I played only the Harold and Marsha stories but after that I decided I had seen enough. The battle system seemed interesting at first but in both the campaigns I played there was no reason not to just use attacking moves whenever they became available (Or harold’s buff skill, if a non-red attack was available). I never used the dodge moves, and never felt like I was in any danger of dying despite this. So with both characters I very quickly fell into doing the exact same thing each fight, and I was never forced to change my strategy. Writing was good quality, but I wasn’t particularly invested in what was going on, except for very quickly hating Oldhar (though that might be intended) Graphics were RTP. Music was good but didn’t necessarily fit the visual style which I can imagine would probably bother some people, but I didn’t mind it.

Crueldown is an excellent strategy game that takes you through the adventures of Harold, Theresa, Marsha, and Lucius, with the opportunity to unlock additional RPG Maker characters as you progress. Each character has their own unique ability set, adding layers of strategy and requiring different approaches for each scenario. The game excels in its battle mechanics, utilizing a well thought-out cooldown system that demands careful planning for every action. This mechanic adds depth and complexity to the gameplay, making each encounter a thoughtful challenge.

The story, while not the focal point, serves its purpose effectively, setting up the gameplay and providing each character with their own mini story arc. These arcs add an extra layer of engagement and make the progression feel more rewarding. The chiptunes-style music is a perfect fit, adding a nostalgic charm that complements the strategic gameplay.

The difficulty balance is noteworthy. Some characters and scenarios are manageable, offering a breezy playthrough, while others present a significant challenge that can lead to being completely annihilated. This variability keeps the game interesting and ensures that players are constantly adapting their strategies.

Overall, Crueldown is a standout entry in this year's Harold Game Jam. It combines strategic depth, engaging characters, and delightful music to create a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Whether you’re breezing through battles or getting crushed by tougher foes, the game keeps you engaged and entertained. It's a great testament to what can be achieved with thoughtful design and a clear focus on strategic gameplay.

I got to punch a god in the face with the power of friendship / 5.

A very clever way to make a point about cooldowns. I think you defended your thesis adequately - not a home run, as the game doesn't hold up as well as re: Punch or RATD in terms of strategic depth, but the character variety was (mostly) a plus and there were still a lot of cool interactions.

Balance among characters was a spot that I felt could've used improvement, as well as conveying what certain things did a bit more clearly. For example, playing against Therese was a nightmare unless you'd used her beforehand, as it was unclear what triggered a very specific ability of hers. Oldhar felt amazingly OP as befit a "boss" character, but it at least felt earned, unlike the Reid exploit that was just game-breaking and unfortunately took away from otherwise clever design.

The music was great and I liked that most characters had unique themes.

RTP graphics felt OK but the missing animations took away a lot of the "impact" from battles IMO. I would have included them but set the defaults in YEP battle core (or whatever the MV equivalent is) to Fastest speed. Just my preference.

The interwoven story was one of the best parts. I almost didn't play the unlockable characters but felt obligated to see their story lines and am very glad I did. I don't think there was as much humor or heart as in your more traditional RPGs, but that felt partly due to the tournament format.

A few minor bugs: One of Harold's skills has a typo regarding the type of damage avoided, and there are some "phantom" character selections available from the player select screen.

Awesome battle system. You have a knack for making these non-cookie-cutter strategic battle systems. Being able to see the enemies crueldowns and planning how to spend yours in conjunction with your skills was super enjoyable.  

One very minor thing, as one of those "mouse" rpgm users haha, the "character"/indicator on the "map"/menu was working a bit funny in tandem with the name display :D

 Great job, this was really fun to play. Loved it!

EXTRADIMENSIONAL TOURNAMENT ARC!!

Other than the combat being super confusing (I won but for the grace of God) I really enjoyed it for what it was.

A good implementation of cooldown system once you get the hang of it. I like the piece meal backstory of each character as you play through. Good set up for the epic final battle! My team killed god without even Reid needing to show off his op combo.

Roses are red

Cooldowns are bad

This game is good

It convinced me they've got their place in an ecosystem designed around them

A bit below what I expected. I'm... conflicted to be honest. Like, I had some fun playing it.
Premise is great, love what you presented as the story, seeing all these characters fight for their own reasons, but even then it could've been more brief, I clocked at more than an hour despite how quick battles were, and the final payoff could have been better, so I can't rank it 5 in story.

As for combat, except for Therese whose game plan required me to understand the opponent and was actually really cool, and Oldhar which could buff its defense twice per turn, everyone else's META was different levels of Use Attack, then End. To the point Tefka had no impact because I killed her before Lucius and Reid got a turn. Heals and Dodges were very underpowered, maybe because you wanted them to be symmetric. I'm very curious to see this battle system expanded but alas, I have to judge your balancing as well.

It would be fine if battles were attractive but the lack of any animations, even RTP defaults, saddened me more than the occasional "Reid instakill combo" situation, so the only tad of flavor i could capture from combat were skill names (which were pretty cool, I wanted to see them in action so much). Lack of feedback also made many of the enemies' skills feel pointless because you can't deduce Low Morale's effect before playing as Therese and it was hard to notice Brave reducing Oldhar's cooldown that flashes on screen once every two seconds.

I see what this game could be, it's just not in front of me, and that makes me sad. Can't rank it too low because I wasn't not invested but the lack of balancing killed the payoff.

Overall: It was a good little jam entry, short, sweet and had options at the start, which is nice. I only played Harold but I might go back and try the others.
Gameplay: I liked the novelty of the fight system, but I had the victory strategy figured out quickly and then it just became "Press buttons until next section of the game" kind of fight. Not bad, but I wish there was more strategy.
Music: It fit the vibe fine.

Story: I also fit the vibe fine.

Graphics. They did the job and set up a well defined place to fight. They didn't have to do more than that, so they fit well.

Comedy:  I think you know how you scored here, and that makes me wish that comedy it's self wasn't a category. Maybe we should be asked to score a game based on how strong it vibes with it's own theme or something.  But that's just a thought.

I liked it for what it was. Short, simple and it worked front to back!

Got to playtest pretty much the final build of this so I'll copypaste my feedback from there. Will rate once I'm through my queue.

Overall: Addictive is the word of the day. It's hard not to get lost in the story and the gameplay stays engaging with the different characters' playstyles. Wrap it all up in an 8-bit bow and you have a certified Sawyer classic. Thanks for sucking up two hours of my dev time.

Gameplay: There's a lot of moving parts that form a classic Sawyer battle system here. Harold is simple enough to be a tutorial without any handholding, while characters like Therese and Lucius are more strategic and really play into the cooldown concept. Unfortunately did suffer from a few quirks such as characters becoming flowcharty and even overpowered in the case of Reid.

Music: While the mostly 8-bit music in the RTP setting is still a bit of a thorn in my side, it's still a great original soundtrack with some of your most adventurous music. Loved hearing the different tones you captured while retaining your classic Sawyer style. Bonus points for Ralph's battle theme using two songs I wrote as leitmotifs!

Story: Loved the way it slowly built up. Wasn't crazy invested on the first route but it is a slow burn that really gets cooking. I love how you get little peeks into each playable character's sub-story that gain full context once you play their route. The ending was unbelievably satisfying too.

Graphics: It's RTP. Few custom fonts and windows but not much else.

Comedy: Tone was serious but you found some nice ways to lighten it up. I'd feel bad giving this category a 2.

Very interesting battle system, actually wouldn't mind to see a more full-fledged combat system around cooldowns like this :P

Story was interesting, too bad I don't know all the references either XD

Great music.

Finished the whole thing just to see how the story played out. Therese as both a character and as an opponent was the only one that really required any strategy–the rest were just same-rotation kills. Also, not sure if you meant for Reid to be able to single-turn kill literally everybody, but he can! :D

The final boss also bugged out and kept going when I one-turn killed it–it healed itself for 2 hp, then when I killed it again the second turn, then the scripty bits took over as expected.

Was fun overall, nice job!

Very nice.  Obligatory Tournament Arcs are truly obligatory.  5/5

I enjoyed this entry! I love the replayability and the different experiences each character provides. Having cooldowns as resources was also a very unique touch. Lucius' variant was very funny xD There seems to be a one-shot way to win using Reid, so I'm unsure if that was intentional. :O Overall I love the intriguing plot and the variants were very fun in their way.

PS: There seems to be a bug in the select screen. I'm not sure. But when a certain char gets unlocked, his sprite below doesn't show up when you highlight his face, but it shows up when I highlight below him. Also, I saw Ralph and Eric but they were un selectable! (This was after fighting the final battle).