Secret Santa Review! Like with my other Secret Santa Reviews, I take notes as I play the game so you get a "real time" reaction to what I am experiencing with your game! Here it goes...
Tiny resolution! RPG Maker VX Ace has such ridiculously small resolution. Time to upgrade to MV!
Ok, no context in the beginning – just start off right in a room with no explanation of controls or anything – maybe that comes soon? Luckily the controls are not difficult.
Met my inferior doppleganger, Juha! Not sure what engaging Easy Mode does, so I am leaving that alone for now.
These stairs on the left don’t go anywhere! Back in 5th and 6th grade I went to school in a very old and creepy building that had stairs just like this!
I tried walking into the far-right room and some random person yelled gibberish at me.
Talked to Minerva, determined she was the random person yelling gibberish at me. She demands respect! Sorry Minerva, respect is earned, not given freely!
She asked me if Kaj explained everything to me, but I have no clue who Kaj is. I am going to go ahead and say No.
Oops… I tried walking out of the house without talking to who I assume was Kaj first… he immediately joined my party and I never got to talk to him. I guess I can say that I am ready then…?
Minerva tells me that the green roofed house is on fire, but no street address! I hope it is the only house with a green roof in the town! If this house was on fire the whole time that I have been bumbling around, I would have hoped the boss would have let me know about it!
Walking out of the house, I get scrolling text “For my dear Godson…” And that is it… was there supposed to be more? Or was it more like a dedication? (I realize this is a dedication now, after reading some info here). Also, the first thing I see when walking out of the house is… a house with a green roof! It is definitely not on fire, though. There are a couple of houses with green roofs, none are on fire.
Ahhhh found it, the house is on fire only on the inside! Sneaky fire! I humbly suggest maybe making smoke come out of the windows or something to let the player know the proper location of the fire. Since the game is aimed at a younger target audience, giving visual cues is vitally important.
Damnit Pavel! You are a terrible boy! At least he is self-chastising. The kid wants to help put out the fire he started. What could go wrong, having a minor pyromaniac join the firefighters?
Oh dang, I am literally battling the fire! I also just noticed that the fire on the beds is not animated.
Pavel just took a face full of smoke and instantly died. Well, I guess that is what he gets for starting the fire in the first place.
Ok I put out all the fire and… nada? No direction where to go from here. I guess I will go back to the firehouse?
Hah, Minerva just called me out for letting a child help put out the fire – good! Child labor laws are in place for a reason, and I just opened up the fire department to a possible lawsuit from the kid’s parents (especially since he DIED WHILE HELPING ME).
Why do I have to go introduce myself to everyone in town? I am the fireman, shouldn’t I already know these people? The real question is, why do I want to know them?! As the player, I really don't want to go talk to these people, but I guess I have to!
I went to Mette’s house and some lady is screaming French at me. Juho says “I cannot understand my sister’s language” – is this actually his sister? If so, why do they speak different languages?
And I randomly get a free rye bread from somewhere. I won’t (and apparently can’t) turn down free magical bread!
I just met the mayor! He also demands respect! Sorry buddy, like I told the boss lady, you gotta earn it first! Now he’s bragging about his wife and kids. I haven’t even met them yet, mister!
Met the wife, she also likes to brag about the kids.
Damn, the mayor’s son is definitely gifted! He plays a song on the piano that incorporates synthesized drums and horns!
In the mayor’s house I am seeing…6 beds, though only four people apparently live there, and only 3 meal place settings! Who is being shunned from supper? I am assuming the daughter since she is stubborn and the son is a wizard at the piano.
Went into the warehouse on the south-west side of town. It looks like you used table auto tiles where walls should go.
Oh sweet, you can buy food at the warehouse – I always trust food from strangers hiding out in warehouses!
I went into the warehouse that has all the boxes of corn – no clue what is up, I got the option to “grind for cash” or find something valuable. I opted to find something valuable since cash grinds are never fun. Then nothing happened. I can’t seem to interact with anything in here.
Went back to the firehouse, not sure what else there is to do.
Ah, my boss is ready to feed me and put me to bed! What a great boss! She is slowly earning my respect. Will she… will she really let me have ice cream for dinner? Let’s see…
Hah! I get to have ice cream and Kaj can have his gross cabbage rolls!
After sleeping, I can magically go up to the exercise room now, that is what is at the top of the stairs!
OH DAMN THE EXERCISE ROOM IS ON FIRE!
Time to start day 2… Some random chick named Spara arrived? I don’t see her anywhere.
Minerva, always demanding respect.
Ok, now I have no clue where to go or what to do… Minerva just tells me to stop wasting time, but I have no idea what is on fire.
Ah, found the fire in the western-most building! More bed fires! Why do people enjoy setting fire to their beds so much?
I also find it funny that I can literally just run away from the flames.
There, fire is out – another day, another heroic deed.
Spara wants the emergency number… Yeah, I ain’t giving her the real one. She can just, you know, not start her bed on fire next time.
Interesting, no matter what number you give her, it correlates to a country. Nice touch!
Pavel is gone and dead, yet my pay keeps getting docked! This must be what paying child support feels like.
Time to eat and sleep again… will the boss lady let me have ice cream two nights in a row for supper? Let’s find out…
Success! I am the greatest fireman ever!
Day 3! Time to deliver the mail to a guy who can’t speak English but can read it!
AHA! I found Pavel, not dead at all, hiding in the inn in the next town over! I talked to him and… he vanished… I think this was not Pavel at all, but perhaps his ghost… His ghost has not forgiven me for letting him die in the fire that he started after I agreed to let him help me knowing full-well that he was a minor and not a professional and ate a face full of smoke and suffocated.
I see the architects of this town also enjoy putting stairs to nowhere in their buildings!
Found the constable. He gave me a letter for Minerva… hmm… secret love letters, perhaps?
Ok, why is it that the crazy looking dude in a turban is a bad guy?! Hmmmm?! Also, why am I, a firefighter, chasing a robber, when the constable is right there?
A random fight in complete blackness! Whaaaaaaat?!
Spray that bandit with your hoses! This feels like a… *puts on sunglasses* watered down version of Ghostbusters! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
So apparently I blasted the robber so much with the water hose that he fell through the floor. That’s how we do things in my town. Steal bread, get wrecked.
I magically teleported back to Minerva, who then magically teleported me to another town with a fire. I am low on precious H20 from spraying down the robber.
After putting the fire out, a girl magically appeared out of thin air! Another ghost, perhaps?
Ah, Kaj dropping the knowledge like it’s… *puts on sunglasses again* hot! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I like these little “The More You Know” information snippets about fire safety.
Minerva gave me my pay and I didn’t have to pay for Pavel’s dead body! YAY!
Oh boy, oh boy, dinner time again… ok…. Can it happen? Three nights in a row? Ice cream?
Success! I am in love with Minerva because she lets me have ice cream for dinner all the time. All. The. Time.
Ok, day four… starting off with some crazy music here! Jani, what have you done to the fish warehouse?! What is up with the abnormal fire?!
Are you f’n kidding me Jani? You want to pay me to put out the fire in your warehouse with a DICTIONARY?! Oiii. Fine! I better get some ice cream after this.
It has not happened yet, but I am curious what happens when you run out of H20.
Ok, time to tackle the BLUE FLAME!
This ain’t no regular fire! It’s the ROOT OF ALL EVIL! Time to crank up the hoses to 11, boys. Dang, it nearly killed me, but it was not enough. I defeated the root of all evil like the ice cream destroying machine that I am.
Oh wait… It’s not over, here comes NERO! He does have a point about the fish, it does taste and smell better when cooked.
I am plunged into battle while I have like… almost 0 HP on my characters. Luckily I have some rye bread.
Nero singes horrendously, hah!
I am now out of H20 and I can’t fight him. There is literally no way to progress now. I don't recall any save prompts anywhere in the game so I would have to start all over from the beginning now.
Ok, so this is an interesting first attempt! I enjoy the theme of fire safety, but as a game (especially targeted for a younger audience) it definitely needs some work! Visual cues are vitally important to indicate where to go and what to do - add smoke to houses that are on fire, animate the fire (turn stepping on), etc.
Combat overall is easy until you (well, I) am thrust into a no-win situation. In the warehouse I had to battle through multiple regular battles, then root of all evil boss that depletes my health and H20, only to have to fight ANOTHER boss immediately after with no chance to recover my resources? Since this is for kids and the idea is to teach fire safety, do not put them in a position where they will easily lose like this. It can be frustrating and detrimental to the overall goal!
At any rate, I hope you keep working on it and polish it up for your godson! Great job!