I was one of the official judges this year, and now that the results have been made public, and I'm free to do so, here is my score and thoughts on this title:

Overall score: 10

Absolutely charming entry, and probably the best I've played so far. Excellent art assets, wonderful maps, and very interesting and engaging story. Even with just one character talking to themselves for most of it, it was still a good story presented in a good way. Would've liked some more indication of collectables, but still a stellar game.

Hey there Ronove, I got your game for judging so here are some of my thoughts. The lovely artstyle you chose caught my attention right away, and set the mood for the entire game. The story itself was told well and gave enough clues for the player without totally spelling things out for them, though I do wish there were more flashbacks to show the necromancer's experiences with the skeletons instead of just being told about it. I wish there were more chances to affect the story besides when talking to the water nymph, since I picked up on the relationship issues quickly and wanted to get our poor boy someone safe as soon as possible! But I understand that with the contest deadline you needed to keep things streamlined to make sure it all worked well.

I did have a problem finding the cryptic notes, they were too well hidden! Maybe it was because I wanted to finish the game before time was up, but I only found the 'don't go to sleep' note in the library even though I was trying to interact with anything that caught my eye. While having them shine or sparkle would make finding them too easy, it would have been nice if there was something a bit more obvious. After playing I saw your reply that mentioned the hidden notes on trees, and I would never have spotted that! There was just so much other pretty stuff to look at on the maps and the one tree I tried interacting with did nothing, so my eyes skipped right over that. Maybe clues like spilled ink in the castle or a knife in/against the carved trees would have made spotting it easier.

Overall, the love and care you put into this short game is obvious, and I enjoyed the time I spent with it. Great job!

Well…Life Eternal!

I’ll start with something someone never said…maybe.

I loved the PDF inside! It was a little throwback in the past where you had an instruction manual when you bought a game.

…enough, let’s talk about the game.

Unfortunately I got the bad ending (because I like doing evil things in games) and I didn’t found like one note and one skeleton :( Yes…it’s a weird premise.

Graphics are really good and gorgeous. Music is really nice, especially when you are in the forest. The story is…well… is something kinda simple and classic, but done well. You created a little world for this story and it really shows the effort and passion you put on it.

I can only say one thing.

Sure, games like this are good, but on videogames you can show more of your character and world instead by only text. You got a whole medium, you can fight and maybe the character shows his kindness by not hurting anyone and healing, you shouldn’t make classic RPG battles. The skeletons in the forest are an example. Puzzles and minigames are a way to improve your gameplay and making players more engaging on it. The summary is…experiment more with this medium because you can do more instead just walking and telling a story. I really hope to see your future works and you will surely reach an high place, maybe even winning a prize.

Have a good day!

I'll be pretty upfront: I didn't really like this game. It felt a lot like a visual novel broken up by sections where I had to walk to areas and interact with glittering objects. Not that there's anything wrong with visual novels, they're quite a treat and Higurashi remains one of my favorite games of all time, but I'll admit I'm a simple man and when I jump into a game I generally would like to be able to affect things with my interactions with a world.
Learning that collecting the cryptic notes and checking the skeleton friends didn't affect anything in the long run really took the winds out of my sails, and the only real branch in the story being based on a choice at the very end felt...very anti-climactic.

I suppose if I had to sum up my thoughts of the story as a whole, it would be "anti-climactic". Without going into spoilers, the revelation that the Lord who fights off heroes is actually a bad person who does bad things isn't exactly a far reach to make. And given that the protagonist is apparently quite fond of him, that the ending hinges effectively on taking someone else's word for it and then moving on immediately afterwards feels very much like a rush to a climax. There's no rising action where he slowly comes to terms with what happens, no conflict where he has to second-guess himself, no verification of certain things, just "is that why this happens?" "yeah br0" "damn".

I don't want to seem like I'm just pounding the negative button endlessly, though. I was really impressed with this game right from the getgo. You've got a wonderful introduction that sets a dramatic, mysterious mood right away. The character being verbose would probably turn off a lot of other folks, but I love how much you could interact with and how much he could say about a lot of things. And kudos for making use of self-switches to have a long, wordy first-interaction and then a shorter follow-up on further interactions! The character portraits were also all extremely well-done, and everyone had unique designs, and your mapping game is absolutely on point; shit's gorgeous, is what I'm tryin' to say.

You've got a wonderful introduction, a cool world, some neat characters (I got very attached to the skeletons), and it just...felt like it all fell flat at the end. It felt like nothing I actually did from a mechanical standpoint really mattered.
I really, really don't want to seem like I'm just pounding the negative button. I was actually leaning back in my chair going "do I really want to post this? everyone else seems like they're having fun" earlier. So please feel free to completely disregard all of this.
But a game like this just ain't my cuppa joe, and I felt it'd be good to be honest as to why.

Still, thank you for your hard work. I'm eager to see what you make next, and I hope you continue writing stuff like this for a long, long time.

Perfect representation of a short but sweet game. I really loved the presentation and I could really vibe with the themes of the story. May our boy get a boyfriend that isn't a dirtbag.

A beautiful little game. I'll be the first to admit that the tone and setup wasn't really what I usually prefer, being more of a melancholy solo thing, but I still enjoyed it ok. Not my favorite, but I can definitely see people who enjoy this kind of tone loving this one.

The presentation was by far what stood out to me: there was a clear love and attention to it. The graphics and music matched very well, and even the title screen had care. 

(Ignore this part if I'm wrong!) If the theme was figuring out and leaving a toxic relationship, it was a very sweet message. I would have preferred to have a lot more context and scenes with the sorcerer, rather than only the mc's musings when inspecting stuff. I believe part of my resistance to engage with poking around was that there were only so many contextually "distinct" objects, and most were generic skeletons or furniture/destruction with little visual appeal. For example, if more skeletons in the forest had had little touches like tools or clothes or attention-catching setups I would have been compelled to check them out. That's just my take, though. 

The little reminder of what you got at the end was a cool touch for completionism! My resistance to check stuff after a while costed me dearly and I only left the place with two friends. It's okay, I'll find a bakery near a logging camp to settle down and find a new, better boyfriend XD

Overall this was a neat little thing to me, mostly because the tone is too melancholy to match my specific taste, but I encourage people who enjoy short melancholy stories to give it a try.

Let me start this off with, I love how the game was SHORT.  It still felt complete. 

There's not a whole lot to say of this. It was a pleasant short adventure game. It had a touching story to tell. The character portraits were nothing short of spectacular. The dialogue was well written.

The mapping was very well done. There were some personal quirks I have with it. I think there's a little too much clutter, stuff that stops you from moving. And I wish the flavor text objects were a little more obvious. Very very minor quirks.

I also think there's a little too much flavor text. Plenty of it added to the story quite well, still.

Walking around and examining objects isn't my cup of tea, but that's personal preference and I know a lot of people enjoy games like this. The story it did tell was meaningful and I believe had plenty of personal stuff etched here and there. 

Good job all around! I wish you the best of luck.

I got this game for judging in round 2 for the IGMC. Congrats on making it to round 2! 

I feel you have an interesting premise here. The game plays out more like an adventure game where you have to find the items to complete the quest. At the end there is a choice which decides the endings for you as well. 

Overall this was a nice short game. If I had to suggest anything its that I wanted the game to go longer, but that just shows how good it was. 

I really liked this game... The meaning behind it is deep, the graphic makes the situation sweet but bitter too.

I enjoied a lot this game even in its simple gameplay and short puzzle.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I liked both two endings, obviously they shows different sided based on the choice. 

The graphic was beautiful and well made in the endings too, the music helped a lot feeling the scene. Very beautiful, really. 

Like others in the comments section, I wished to explore more of the game, more rooms, look more around. 

I'm sad it was short, it was a wonderful game experience!

Finally got a chance to play this. Amazing pixel art and love the mapping. My only feedback is the white scene transfers were a little jarring, especially roaming through the forest quickly. Didn't effect my rating or anything, just thought I'd mention it. Good work!

Wow, what a wonderfully beautiful game! Definitely going to have to go back and find the other cryptic notes -- and to see what happens if I make a different choice at the end! 

Amazing work!

Very polished presentation. Everything is very cohesive from the sprites, character busts all the way to the UI and windows. Good job!

Aesthetically, Life Eternal is very beautiful! It was enough to see the screenshot that I know I had to play it. The mapping is perfect, it makes you want to explore the different areas in detail. *__*

The story is short and quite smooth, for my personal preference I would have tried to make the ending choice less obvious but I can understand why you did it, maybe you were afraid that some player didn't understand what to do to obtain them. 

Really, I think you did a really good job! Kudos! :)

A lovely short game.

The aesthetics of this game is a huge deal. Very very very good mapping, atmosphere, animated portraits. Everything in this game is visually beautiful. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but I think the gameplay needs a little more depth. I know it's supposed to be a narrative game, but since it's not a visual novel, I think this game should have something more to offer in terms of exploration. Maybe some puzzles? Dunno ^^

The story is fine. Maybe it's too short to get attached to the characters. However this is probably one of the strongest entries of this jam! Good job! :D

Finally played the thing. I thought I'd better write a short review of this marvelous game. 

I was impressed from the get-go by the graphic quality of, well, everything. But especially the talking portraits, the smoothness of the words in the textbox, and the overall look of the game. You did it smoothly and cleanly. The graphic aspect of the game is, to me, what stands out above everything. Well done.

The game itself is rather short, and for that I have to congratulate you. You did great given the circumstances of the contest your entry is for. You can actually get both endings within the 1 hour mark, which is perfect.

Gameplay-wise, Life Eternal is quite simple: look for the required items, and move forward with the story. No distractions. Unless, of course, you want to interact with all of your surroundings. Me as a player, I resulted more compelled by just being able to explore such beautiful areas accompanied by calming background music, rather than the fact of fulfilling quests. And that has a solid reason: this is a narrative game, created to tell a short story, rather than overcome challenges, obstacles or to progress in no other way than plot-wise. To me, it works amazingly.

I would change nothing from this game, except the length. I'd love to see more from this world, learn about who were the heroes, what is that town, who exactly is the Necromancer you're trying to revive, what are his sins, what are his feats. Something tells me it's unlikely, but I do hope you explore more of this world you created and seek to expand it in the future.

And if I were to provide some ideas to optimize the game, I'd only say maybe add some hover icons to tell the player what they can interact with. Not a big deal at all. It just would be handy.

I see your game as a potential winner. You have crafted a jewel right here.

P.S: I chose the second option when faced the decision. Perhaps I'll re-visit the game to obtain the first ending, for I ignore which one is the "true" ending.

Intriguing entry! I made a first impression video playing the start of this if you want to check it out: https://youtu.be/nan4TdbjLNY?t=2860

There's a great amount of polish, care and attention to detail in Life Eternal. Quite inspiring, to be honest. I enjoyed going at my own pace and poking around, seeing what would come next, and on that note... I'd definitely like it to continue. :)

I love the artstyle and music!! The story is good too, and the game overall has a lot of polish.