Play game
Harold Jam: Davina the Lazy Knight's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #22 | 1.778 | 1.778 |
| Graphics | #24 | 1.889 | 1.889 |
| Music | #24 | 1.944 | 1.944 |
| Story | #25 | 1.778 | 1.778 |
| Overall | #25 | 1.833 | 1.833 |
| Comedy | #25 | 1.667 | 1.667 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Seem the real lazy was all the devs we met along the way :P (I know I had a problem being lazy this jam when I should've been deving XD)
Anyways, I suppose I'll just say a few thoughts even if it echoes others. Definitely would have liked to have more of the story told through the game. Making the default attack hit all enemies was an interesting choice, but it seemed to be more effective then the TP skill that does the same, so I simply stuck to the default attack when going against multiple enemies. At some point the battle started to feel tedious, esp with the lack of narrative to underpin the reason anything is happening.
Davina the Lazy Knight appears to be the developer's first foray into RPG Maker and it's evident that they are in the process of learning the engine and getting their feet wet. For a first effort, this game shows a lot of promise and enthusiasm, and it's commendable that they took the initiative to create and submit a game for the Harold Game Jam.
The mechanics, graphics, and music are all default RPG Maker assets, which is to be expected for a beginner project. Despite this, the developer has managed to put together a cohesive and functional game. The default assets are used effectively to create a classic RPG experience, and the story of Davina the Lazy Knight offers a charming and humorous premise, although it would probably benefit from a text scroll at the beginning to set the narrative.
While the game doesn't break new ground in terms of innovation or customization, it serves as a solid foundation for the developer to build upon. Creating a complete game is a significant achievement and it's clear that the developer has the potential to grow and refine their skills.
In conclusion, "Davina the Lazy Knight" is a commendable first effort. The developer has demonstrated the ability to create a complete and functional game, which is a crucial first step in learning any new game engine. I encourage them to keep working on their craft and experimenting with new mechanics in future projects.
Not the funnest, but it was nice to see Harold on an island at the end. Random battles were a chore, and there wasn't much to combat. Definitely needs some more time invested.
Overall: Either Shendoah is new to RM and can only go up from here, OR Davina isn't the only lazy one. I hope it's the former. Either way, fairly inoffensive.
Gameplay: [AoE Basic Attack], [Generator Dungeons], [Permanent HP Regen], [Burn TP for LESS Damage]
Music+Graphics: It's RTP. Not a bad thing, but it's not really going to stand out on just that.
Story: Not explained in game, not very well integrated.
Comedy: This didn't feel like it was going for comedy.
Fairly barebones in terms of story and gameplay. Hopefully it was a useful learning experience, and can create a better game next time with more effective and proactive planning and development!
It was certainly a game.
Overall: A pretty basic but otherwise harmless entry. Straightforward and easy to understand which is a good foundation.
Gameplay: Mashing normal/TP attacks against random encounters who pose very little harm to you didn't do much for me honestly. The Knight fight did push me to my limit though. Enemies also seemed to miss attacks way more than usual which was frustrating.
Music: RTP.
Story: While the story is written out in the game description, it doesn't feel as integrated into the game itself. You just kinda start in this dungeon and navigate it twice.
Graphics: RTP.
Comedy: Not a ton to speak of.
This was a DNF for me.
I won't rehash what others have said because I agree with most of it.
I can tell you were using this game as a learning tool and that's fantastic! I can also tell you had no idea where to start with making RPGmaker games, so I'll give you a starting strategy: Make a character you like, watch RPG maker videos on youtube, practice RPG maker with that character and have FUN!
A character you can have FUN with will always make you want to give that character a more interesting world to explore, and more interesting fights.
A character you love and gives you fun will fuel you and your creativity while you are learning how to make mechanics and balance things.
I hope that helps!
I want to see your next project for sure! I'd love to see how you grow from here. ^_^
Yeah I was consciously creating Davina with that in mind.
I actually enjoyed this game more than I thought I would from the other reviews.
I want to preface the rest of the review with that because I'm gonna now talk in quite a lot of depth about what I did and didn't like, and while there's a lot here that I did like I think there's a couple things in this game which are borderline inexcusable.
So, I enjoyed the combat - even if the way TP worked meant that it was very prescriptive and essentially implemented cooldowns. There is never a need to use "slash" because by the time you're on the wolfman floor you are only fighting single targets for the rest of the game.
I also enjoyed the repetitious nature of the dungeon and thought it was clever that you changed up the visuals to indicate process - even if I'd have apprecaited a single on-map mechanic to differentiate the two loops. I thought that had conceptual legs, even if you didn't go all-in on it to make this concept work, it has a neat little 60 Second Hero vibe to it that could be clever if expanded out to a full game.
I also enjoyed how unpretentious it was. You fought bats, goblins, wolfmen, then a knight, then the game ends. Cool. Done.
What I didn't like though I think is what's going to be useful to you in terms of feedback:
I guess if I had to sum it up I'd say: Look at who you want your audience to be and design something for them. Right now you have the building blocks of a very basic, inside-the-lines, normal RPG. For those of us who like that, fine - but I'd have been just as entertained by someone combining the default RPG maker maps into a game and saying "here you go, content you enjoy" and just playing that instead.
The game needed a hook, or a reason to want to continue playing - and if the game had not finished where it did I may well have put it down never to pick it back up.
2/5 - I like this kind of thing, but I don't know many other people who would. Kinda carried from being 1/5 by the standard RPG-maker combat, which I am known to enjoy.
I realized halfway through yesterday that I don't know a damn thing about rpgmaker and I'm basically starting from zero (just like Michael Kaiser), so your feedback is well appreciated and recieved.
For what it's worth, I knew I messed up on the plot thing, that's why I put it on the game's page itself, which is still shoddy of me but if you were curious about any context.
"I don't know who I am... I don't know why I'm here. All I know is that I must kill."
Yep, above sentence summarizes this game.
Yeah, I was really crunched and left out the blurb that I left on the project page instead.
This was a somewhat rough entry to get through! Lots of mazes, no real explanation for the story until the very end, random encounters galore, and a bit of a lack in strategic depth. I've certainly played worse entries, but there's a lot that can be learned from here, so I'd like to leave a bit of constructive feedback on where you could improve going forward if you don't mind!
1. I think it'd be great if the story was presented throughout the whole game, and used as an avenue to explore the protagonist a bit more. Davina's presumed vice based on the title and ending is laziness, but that wasn't conveyed at all in the story; I think some dialogue and good stage blocking, as well as better characterization in the gameplay, could really improve that aspect!
2. The dungeon design could use a lot of work! This sort of dungeon hasn't really been treated as acceptable since the 80s, and we can certainly do better in 2024! My recommendation is to study up on dungeon design a bit; if I recall correctly, you've been playing RPGs for a very long time! Take a look at some of your favourite games and try to break down what you like and dislike about their dungeons!
3. The combat was a bit uninspired, although it was on the cusp of having depth. A bit of thought went into enemy design, with insects sucking your blood and trees healing themselves, but there was little for me to really play around here; no active healing abilities, nothing to defend against strong attacks, so it became a game of merely attacking and using my single target skill if I have the TP. Try to break down battles as an open ended puzzle: what is the "obstacle" of a fight, and what tools does the player have to interact with that encounter?
Definitely keep working on this stuff! RPG design can be difficult, but it's super fun if you know how to research and learn!