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(1 edit)

Art

The art is very charming, the overall feel is comforting and inviting. Reminds me of Stardew Valley. Not much else to say on it other than well done!

Story

I went into this blind, so I may be missing context from previous chapters. I would've liked a more enticing or obvious goal other paying back the tavern-keeper. It wasn't immediately clear to me that I had amnesia, I think if this is the character just waking up from amnesia I'd want some more focus/distress regarding that. The characters and lines of questioning were very simple, I didn't find them to be very engaging because I didn't have a reason to be curious about them. This may be a matter of taste because I felt the same way about the characters in Stardew Valley and I know a lot of people really connected with those characters. Your characters provide a lot of exposition/background about themselves, but I would've found them more interesting if the conversations revealed more about their personalities/outlook. The conversations with the Blackknight and Notnott where the most entertaining for me because I felt they had stronger personalities. There were a couple of humorous observations when observing the inanimate objects that I enjoyed, I felt it gave me some insight into my character which I appreciated.

I talked to all the characters in the Tavern and could not figure out how to progress, I assume I need to leave the Tavern and get money but I couldn't figure out how aside from going to the main menu and clicking on another chapter, which I think would skip me past what I was supposed to do. (I'm assuming  those chapters are all available for debug purposes, and for people returning to the game)

UX/UI Feedback and possibly bugs

  • I wasn't sure why I was presented with 4 different places to start in, I take it that these are different levels that are supposed to be played in linear order so I started with the Tavern in the top left
  • I wasn't expecting pressing the X in the top right of the game window to take me back to the main screen
  • I expected the X on the top left of the dialogue window to close it, and/or exit the current conversation but it did not
  • The portrait of the current character talking matches their normal pixel art, I was hoping to see a more detailed representation of them
  • The dialogue window completing overlapping characters depending on their placement isn't ideal in terms of presentation, but the portraits help with that
  • When you have only one option to select it's at the bottom of the dialogue window, which results in me having to switch between reading the top and bottom of the window. Gets a bit fatiguing, it'd be nice to have these closer together
  • When you talk to objects it wasn't immediately clear to me that the text I was reading was from myself, since all text you see there up until that point is from other characters
  • When you finish asking a person a question it returns to the top of the dialogue tree and you hear the character repeat themselves, this can be a bit unnatural if you ask them multiple questions in a row. Repeating their first line of dialogue makes sense if you stop talking to them, and then go back to talk to them imo

I know I nitpicked a lot of UX stuff but overall the game feels very polished!

Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback first and foremost. I'll try addressing the issues you mentioned.

Art- I'm glad you like it. I was very insecure about its quality but it's good to hear positive feedback.

Story - I really wish I got insight into this early in development as I would've changed a lot of content. A little bit of context first. I made the game's world for a dnd game for my friends but it ended abruptly due to various reasons. I wanted to make the game as an outlet to my worldbuilding itch and I lost sight of what makes a narrative game unique. This is why I gave a lot of exposition about the world through the characters rather than telling it through their personality. A mistake that I shall fix in my new project.

The chapters being unlocked was for returning players as you guessed. The way to get money is to talk to Ben (the mage in the robe) and find a way to knock the goblin out. I should've structured the introduction better. An amateurish error. If you wish, I can write a walk-through for future players who might get stuck.

UI/UX - This was definitely a weak point as a lot of the points you mentioned have credibility. With regards to the portraits, I initially planned for them to be much more detailed but because of time constraints and other issues, it was not doable by myself. Still, this is a very good lesson to learn and I deeply appreciate your detailed critique. Have a great day!