I love the vibe, but maybe add an option to turn off the motion blur, at least for me it was very straining on my eyes
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Spirits Whim's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #102 | 3.676 | 3.676 |
| Graphics | #152 | 4.027 | 4.027 |
| Overall | #191 | 3.545 | 3.545 |
| Theme | #214 | 3.649 | 3.649 |
| Game Design | #230 | 3.568 | 3.568 |
| Fun | #272 | 3.405 | 3.405 |
| Innovation | #566 | 2.946 | 2.946 |
Ranked from 37 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does you game fit the theme?
Our game is a surreal experience. We used post processing effects to give the entire scenario dreamlike visuals. There are elements in our game that many would consider to be "not real", however we do not want to spoil them.
Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
We wrote all the code and got some of our aesthetic assets from the Unreal Marketplace.
Comments
Hi! First of all, congratulations for this project. Very good job and keep it up the good work.
The best parts first. Following other comments, I like very much the spooky atmosphere. The music, the sound design, the light (VERY good use of the light and the differences between flashlight on and flashlight off), some objects (like the flaming skull), the vibe of exploring an abandoned/haunted castle, all of this elements contribute to create a scary experience. Well done!!!
Now some things that I didn't like:
- The camera: I wasn't able to look up or down. A pity: I wanted to see all the details of the castle.
- The goal: It was just exploring?? Or did I have to do something?? Or reach somewhere??
- The energy: Now I understand that the "blue things" are bad. But sometimes, inside the castle, My character was losing energy. Why?? What was happenning? I didn't understand.
- Items: Very difficult to interact with the items. There were some envelopes that I couldn't open and some kind of picture in a tower that look out of place.
And, finally, I think that you have a very good opportunity to write and create a story according to the spooky atmosphere. Who was the character?? What's the history of this castle?? Why the character is there in the first place?? The messages that appear when you die it's a nice start.
I like "Spirits Whim" very much. Congratulations for your hard work.
Thank you for reviewing and trying out and giving feedback for my game!
I thought it would be a good idea to return the favor, so here I go.
The best part of this game is the throwback and shout out to the classics. The Aesthetics in both visuals and sound design are what sells the atmosphere the most and this is the 2nd game jam game to pull that ever so classic "Music Prank" on me (he's actually a really good guitarist and singer if you seen his covers). Implementing tried and true mechanics was also a good choice since familiarity and intuitiveness lets you get into the thick of the game as quickly as possible.
Main issues, in my experience, that hold this project back:
*Visual Optimization (Frame Rate dropped conisderably at a certain room).
*UI Issues (Interactable items are difficult to spot, let alone Highlight or Touch).
*3D Environment is hard to navigate at times and is Unclear of where to go.
*Ambiguous Obstacles (Confusing to navigate and the "Blue" things looked "helpful" at first).
Overall, this is a great start on a great Classic-Throwback to those games that inspired it, and I hope to see you guys bring more of your ideas to life in the future. 3D based games on Game-Jams could be extremely challenging to complete!
Well done. Good to see another game made with Unreal Engine. Had fun with this one, especially enjoyed the spooky atmosphere! :)
Submitted
Shadow StepperOhhhh I'm not good with scary games.
I found the skull, found some gold, got roll'd, found a pretty picture, and when my controls were inverted I freaked out, hit escape and accidentally quit the game. I don't know what those blue things are but I hate them. Puppy guarding assholes.
I thought the opening scene was visually striking. Nice Job on this one I'll come back and finish it when I've found my balls. I would legit be this woman screaming in an empty castle if I was left alone for too long.
Submitted
JeremyHad a lot of fun playing your game ! It feels great going through the castle, with the different sound effects accentuating the fear of the character.
Great game !
Submitted
Granny EscapedThe atmosphere is very successful, and I had a good time exploring the castle. I love games where ghosts are involved. Great job!
Submitted
Anti-RealityThe visuals and atmosphere is really good. But sadly it's nearly impossible to interact with anything. I would love to play this game again if got some polish.
Submitted
The Golden BananaA very different setting compared to the horror games I've played so far in the jam, though that's gone for quite a few of them. There's been a pretty big variety in terms of settings, mechanics and approaches to jumpscare, atmosphere etc. It's definitely been an terrifying jam in some respects to play games from,
Otherwise though this was an interesting experience, I did sorta miss all the jumpscares, except for the audio which definitely got me quite badly a lot. The notes also led to a very unexpected ending.
As for the actual monsters though I do have to say, they were a bit weird. They definitely had a presence, but I honestly did not realize they were monsters for a sec. Maybe some sort of different audio when they've "spotted" you, that could help I'm not sure.
Another thing is I do feel like a lot of the visual cues were weird, mainly the fact that the keys are surrounding by a sort of, radioactive green. Then the enemies are a blue-ish green. Which, honestly if I had not seen a key I would've assumed it was something dangerous. But I sorta saw the key in a rush away from the ghosts which meant I was forced to figure that out.
Also the fact that there was a note explaining the goal was interesting in world storytelling, a bit blatant, but it worked. Unfortunately though it was one of those out the way note,s so I feel like some people may miss it when playing the game. Maybe putting it next to a key or something could help. At least just for that one.
One final thing I would say is that the indication of when you're listing sanity to things is a bit weird at times, mainly because it doesn't seem to be vision based at all, which means that you can suddenly start losing sanity without much feedback on what exactly is wrong. It is helpful that there is feedback when it's being lost. It just doesn't quite help you realize what you need to actually do to fix it.
Overall though a decently put together game with a few relatively well fleshed out mechanics that led to a relatively scary experience at times.
Submitted
Fantasy Pawn ShopThe atmosphere of this game waas so cool, I really appreciated the experience!
Submitted
The job of your dreamI love the athmosphere of dark sea and graphics were the best of the best on jam i loved this little tutorial on the begginig were i was killed by this blue thing . Loved the audio it adds a lot to atmosphere . Overall great game (hope it gets to 20)
Submitted
SchizoCherrythe graphics, lighting and sounds were so good I liked the game overall, but I found it difficult to interact with things, especially the note at the beginning. it took me a while to understand that I should center it on the screen to be able to interact with it. it would be easier with a dot or something at the center I guess.
Submitted
is this real?I loved the experience! The atmosphere and audio were on point, very well done!
Submitted
Starry Night
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