Wow DJ, this is quite the production!
The music is fantastic. I didn't realize it at first, but the italicized words are actually timed to the lead instrument to simulate singing (and to help the player understand that the lines are being sung, rather than spoken). It really adds to the idea that this is a musical, not just another bunch of text. I also caught whiffs of the Theme6 motif throughout the score - nicely done!
Having choices during the game was a good idea to keep the player engaged, but the grading felt a little out of place. I wanted to play Harold as dumb as possible!
I also have mixed feelings about the combat. On the one hand, the menus are trimmed down to *just* what you need, no excess (OK, having Defend is questionable since it's not really beneficial in any way). Battles are not long, and each character gets 2 skills so there's no information overload. It's also a way to keep the player engaged. On the other hand, I don't feel like they fit the overall design (or potential design) of the game. Since the story is more central to this experience than combat, it seemed a little odd that losing is a possibility at all. Having to take multiple turns in combat slows the pace of the experience down, and since there are only 2 skills per character, there's not much strategic depth.
The writing is good. It's written like a Broadway-styled musical, only one of the cast members is that lovable derp Harold and the rest of the cast has to scramble to work around him. I really felt like I was in the audience watching this play that the crew was doing their darndest to save from catastrophe. Having all of the auto-advancing text on the screen made it hard to keep up with sometimes (particularly the parts where the crew was talking while the announcer was addressing the audience - I wanted to read everything all at once), but I understand you had to do it in order for the music to match the text.
The graphics look great too. Excellent use of MV3D to make it look like we're sitting in the audience and watching a play. I don't know how you could possibly do it better in RPG Maker.
Here's what I think would make this game really cool - either as a post-jam update, a remake, or just if you use the concept again:
- Instead of choices being pass/fail and having the player get a game over for making too many "wrong" choices, just have different endings based on the choices the player makes.
- Instead of combat being a win/lose multi-turn fight for survival, make it a choice (or series of choices) that affect the outcome of the battle (bonus points if it also affects the ending, like the suggestion above).
- This is entirely too much for a solo-made jam game (maybe even if you had a team), but voice acting. It would put this experience over the top! You wouldn't have to worry about players not being able to keep up with the text, and the songs could actually be sung instead of relying on the player to interpret things correctly.
In other words, I think if you approached this not as a turn-based JRPG with some musical elements, but rather an animated, interactive musical play that players can tell their own story with, this could be a legendary show-stopping experience.
Overall, great job, and I look forward to your next production!