"Secret Santa" Review (don't read if you wish to avoid spoilers)!
So, I was paired up with this game to review, and the method in which I decided to do it is mostly "stream of consciousness", meaning I wrote down my thoughts in that moment of playing the game, and then at the end I gave my overall impression. Hopefully some of this information proves useful to you! And here it goes:
Very first impression: Holy hell is that a tiny game window! It has been a long time since I used VX or VX Ace, is that the normal resolution? That aside, I kind of wished the text in the beginning didn’t go by automatically so that I could take my time to read it. Same with the character introduction information.
Interior maps looks great – the fires in the Inn are especially cozy!
A fetch quest from the mayor?! NNNOOoooooooooo… If Zaheer needs help with something, why do I need to do a fetch quest for the Mayor at all? Can’t I just go find Zaheer myself?
The gem tutorial is sooooo tiny, nearly impossible to read. Also, I spent too long looking at how to equip a gem from the equip menu that I didn’t realize that the gems had their own menu!
Ok, out looking for wolves… kind of frustrating to be told I can’t go to the right for no apparent reason, especially since the right side meets up with the left side just a little bit further south. But, found some wolves on the left… I love the art for them! And… thankfully, I can beat them up without too much trouble!
I returned to the mayor thinking I had 5 wolf pelts, but alas only four… and then I accidently used a wolf pelt from the item screen to no apparent effect and only have 3! Trying to leave, the maid is standing directly where I need to go to leave! And now I literally cannot continue the game because the maid simply won’t unblock the door no matter how long I wait, and I waited for quite awhile.
I restarted the game because I am committed to trying to play it through. Apparently you can rest at the Inn regardless of seeing the mayor or not. I also noticed that the gems have no descriptions, so I am not entirely sure what they do.
Speaking with the mayor after returning with the pelts, I am beginning to wonder if there is an overall purpose to the ambiguity of the main character’s gender and why they keep it such a secret, as it seems that nobody else really cares if adventurers are male or female. There is also no reason revealed by the mayor as to why he sent me for wolf pelts. He has no use for them and tells me to sell them, so what was the point of that busy work? I rushed out of the mayor’s house as fast as I could just in case the maid decides to prevent me from ever leaving again and becoming the mayor’s eternal slave.
The bit of dialogue with the paladin is a bit strange since that is who you talk to pretty much right after leaving the mayor’s house, though I did talk to the blue haired guy and inn keeper too just in case. The main character is exasperated that s/he can’t find Zaheer and “talked to everyone in town and can’t find him” yet… I literally talked to only two people and I know Zaheer is most likely in the shop, as told by the mayor (which is then immediately confirmed).
I went to the shop and had the dialogue exchange with Zaheer and in the middle of it… everything is pretty much frozen. The characters are staring at the wall and I am unable to move or interact with anything. The game once more is unplayable. And thus ends the adventures of the androgynous Xen, not in glory, fame, and treasure, but a wall-staring contest.
The good: So, the story is light and easy-to-follow and interesting enough that I would like to play more of it. The mapping is nice, especially the interiors (and the snowy arch that you can pass under heading south of the town is badass), and I enjoyed the wolf graphics. The controls were good and it is nice that you didn’t needlessly disable running like some people do because they hate humanity. The custom art for the main characters is well done, and overall the dialogue/writing is good and grammatically correct which is often overlooked (much to the detriment of the enjoyment of those games that neglect grammar!)
What can be improved: I wish I could have seen more of the game, but I already restarted the game once due to being unable to escape the clutches of the mayor only to end up in a wall-staring contest with Zaheer and no way to advance further in the game. To me, these issues are the main ones that absolutely need to be worked out and might even serve as grounds for disqualification if the judges can’t advance beyond the first 5-10 minutes of gameplay; then again, other people might not have this issue and maybe I am just the lucky winner to experience them. Beyond that, better use of mapping in the area with the wolves – there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to go to the right, especially since both the right and left look like they go to the same place.
At any rate, I hope you give this game another pass and work out the kinks that make the game unable to be played beyond certain points! With a bit of polish and bug-fixing, this could be a pretty fun game! Keep up the great work!