Hey Appa's Papas! (The name of your dog is already awesome and it looks cute as well! :3) I just played your demo. Here are some of my thoughts, I hope you'll find them helpful (and please note that English is not my first language.)
+ I really liked the overall look and atmosphere of the game, the cards are well designed and the story behind each symbol was well fleshed out (I really like to read everything and I could already tell, that you really put a lot of love, lore and effort into this game)
+ The text however, was a bit hard for me to read (I really love the pixelated look, but I think that there are other similar fonts, that are a tad easier to read - especially which so much text involved). Maybe it could be less bold-y?
+ I liked most of the musical themes, the one during the duels was a bit irritating after a while for me, so I turned it off. (It could be nice, if every other witch/wizard has a different theme, maybe based on the element they're playing? But maybe you already implemented something like that, depending on the region...)
+ I totally agree with @wolfmakesgames, that the tutorial is overwhelming. I didn't quite understand what I was doing and it was all a bit too much in the beginning. (I still haven't figured the duel-system out fully, yet, but I'm also not too familiar with tarot card-games)
Is it possible to create a "handbook" inside the player's menu? In which everything (rules, tips, tricks) can be reread again?
+ I really enjoyed the dialogues, especially the "your people are so unique and inspring. no money, freedom of gender and sexuality, universal healthcare and education..."-bit! The world feels welcoming and safe.
+ Is it possible to leave the POWER-section immediately? I had to try out the spells, even though I clicked on the POWER-button by mistake. I'd love to leave this part of the menu without playing through water/ air... magic-sequence.
+ I noticed one SMOL spelling error by the first river (obstacle) I passed, after I left the nice tourist-lady: Instead of "concentrate" it said "concetrate" (Sorry, if that's too nitpicky)
+ Will there be a map? Or is there already one and I haven't found it yet? I think it could be helpful to have one, to revisit all the lovely places.
+ And last but not least: I too had to close the game because I was stuck after the offering of a duel, the dialogue-box remains empty, the duel does not start and I cannot leave. It happened inside the library, while I was talking to the guy who "guards" the Master's room. I'm playing on Windows.
That's it for now. Thank you guys for making the game and letting people try it out, it was a pleasure and I'm looking forward to play it again in a later stage. Keep up the great work!!
Cheers
Bob
Hey Bob! Thanks for the detailed feedback. It is very much appreciated.
- I will look into other font options. I sometimes have a hard time reading it, and my husband's parents (bless them for trying) also strain to read it. It might make it to mobile, so it'll be even tinier. . .
- I'm in the midst of negotiating with the composer for unique music (the music was from OpenGameArt). I'll ask them to spend a little extra time with the battle music, since it will be the most listened-to track. Thanks for sharing!
- Hrm. . . a notebook. That'll be something new for me, but I think it could be implemented. I could put it in the pause menu. That definitely can cut down on the overwhelming aspect since the player won't have to retain it all.
- I'm even pickier, so no worries! I've fixed the spelling already. :-D
- Cancel the mini-games. . . I don't have a way to do that at the moment, but I can listen for a right-click and cancel. . . yeah, that's a do-able feature!
- The bug sounds like a problem with grabbing the dialogue SO asset from Resources. I'm upset with myself for having the bug, but I'm actually glad you had the same one. Now I know where to look to hopefully fix it.
- The dreaded map question. I'm planning on this to be very linear. The player starts at the bottom and goes clock-wise back to the same town. In my very first prototype, I had a fast-travel option planned (by riding a broom), but I scrapped it due to the linearity. If the player won't be re-dueling anyone, do you think a map is necessary, or a "nice-to-have" thing?
Thank you for the kind words, and thank you even more for taking the time to try it and leave this review!
Hey, you're welcome! :) It was fun to play your game, a nice opportunity for me to test and try out a new pixelated world. Besides, it's always way easier to write a critique or give some feedback, than creating something from scratch and so far you did an awesome job - so, thank you!
And yes, the reading part is crucial, the font really should "please" the eyes - so sweet that your in-laws read everything as well, that's really supportive. :)
Regarding the map-question: If coming back to a certain place is not encouraged on the gameplay part and if it's ensured that you can't miss important objects/ dialogues in the different parts of the world, I don't think a map is necessary. But I still think it would be nice to have one... :D The fast-travel sounds cool as well - I really like to revisit places and if the storyline makes it clear that you have to re-battle some characters in order to finish the game, it will be useful. That really is a tough question.. but maybe you don't have to decide that, yet.
Looking forward to all the new stuff you guys are implementing in the game.
Have a great day, stay safe!