itch.io

Hi there!

First of all, thank you for the criticism. It's incredibly helpful and will assist me with future projects for sure!

Also, thank you for taking the time to type this all out (not to mention make a video about it).

I might have mentioned it before, but I did get carried away while mapping for this game. The result are maps/locations that don't really serve much of a purpose, houses and rooms - like the school - that are too big and a lot of locked doors. That is definitely something I have to work on - I need to find a good balance between having things to explore but also not having too many things that are unnecessary. Same with items such as the phone.

I am glad you liked the story! To be honest, the game play was mostly just used as a tool to get this story told, which is also why the puzzles are so mediocre (if you can even call them puzzles). I do think I need to work a lot on becoming better at thinking of puzzles, so I completely agree with you on that front.

Another thing that a lot of people have already told me is that I should work more on creating tension  - by creating a danger/threat, opportunities to die basically and as you put it "scary moments". That is also something I need to get better at.

Getting into spoiler territory here:

My intention was that Haru's headaches that she was talking about in the beginning of the game, show that she is slowly beginng to remember.

Basically the whole game is just in her head. There is no one singing, the town isn't really cut off and empty. There is nothing supernatural happening.
It is basically Haru's brain's way of getting her memories back (I know, that's super cliche). That is why a lot of things in the town don't make sense and seem very surreal, that is why people know things they shouldn't and why looking in a mirror reverses a tape.

To be fair, you made a very good point. That does not explain why she was just laying passed out in the middle of a street and no one called the hospital or anything. Cause that bit was set in reality.

If you didn't have the phone, basically nothing would have changed. I mean there wouldn't have been a glitch jumpscare but that's it. (Like I said, in retrospect the phone is kinda useless.)
And you can get pen and paper in the school if you didn't pick it up in the orphanage.

Don't worry, like I said, this kind of feedback (while  admittibly hard to hear) is exactly what I need to improve and grow as a creator!
It is incredibly helpful, so I am really grateful for your critique.

This will not deter me from making more games in the future, it's the opposite actually, it makes me want to continue so I can improve and experiment and continue developing games.