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Satannia's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Judge's Choice | #3 | n/a | n/a |
| Story | #6 | 3.250 | 3.250 |
| Asset Usage | #7 | 3.083 | 3.083 |
| Theme | #9 | 3.083 | 3.083 |
| Gameplay | #10 | 2.583 | 2.583 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How did you follow the theme?
The story involves witch hunts, a classic satanic panic event. Plus some other more spoilery stuff.
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Comments
Things I liked:
Things I didn't like:
It's a nice start to a game and the polish in the visuals and audio shows, but there are some mechanical things that could be stronger. A fine entry overall.
Ok. I have some feelings on this one.
First of all, your general premise is pretty good. The story was the best part of this, but I'm not granting full stars for an ending I wasn't able to reach, and you'll see why in a second.
Your glaring flaw here is gameplay. The line of sight mechanic, the stealth, all of that? I did not enjoy it. It took forever to get through the game this way, and it was wholly unforgiving and I did not enjoy it. The only reason I did go the stealth route the whole time was the blatant, 'there will be consequences' and in my mind, a probable bad ending, or game over.
I strongly feel that the line of sight mechanic was very unforgiving and obnoxious to deal with at times. Timing was really tedious and I restarted many times trying to figure out how to get past this ONE person. Especially if the stealth is what you INTEND for the player to do. If the bad end is indeed overindulgence, then this needs refinement, maybe a way to get out of trouble without combat being mandatory.
And this is before we get into the fact that I had to negate that choice entirely at the end. I will give you points on the part of informing me that has to happen, but I have to dock points on the grounds that playing the game 'as intended' still railroaded me into having to get that ending I was avoiding.
This would still leave you somewhat in a more positive experience if the fact that important information about combat wasn't missing entirely. To my surprise, there was a whole mechanic based around upgrading skills that I do not recall being mentioned. I only remember a conversation about familiars.
The fact that I only found out about:
At the end of the game is why I'm rating this as low as I am for gameplay. I also got to presumably the last battle when I entered an endless death loop because I didn't have skills upgraded and couldn't out damage. There was also no apparent way to heal, so I couldn't win before getting curbstomped. Dead end with no healing and being stuck in this position isn't the best feeling.
I will iterate though that you had very strong story scenes and general story premise. The one time I didn't like something was the random whimsical music in the dark pit segment. That was by and large it for negatives. I'd grant you a full 5 stars if I was able to experience the ending and it held up, but because I could not make it due to gameplay reasons and loss of will to continue through the game, and with no apparent way to heal, the most I'm granting is 4.
The way I rate games is entirely based on first impressions and what things *are* and while flaws were communicated in advance, I don't overlook them in my reviews.
To compress all of my long thoughts into a TL:DR version:
You had a great story but the gameplay completely killed my mood for this game. If you went back and polished this after the jam, I'd consider playing that version and seeing how it stacks up. But it needs work as it is now.
Interesting information that I will parse for the future and keep it all in mind as I continue the gameplay side of the development. That's a bit out into the future so I am grateful for the thoughts.
But, I will note this: There is a heal spot right before the end because the gameplay balance arc is incomplete in this. I was aware of that and added that specifically for that reason. If you see this, I hope you can experience the ending as you expressed a desire to via that. You shouldn't need any of the upgrades to do so, to note, as I balanced it with that in mind.
Interesting gameplay and story, though I did wonder how challenging battles could be because I tried to avoid them as much as possible. Didn't finish it when I was playing, but I think I must've been close so I'll try to finish it later.
That's an interesting story about trans empowerment
This was just awesome. I know it was unfinished, but you did an amazing job. I think there was only one thing that did confuse me, but I'm pretty sure you're going to expand upon it if you keep on going with this game. I'd love to see it if you do! Overall, I can't think of a single thing in this that I didn't like. And you used the theme amazingly well, even as you dumped the concept of demons on its head. Very, VERY nicely done.
Also, I love how you get new party members. I took every one I could get, and managed to get one that I just adored. He pulled me through everything! Keep it up!