CopyKat is a really short game concept about a mystery surrounding a girl who one day wakes up in a magical but monochromatic world that tells her story as the player progresses through puzzles and magical mirrors.
Magical Girl Concept:
The game doesn't feature a magical girl although the main character, Katherine, seem to dress like one. However there are elements of magic present in the world instead with talking mirrors and gates. Katherine doesn't exhibit any magical powers or transformation but being able to talk to inanimate object could be a magical trait that have yet to show up in the game.
Mechanics:
The movement control is similar to RPGMaker, arrow keys for move direction, while the interact button is located on the A key instead of the Z key. I find that there might be a bit of a confusion with the interact button and the progress dialog button (Space or Enter key) because its a little strange to have the two separated since the Interact button is normally a button that confirms the player action whether it be confirm the dialog progress or confirm interacting with objects in the environment. On many occasion I was pressing the A key to progress the dialog while not realizing I was repeating the first line dialog and later found that the Space key forwards the next dialog. The game has a simple dialog and options/choice interface which is decent for its use. I would recommend a bit more development into it since the dialog doesn't allow players to reverse to a previous dialog line especially when trying to figure out the answer to the riddle mini game. Another solution would be to line the riddle in the last dialog before the choice prompt or have the full riddle display in a separate dialog box. Besides that, there is a jigsaw puzzle mini game where the player have to assemble pieces of a broken mirror to progress the story. The mechanics behind is decently implemented but more could have been done to have the pieces line up perfectly, not have the mouse drag multiple pieces at a time, and the rotation sometimes do skip a few angles. I am not too sure how Godot handles mouse events and UI layout but it would be good to explore other ways or solution in creating the same mini game.
Visual:
I really like the art style the developer have decided on and it does create this fantasy and mystical air that enhances the story behind it. At the same time, the decision to utilize monotonous colors is a good choice in this type of genre when the story is oriented towards mystery. The cute and simple walk animation on the player character makes her appealing to watch and it enhances the gameplay by a ton. Although the background art is limited, it is designed with sufficient intend to tell what is needed in the current story itself. The title screen is designed really well as it immediately tells the player that the game tells a story of what might have happen to Katherine. Good effort has been put into creating the art assets for the game and I think there would be a lot more required when the game gets further developed.
UI:
The game has a title screen that has the essential buttons laid out in a neat orderly fashion and not overlapping with the title screen art. The options button allows players to adjust the music and sound effects volume. There seems to be no in-game menu or ways to return back to the main menu from within the game. The dialog and choice prompt UI is simple and practical for its use.
Audio:
The dreamy and magical fantasy music is really good as it is composed to matches well with each of the scenes in mind. The slow and dreamy title screen music gives it a really inviting vibe to start the game while the music for the two levels has a magical fantasy feel to it, giving a feeling of a magical environment.
Theme:
The developer picked three themes which are Schrödinger's Cat, Time Dilation, and Uncertainty. However I think three is a little too many since the game isn't too complete at this point to know if the theme is actually utilized in the game. It is described that Katherine is trapped in a box, but its not shown in the game or story that she is actually trapped (the bedroom doesn't even have solid walls (⊙_⊙)!). It might be an intention for the story to be developed towards that idea but its not currently implemented yet. The time dilation isn't apparent in the game since there is no indication of time flowing or mention of how the real world and mirror world are moving at different time scales. The theme that would definitely match is the level of uncertainty present in the story where the girl wakes up not knowing anything where she is and no memory of what happen (Spoiler: she mentions having no memory). I think if the developer could write the story with regards to the uncertainty theme in mind then the shroud of mystery and tension surrounding the girl would be an engaging point.
Challenge / Engagement:
The game offers jigsaw puzzle and riddles as a medium of challenge. Its not too challenging considering the puzzles are familiar but the riddles can be a little challenging when the riddle isn't very clear or obvious at first which requires several readings. The story is engaging as the player is given clues when answering the riddles on the gate, possibly clues of what is to come further down the road and adding fuel to the mystery behind it.
Originality / Creativity:
The art, music, and story is quite original in its own way and there is a good level of creativity when the riddles are used with possible an intent to reveal part of the main character backstory.
Story:
The story is well written with few minor issues. The writing direction seems skewed towards the mystery side and its hard to imagine what will come next since the main character backstory is pretty much shrouded in mystery (even though its was described in the "How does your game fit the theme(s)?"). I think the current direction is a good choice since its still in the early stages of a story structure but a few unexpected turn should occur along the way and how that is told will be the important factor in any story laden game.
Overall:
The basic concept and idea about a girl waking up to a mystery is a solid idea while taking into account of the visuals and base mechanics implemented, there is good potential in developing the game further. Story wise, I would say it has a good start but how it unfolds will be the key factor on how it can get players to be engaged further.
Side note: I notice for a 2D Godot game it takes a very long time to load each part of the game.