage of a man, sanity slowly unraveling, comes into contact with something beyond his understanding.  However, the game did not continue down this line, and took a turn that I'm sure no player would expect.

Part of me wonders if the surprise was too jarring, and detracted from the theme of the first half. Each part was amazingly well done, but the stark change in ambience almost made me feel like perhaps the two parts could have flourished more apart from each other. I do respect the attempt to mash the efforts of two talented devs together, and I really enjoyed the experience, 

I do want to note that combat was well-balanced. When not paying attention I died a few times, but it wasn't so hard that a little focus wouldn't get you through. Knowing what your moves do was pretty important to surviving with enough resources. So gameplay wise, it was perfect for a jam. Challenging, but not frustrating.

I was hoping that a game combing the characterization of Berry and the mapping and sprites of Truecynder would look amazing, and I was not disappointed. This game is amazing, and the story is quite the twist. I admit that the characters could have been fleshed out a tad bit better, as they felt not quite complete, but the story was great and there was one part that I totally did not expect and absolutely loved. I felt that the battles were a bit unbalanced, either lasting far too long or destroying me far too quickly. With no ability to level up, this was a bit difficult to handle in an rpg.

Overall this is a great entry that hits the heart of the jam well, and if you are reading this review you would be better spent playing the game.

Okay, just to note that I made some of the assets for this game but I had no involvement in development.

So I personally think that the theme was nailed. Cosmic horror is often misinterpreted. This game gets it right, beyond understanding and beyond comprehension.

The layouts of the areas are well done and thought out.

The character interactions feel natural and not forced.

The Theme is a nice mix between cosmic horror and spiritualism and very well mixed.

I like the ambiguous endings that allow you to come up with your own interpretations with no true explenation to them (again perfect cosmic horror)

The art work and interfaces mesh perfectly and really feel nice to interact with.

The fights feel well balanced and could be called casually difficult, not too hard or too easy.

The Secret "mini boss" fight was an awesome reference.

With more time put into it I could see an amazing game coming from this and for only 1 months work I have no complaints on the quality of this game, it's short but it's better in quality than many other maker games that have had much more time put into them.

Given that it is a short jam-related game, I still found that it provides an interesting narrative in regards to the idea of existential layers (e.g. the material and spiritual world) and incorporates Cosmic Horror in a way that works through implication, making the enemies visually feasible, their origin however obscure and uncertain. 

I also do enjoy the chemistry between the two protagonists, being two polar opposites but yet very much close to each other. Which does show quite well in their dialogue.

And frankly, I do enjoy the artstyle, especially for their beastlier forms. Kinda funny when you get a massive turtle with a huge maw look dumbfounded at some of the stuff going on. *chuckles*

As is to be expected, the mapping is also super, with very fleshed out environments being presented. And with a few goddies in a couple of the corners, which do help to keep the pelt and shell of our heroes intact.

I really enjoyed this game by Berry and Cynder! I love seeing both their talents shine in this entry! Berry's arts really complimented Cynder's mappings and writing very well! <3 :D If you jump into this game thinking it's going to be two guys (who I ship, by the way) doing investigations around their apartment and whatnot, then you're in for quite the amazing surprise! ;) I was blown away by the effort! Music choices were amazing too! :D The game has 2 endings so far, and I saw both endings! <3 (I personally think ending A is canon!) Story really pulls you in immediately with the mysterious deaths and the otherworldly symbolisms. The character banters were also very enjoyable and funny! xD The battles are simple front view with breath taking custom HUD's and artworks. The challenge is well balanced. Overall, what an experience! Big kudos to Berry and Cynder for such an enjoyable entry! <3