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Life -A- Live's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| People's Choice | #19 | 4.036 | 4.036 |
Ranked from 28 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Life-A-Live
by Berry B
Hey there Berry, thanks for submitting a project to the 2022 IGMC. I was asked to judge your game in round three of the IGMC 2022 game jam. Here's some feedback about your project.
Nice music selection, the title screen has a very melancholy tone with simple but cute menu artwork.
The combat system was interesting and odd. Mechanically it's a simple input memorization test. Much like Simon Says.
I'm not exactly sure what is happening in the combat but it seems like you're healing them instead of damaging them which is pretty neat.
I like the use of blur and perspective given on some of the images for example the giant sunflower with the sparkles coming off of it after the first battle.
I was using the controller until I was unable to, then I had to switch to the keyboard when the combat system memorization mechanics requires I input specific numbers.
A good suggestion would be to tie all of that to buttons on the controller in future versions(or games). That way someone who wants to use a controller to play is able to.
The combat system itself isn't really that engaging as I don't find memorization puzzles to be that fun personally, but I do appreciate the amount of artwork and sequencing that went into all of these battles.
The music from stage 1-3 felt sinister and fits better with the combat scene. However, the melancholy emotional piano piece, while is pretty and feel-provoking doesn't quite fit to me for the battle scene. I was left a little confused with a lack of any real context. It made it hard to get a idea of what was going on. I suppose the intentions are to let the user write their own story, which is not a bad approach, but it can be hit or miss.
I guess it's a story about friends saving each other? I really didn't understand the story, but I felt like you took me on a ride, and that was pretty cool.
I like the attempt at telling a story with no words. Inevitably while some people may imagine a wonderful story from the artwork that you've provided them, some will not. This is a very challenging method of story writing and I applaud your efforts.
There were a couple of areas that felt incomplete like the extra buttons in battle that did nothing for example.
Congratulations on making it to round three in the IGMC 2022 and well done. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing your future projects.
-Drifty
Thank you for playing and giving your critical feedback. I will try to do better, if possible. If not, then I'm glad you took the time out of your day as the judge to critique this game.
My thoughts while playing the game.
+ = I liked it
- = I didn't like it
* = Neutral/suggestion
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+ Beautiful title screen. I love how the background is animated and the options are arranged nicely.
+ Lovely art, as always
+ No text; the story is told entirely in pictures. Fascinating.
+ The battles are even a simple "Simon Says" game. Creative!
+ You don't kill enemies; you transform them into "good" creatures. Cool!
+ Huh, so the battle commands can be literally any combination of keys on the keyboard, whether they're directions, numbers, etc.
+ Later discovered it's limited to just arrows and 1-4, which makes it manageable
+ No on-map movement and no text makes this a very VISUAL novel. I still think it's cool.
+ In fact, no on-map movement means the plot keeps moving instead of having to figure out where to go and potentially getting stuck or confused.
- This looks like a stage select screen, but pressing a number key doesn't seem to do anything, and pressing the arrows didn't seem to do anything either. How do I navigate it?
+ At least you did add menu tooltips that indicate how to open the menu so I can save the game and adjust audio options if I wanted.
+ I noticed that the battle backgrounds scroll. That's pretty cool. Especially since they aren't too distracting. I guess they make up for the fact that the battlers are static; it adds motion that would otherwise be missing.
+ Also, they're not TOO busy, so they don't distract from the action that I'm trying to see and pay attention to.
* I see 2 icons at the bottom center of the battle UI; what do they mean?
+ Oh NOW I can choose a different stage with the number keys
* The game is so linear and I can't tell what the advantage of doing the stages in a different order would be, so I don't see the point in having the stage select.
- The last boss seems to be hard for the wrong reasons
+ Cool little epilogue at the end
+ I haven't remarked much on it, but the music fits the mood of the game well
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Summary
This is a simple game with some creative mechanical concepts and beautiful art. The final battle served to highlight the problems with the system, but overall I think this is an impressive entry. Nice job, Berry!
Thank you for your feedback. I will cover a lot of the negative points and a few of the neutral points based on what is provided and give you my thought process on why it ended up the way it did. Granted, I will try to make improvements for next time and take your feedback into account.
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+ Beautiful title screen. I love how the background is animated and the options are arranged nicely.
+ Lovely art, as always
+ No text; the story is told entirely in pictures. Fascinating.
+ The battles are even a simple "Simon Says" game. Creative!
+ You don't kill enemies; you transform them into "good" creatures. Cool!
+ Huh, so the battle commands can be literally any combination of keys on the keyboard, whether they're directions, numbers, etc. + Later discovered it's limited to just arrows and 1-4, which makes it manageable
+ No on-map movement and no text makes this a very VISUAL novel. I still think it's cool.
+ In fact, no on-map movement means the plot keeps moving instead of having to figure out where to go and potentially getting stuck or confused.
I am thankful you were enjoying the visual aspects of the game and the unique aspects of it all.
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- This looks like a stage select screen, but pressing a number key doesn't seem to do anything, and pressing the arrows didn't seem to do anything either. How do I navigate it?
+ Oh NOW I can choose a different stage with the number keys
* The game is so linear and I can't tell what the advantage of doing the stages in a different order would be, so I don't see the point in having the stage select.
I'm going to cover this in 1 section since they correlate to the same issue. Namely that I wanted at least some semblance of free choice instead of keeping it linear. It also helps to teach the player to use the 1,2,3,4 keys to choose. And while the order can be done in different order, each flower can represent recovering the memories of one of the characters, order be irrelevant. Though that being said, I can see why you would think it be arbitrary than meaningful. Duly noted.
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+ At least you did add menu tooltips that indicate how to open the menu so I can save the game and adjust audio options if I wanted.
+ I noticed that the battle backgrounds scroll. That's pretty cool. Especially since they aren't too distracting. I guess they make up for the fact that the battlers are static; it adds motion that would otherwise be missing. + Also, they're not TOO busy, so they don't distract from the action that I'm trying to see and pay attention to.
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Little UI stuff like that is something I like to put for convenience sake.
Its all I can do with the time I have, as the only artist and with the pressure of time, I had to cut down on a lot of things including animations and the like. So the best compromise I can do is the scrolling battlebacks.
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* I see 2 icons at the bottom center of the battle UI; what do they mean?
That was supposed to be a mechanic to spice up the gameplay a little more by having abilities that allow heal actions and reduce speed of the simon says timing. But time constraints had to halt all those because I don't want to risk any bug breaking issues. An excuse yes but it would be nice if I could implement that mechanic someday.
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- The last boss seems to be hard for the wrong reasons
I apologize that the last boss is a bit tough and unfair for you. I will admit that the game does get very hard at that point and I didn't have all the time to iron out all the kinks and details. There was supposed to be an ability to undo and reset at the cost of using an ability for the characters but again I don't want to risk breaking anything. Though it would have been an easy fix. And I will admit that the damage does get brutal at points. My apologies if the final boss is a detriment to the experience. I will attempt to be better (hopefully) if I ever make a boss structured simon says like this.
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Summary
This is a simple game with some creative mechanical concepts and beautiful art. The final battle served to highlight the problems with the system, but overall I think this is an impressive entry. Nice job, Berry!
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Thank you very much for playing, I will admit it was rough at the end but I was able to create an impressive entry for you to enjoy. After the last game you've reviewed, I was worried you would be disappointed with this entry too. Glad to see my worries were unfounded.
You really got a talent for non-verbal emotional storytelling. I really don't know how you do it. I enjoyed the gameplay and the length. I do kind of crave a Berry-difficulty 8 bit memory challenge, but for the jam I really think it was perfect.
One thing I noticed was that if I thought I knew the pattern and pressed the buttons very quickly, there would be a slight delay in registering. It only messed me up one time, but if it were possible, instant feedback with no delay would have felt good to me.
Had a lot of fun with this one and I really like that heart guy. He's like my favorite character this jam. Would like to see more of him.
Yeah. The registry of the input does delay a bit to prevent accidentally overclicking it twice. But I can see why it can be a bit of a delayed response and would throw some players off.
I am a huge fan of the love aura knight and glad to see you enjoyed him as well. I'm certain if I ever make a continuation to this, you'll be seeing more of his adventures. :D
Thank you for playing.
Very impressive game made by Berry! All the art in here is very beautifully well done and the fact that you got all of it done in such a short time is impressive! Despite there being no words, I understood the story and it's very good and engaging all the way through! The music played a big part in it being so emotional so well done on that end! The gameplay is really simple as well with it being just simon says however, I felt as if there were stakes which made it really interesting especially for the final stage. Once again despite the wordlessness, I perfectly understood what to do! I liked as you get further in each level you start to rejuvinate the enemy more and more! If I were to make one small nitpick though, I didn't really know how to activate my powerups (if those are what the icons were supposed to be, then if they're not then I'm wrong). Overall though, I liked this game a whole, whole lot! You should be proud of yourself Berry!
Thank you for playing the game. Admittedly, this nitpick of the icons at the center is caused by a lack of time. I wanted to implement that sort of powerup, but time constraints stopped me from going further. This sort of thing is up for consideration in the future, so I appreciate your point.
So its mostly placed there to display the party members in the game and to prevent empty space in the center. But I can see how you would misled it for powerup effect buttons.
Once again, much obliged for your input on the matter.
Oh, I had the same reaction to the icons! I thought maybe they were something I could click on for a cool effect. It did occur to me that it probably just signified my party after clicking didn't do anything, and the keyboard inputs didn't really lend themselves to some on screen buttons so it made sense after a moment.
As always Berry... you never cease to impress me! The spider game from touch the stars jam was the first time I had seen your work. Just like you showed me something I didn't think was possible in the engine at that time, you've done it again.
This is a solid entry. You should be proud. :D
Ahaha... I think you're referring to ESPider, not me. That Berry Spider game (the winner of TTS Jam) does have my user name on it yes but its not related.
Either way, thank you for playing. I appreciate the gesture. While something new isn't exactly accurate since the Mithos Cup Noodles ( and a couple jam games) actually had the same trajectory of gameplay as my game, mine does have more cinematic approach to it. So yeah. I appreciate it.
Oh haha! You are right I just checked it!! You did the bullet hell style game! Now I'm embarrassed haha!
Absolutely beautiful game -- I can only imagine how much time all of this took to draw! -- with fantastic narrative elements. You tell a full, and emotional, story. Very well-done entry~
Thank you for playing the game. I appreciate the fact that you were able to gleam an emotional resonance out of the experience. Humbled for the response.
Congratulations for making this game! I can’t wait to see more of you in the future! Liked the balance of story with wonderful images and interactive gameplay not so hard but not so easy. I’ll surely take inspiration from this in my game dev journey! :)
Thank you very much. I'm glad you find the difficulty decently paced. I have been around in the jam scene for a long time but this is the first time I joined something big like this. I highly doubt I'll hit the high highs of the top popular entries, but I do my best. Humbled to see you being inspired by my entry.
beautiful, the game is extremely simple, still I simply LOVED the music and the aestetics
Thank you for playing, I appreciate that you enjoyed the music and aesthetics.
Thank you very much for playing the game, I am surprised that my entry was able to evoke such strong emotions despite some entries (from what I've played) capable of drawing that same resonance. Either way, I'm humbled that you were able to enjoy the experience.
Beautiful work! I recorded first impressions playing if you want more comments: https://youtu.be/nan4TdbjLNY?t=1936
Thank you for playing. I suppose the whole image scenes does seem a bit confusing to those who can't interpret the images as it goes along so I don't blame you for not understanding the whole prospect of the plot. It is a very open to interpretation kind of thing that requires critical thinking to know the meaning behind the plot threads.
Glad to see you enjoyed it overall. Appreciate the positive gestures with the mechanics and the aesthetics.
Really great game, love the aesthetic, the story, everything. This unique concept battle mechanic is very fun. This game is beautiful, I'am glad to playing this game. Simply perfect <3
Thank you for playing, unique is a bit of an over exaggeration since there's another entry in IGMC with the same mechanics as mine, but I'm glad you find it fun regardless.
That's a very sweet game! I always appreciate when someone tries to do something different with the tool and you nailed it. Love the way you tell the story with only pictures and I really like the final part of the boss fight, I didn't expect that! :D
Thank you very much for playing the game. Its an honor to have my game being played by you. I put in quite a hefty amount of effort while making sure to keep it easy and short enough for everyone to play. So much obliged. Glad to see you like the final boss.
Nice Simon-esque rhythm game style battle engine. Great screen transitions and direction to the art and cutscenes. It's very cohesive as a whole, and I was impressed by the narrative story telling without any text. I can tell you put a lot of time and thought into the art and how it was framed in sequence and on-screen.
Thank you very much for your input. I'm glad you enjoyed the narrative visual storytelling aspect of the game. And I appreciate that. I'm no super professional artist but I'm glad you would note the effort done.
Loved the custom art. You used the show pictures really well to tell a story without dialogue. The combat is simple and works well - nice contrast of turning everything dark and glooming into happy hearts and flowers. My only very minor critique is to tone down the flashing screen effects... maybe my eyes are too spoilt by using everything in dark mode XD.
Well done! Loved this entry!
Thank you for playing. I will admit I was overzealous with flash effects but I find difficult ways of conveying the intended effects without it. I would tone it down for any future entries tho.
I appreciate the fact that you took the time to play this.
I see you also submitted to this IGMC after the Harold Jam. I tried but couldn't come up with any good ideas. If this returns next year I am going to try to get a game in.
Anyway, this game was short and sweet. You did an excellent job incorporating the theme of the jam. It was delivered in such a way no words were needed. It reminded me why I started to take a liking to your games.
The only critique I could give is the heads of the humanoid characters are a little too big. (They would be roughly 7 1/2 to 8 heads tall if they are adults or teenagers.) Other than that you hit it out of the park with this one and I hope you rank high for this game.
I kinda have to give you credit since you're an artist by trade, I will admit that the heads are a bit big. But it takes almost a few hours drawing all this and trying to fix the size of the heads are a bit of a chore. I did try to screen all the pictures but I guess some slipped by.
I would say that its a more stylistic choice to have the character's heads be a bit big but that'd be more of an excuse than anything. Regardless, I appreciate that you enjoyed my projects and enjoyed the overall narrative visuals it has to offer.
Thank you for playing.
In battle and sprites, the stylization is almost necessary since you don't want to lose detail. The critique is applied to the illustrations of the characters, although making all those drawings to tell the story is an accomplishment on its own.
The numbers of adult anatomy are ingrained in my brain, other age groups I still have to look up though. I am more of hybrid of storyteller and artist by trade because I highlight those elements in my own games.
Anyway, look forward to any future games you may put out.
Lovely, cute and heartwarming story, told without dialogue. Battle system is interesting and fun, but only gets tricky at the very end (and then my old eyes could barely keep up lol). Custom graphics do a great job of conveying everything. Great job!
Thank you for playing the game. I apologize if the last stage is straining on your ocular vision. I'll admit that it would be tough to make it harder than just make it slightly faster. But yeah.
It's a side effect of my old age I'm sure. :)
I super enjoyed this entry and it really shows Berry's mastery with emotional stories without the need for words 😍 The battle system is a unique memory input butto system and is actually quite engaging. The arts and sprites are still as pretty. Overall, this game left me feeling joy so great job Berry! ❤️👍
Humbled with your response Star, thank you very much for playing the game.