I tried this 3 times, but I can't seem to figure it out. I haven't found any restoring items, so once all the MP is used up you can't fight anymore, but I can't escape battles either. I found the prison key, so I made a mad dash avoiding all the enemies one run to get there, but was discovered by the captain and couldn't defeat him. I'd give it another go, but knowing that the save menu is opened by random chance is hugely off putting. If I was unlucky, I'd never open it, and I'm not the kind of person who finds back tracking over lost data fun. I'd say 1/12 times I actually got an orb (not sure what they were supposed to be for,) and the rest I lost 50HP. I don't think this game is really for me anyway, but if there was some strategy that I'd missed, it might be helpful to have a walkthrough somewhere.
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Wow! Somebody has played it and posted a comment! First off, Thanks for playing it :)
I was thinking that a walkthrough might remove the fun from players discovering what they can do in the game but in reading your comment maybe a few extra help or an explanation of what players can do in game maybe helpful.
Maybe i'll add in a strategy guide or a mechanics explanation somewhere. I'll update once I've added a guide somewhere, please do play it again after when you have a chance. Thanks!
https://misterlouie.itch.io/default-fantasy/devlog/15680/mini-guide-spoilers
I forgot to mention it on the guide but ill mention it here as a reply to your feedback. You can escape the fights by pressing x. You can escape monsters but not the soldier and captain. Thanks again for playing!
I gave this another run for an hour, but I think it's too hard for me ^^' Flipping a switch, running around around and trying to see if any new solution has come up, failing and running back to the switch isn't really my idea of fun. The puzzles themselves are good, and solving something does feel rewarding, but there's a lot of layers to each puzzle and it's very easy to get stuck, so I really started to feel hopeless.
Your guide was useful though. Some people still might try and figure it out for themselves, but I think it's always good to have a crutch to fall back on to avoid that feeling of sheer hopelessness. I didn't figure out the switches before since I was looking for a boulder or object to push on, I didn't realise I could dash and catch it, so I got a lot further this time. (I also only realised escape was blocked for the solider and ended up assuming escape was blocked for all monsters which was dumb...)
There's an oversight where after rescuing Pi, the General's sprite disappears, but if you talk to the locked gate he's still there.
You've also quite a few passability errors. Some of these actually let you climb onto walls and cheat. Using that I managed to get into the green version of the shop, and into the room where the hammer was, but I couldn't leave so I guess you can't actually cheat that x).
It's sad to say that rpg maker games are a niche that most people do avoid. There's a lot of competitors, so with all of these new games released at the same time, it is pretty hard to actually stand out and get someone to look at your game. I think there's also a bias amongst a lot of developers and players against things that are 'default' since there's been a huge amount of rpg maker games released with little effort, so in a lot of cases, rtp just looks like it's going to be sloppy and not worth a play. Your game doesn't come into that though, it's clear you've put a lot of thought into organising the puzzles and mechanics, so all you can really do is keep pushing it. The internet is very hit and miss, but don't give up!
If you've got time, you should try signing up for the secret santa reviews. It's a really nice way to get and give feedback. I'm sure puzzle-y people will enjoy this game, it just needs to get to the right audience :)
Thanks Rhino! for giving it another try. And also for finding out some bugs. I do agree with you that RPG Maker games that uses default rtp is only looked over once by alot of people (devs/players alike), that's why its going to be a really hard challenge to have people look at a game that uses the default rtp. I can edit the assets up to a certain point but i'm not an artist so default ones that came with the engine is really great for me. my focus is on gameplay and I believe if you have a solid gameplay even with bad graphics your game will still be great. although visual appeal can't be denied.
Thanks a lot for the feedback, ill add the game into the secret santa list as you mentioned but I probably won't be touching the game anymore. I will look and fix for bugs, do some balances and re-release it by this month then move on to the next game that I will release next month. I will be doing a few games under the title of Default Fantasy with each focusing on different game mechanic and this was a great opportunity to start on it. :)