Oh, the story is not that bad for the demo, honestly! But voice acting is...
Looking forward to the complete project!
Some things might not be to your taste, and that's fine! But comments like this are hurtful to real people working very hard to make these games, all for free from out of sheer passion.
Please consider reframing your comments in a kinder way in future, or expressing something in a constructive manner rather than just saying it's 'bad'.
As one of the said 'voice actors', I'm just a humble silly editor with a mic who just happened to be the duck, but the rest of the cast are dedicated talent who are in tons of things, are always honing their craft, and I think deserve some consideration in this matter ❤️
If there is something about story that isn't to your personal tastes, that's also cool! But again, such comments aren't particularly helpful or encouraging. I know many of us are open to constructive feedback when framed properly, but 'not too bad' is something we can't really work with.
All the writers and the director of this project worked super hard on bringing something comedic, light-hearted and engaging, I personally have no doubts the full game will live up to expectations!
Fine.
First off, voice acting. There's a LOT of mismatch between the audio and lines. Sometimes, even the voice tracks are distorted or have unnecessary gaps.
Pro-o-obably the earliest example is with Fern, in the dungeon; when they repeatedly mutter "Come on, come on" OK, the audio is off 1 second from the lines. Which is already terrible, giving the tense mood of situation, nobody is going to stop to wait on two words right middle in the action. But! It's getting worse; Robyn actually said THREE times "come on," and it wasn't included in the script. Why?! This could've help the situation a bit... (And it seems like a trend, A LOT of what the characters talk about slightly different from what their voice actors actually express)
The next, bugging me, line is also from Fern. Or Robyn MJ McConnel, whatever. Little bit forward from the previous one, it's when they say "no--" in desperation. So, not only it has the same issue with the "Come on" now, but the beginning has been distorted. The sound resembling stridor or a hiccup >={. Weird... And what's up with hyphens? They don't get interrupted. At least the voice acting doesn't suggest that.
However, there's a LOT of issues. Script doesn't include character's scoffs and grumbles when voice actors express them. Then, for specific occasions, it was done?! Writers, make up your minds! Jeez...
Again, about Fern. I don't like that their scream was done quieter compared to literally everyone else's voice. It's just unnatural. You could've at least put it on the same level as the others if being squirmish about bleeding ears.
And it's just several things about voice acting vs. writing.
I made my corrections to your game below; let's hope that Itch.io would put it side to side and not randomly... >=-L
I can't even put them in here... Okay, I'll just share through files.Here's what I would hope to see in the future ...
1. https://www.mediafire.com/file/s60ga2c7hpfbynz/bandicam_2024-08-01_00-56-08-815....
2 https://www.mediafire.com/file/uf2m28jt2a6w0pw/bandicam_2024-08-01_00-56-49-763....
For comparison...
2. https://www.mediafire.com/file/lnq40cbxj9sqifl/bandicam_2024-08-01_00-58-48-244....
1. https://www.mediafire.com/file/6gw7jwgdxfdt196/bandicam_2024-08-01_01-00-27-162....
Second thing, writing. If we close eyes on the whole voice acting thing, it is good-ish? I'll be straight to you, I've got access to the whole script. Didn't expect but I enjoyed it! The ending wasn't so much enjoyable though... Felt like all this hard work wasn't worth it? Kinda dumb, and instead of the whole "comedy" effect it was just mere disappointment! And small dosage of irritation. Glad knowing that at least wording of the decision is to be or not to be in final cut. Hmm... Well, up to you. Do not screw this up.
Third, visuals. This game caught my eye because of Total Drama style. But poorly designed.
Strokes of Fern are inconsistent when they compared to one another.
All of them stand (or at least Pixie's face) in 3/4 view. Except Duck, Broom and Peregrine. Out of all three, (or even the whole cast) Peregrine is REALLY stands out from the characters, it's sickening to see. Why couldn't Mary or Lulu draw him in 3/4??? He just feels like a poster at some moments.
I'm just glad his ox got the side view, urgh... Blessing to my eyes.
Background is really inconsistent too. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. Noticed the artists have a really good grip writing the nature, so I'm really curious what next set of foresty illustrations would be.
UI is nice.
But also, hope you'd add stubbles, beards, different types of body shapes, scars, eyebags, new hair, etc. at some point or another.
Because this type of customization currently sucks...
Thank you for playing LotW and I appreciate you taking the time to write such a thorough review. I will keep your feedback in mind for the future though I can't promise I'll act on all of it considering it's an unpaid project and that I'm currently soloing all of the coding.
Above all, I'm sorry it's not up to your standards and that it was not an enjoyable experience. That's never what we intend as devs.