Alright, Virtual Fantasy RTP... I decided to make it among the last I play because of his reputation of it having a slow beginning which wasn't super appealing to me. But now, I've played it. So let's see what I have to say about it.
- Oof.
- Introduction too long before you get into action. Entire minutes just showing Joey being a manipulative dick and a threat to other people's lifes. And that's not a good thing. We don't need to be so insisting, this kind of character just infuriates me enough as it is. I don't need hundreds of scenes with him to understand that.
- I would have liked some kind of "launch sequence" when they're about to enter the game's world. And even explain what the game is all about.
- Why not speaking in full? NEVER write like that unless it's a part of the character.
- Nice idea for mimics to actually give players maluses before attacking. It really transform them into man hunter. Imagining mimics as these shapeshifting creatures to pray on humanoids for something to eat. That's pretty cool. Just maybe make the rewards for defeating the mimics more impactful? ^^
- You can skip the dragon fight by just going past it. Easiest exploit ever.
- What is that at the bottom of the screen whenever I load a safe file?
- There is a massive problem of balance for the last battle. The dragon is ridiculously strong. The only way to beat him is to use a chocolate you find a bit earlier in a golden chest. The problem is this item just makes you ridiculously overpowered. So you either rekt the dragon or get rekt by it, there is no in-between.
- Also beating the dragon unlocks you a lot of things relatively worthless now that you reached the end of the game and there is nothing else of interest to be done.
- People who play this game can at least say "I played the REAL corridor simulator game: Virtual Fantasy." The dungeon design is ridiculously simplistic. That barely qualifies as dungeon design. There is no choice to be made except for the chests (but what kind of player wouldn't open a chest), no branching paths, barely any challenge at all, it's just corridors. And maybe a few fights here and there.
And that's all I have to say. Very VERY lackluster game. It feels rushed with barely any thoughts put in the game design at all. If you intend to go further with it, I strongly suggest you to go back to the drawing board and ask you the right questions.
- Who are each characters?
- Does my characters make sense?
- How do they serve the story/gameplay?
- Is what I've done is enough to introduce a character?
- How long does it take to the player to actually play the game?
- What is this game my protagonists find themselves trapped in?
- What kind of virtual universe is it?
- How do they find themselves stuck in that virtual reality?
- How do they enter it in the first place? How does that work?
This list is non exhaustive, but this is the kind of question you should wonder while world/gamebuilding.
Good luck for your projects!
