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Where the Red Fern Still Grows's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Community Choice | #3 | 4.500 | 4.500 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
Where the Red Fern Still Grows is a homage to both the american children's novel by the same name, and naturally, Bloodborne. The story is from an era where any happy story for children always has to end with some kind of horrible event, such as the main character's beloved dogs being mauled to death by a lion, and thus ripe for an unnecessary sequel. This game is rather a master stroke in terms of tone - it seems to hit the exact spot it was aiming for - and is a well packaged game that you could easily while away an hour with replaying into the ng+ game modes.
Liked
- Good Theme usage with enemy selection, locale and characters
- Basically a home run in terms of referencing souls games
- A genuinely curated look and feel
Needs Work
- Could use just a little bit more variety
- Sound balance in cutscenes
- Dude could probably use like a face? (ie, a better player character model)
When I first played this game, I went into it not knowing what to expect. When I realised what was going on, I had a smile plastered to my face the whole time. I have played the snot out of the souls franchise, and this game felt right on the button - the little section with knee high water was almost too much! I want to call out the way you used sound, the environment and lighting specifically, the enemy designs with the blue/red eyes and, of course, the rag dolls - worth 100% of the effort you put into them. I saw the Maneater-esque double boss coming a mile off but loved it anyway. The control of the player character doesn't quite as slick as I would hope, but honestly it's really pretty great. I guess if wishes were horses, I would like to see maybe some backstabs or a heavy attack or stepping a little more full bore into bloodborne and get a transforming shovel, but, that might be trying to guild an already quite golden lily.
I checked out the environment pack that you used, and I think it was a great choice, especially so because you worked with the look to add a little extra content that didn't clash. I can see that you just get little jigsaw bits to work with, and you did a fantastic job creating an environment that folded back on itself and let you see places you would go later, as well as created little areas that had a different look and feel to stop it from getting stale - right on the nose once again. I think you also really paid attention to your other source material, too, as this game oozes with theming - you're a bit unlucky in that I'm british and wholly unfamiliar with the book, but I mean, the raccoon enemies, seemingly the right kind of dogs, the fact that your weapon is a shovel? That you've had to resurrect them as zombies so they can be killed all over again?
For someone unfamiliar with bloodborne, this game might initially be a bit confusing? You do have, on the main menu, a how to play (great menus by the way), but, unless I've missed it, it seems you can't select that once in game so... might wanna wrangle that in there? A few ingame glowing floor messages or a cutscene here or there might smooth everything over but, maybe that would kill the vibe - best to listen to those who weren't familiar. I usually try to pick things apart as best I can but honestly, your experience making games seems to shine through, and I think that this is definitely something you could put in your portfolio with a huge sense of pride.
Elevator pitch
Billy left the family farm in the Ozarks years ago, leaving behind the graves of his two prize coonhounds, Old Dan and Little Ann, and the red fern that grows between them.
But the animals are coming back from the dead, and Billy must return to honor his dogs and keep them at peace. But first he has to get through the undead raccoon horde that stand in his way.
Describe how your game adheres to the theme
The game is a sequel to the book, Where the Red Fern Grows. The book tells the story of a young boy whose prize coonhounds die saving his life. What is more unnecessary than bringing the dogs back as the undead and the boy returning to put them back into the grave?
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