My thoughts while playing the game.
+ = I liked it
- = I didn't like it
* = Neutral/suggestion
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+ Nice bold, readable font
+ Pleasant music for the title screen
+ Purple background instead of black for the intro exposition. It's a nice little touch.
+ Big, bold pictures.
+ I love how you're introducing the mechanics up-front.
* Aww, but I don't want to buy that item! It's so low-value!
+ Heh, the polishing minigame is like a clicker game with arrow keys. It's a clever idea.
+ It's cool that you got the characters and buildings to display in such large proportions
- It makes moving around the town kinda hard though since I can's see as far as I'm used to. If feels just a little too limited.
+ 8-direction movement sprites!
* Are they entirely necessary? Maybe not, but they're a cool feature all the same.
+ MZ characters in Caz style!
+ I appreciate that the people have self-switches so I don't have to go through a long string of dialog on a second interaction.
+ There aren't too many people to talk to either - keeps things from going on too long.
+ The weeding minigame is a delight.
* That's uh...a funny pose for the ritual! The way the pixels work out it looks like she has one eye half open!
+ Ahaha it's that kind of situation, eh?
* Though I have to wonder: are there different endings? If not, then why did I do any of the things I did along the way...?
- Aww, I wanted to see what happened afterward!
+ Oh cool, a new game+ feature!
* I have absolutely no time for it.
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Summary
This game is beautifully illustrated and I'm impressed by the zoom-in that's maintained throughout the game. The game loop is a fairly straightforward one with a minigame or two off the main path. I also caught hints of other gameplay elements that may have been planned and scrapped as I wandered around the town. There's a heartfelt story with a bit of mystery that managed to fool me at the end.
My biggest concern is over the ending: did my actions have any effect on the ending? It's not clear if there are multiple endings and I'm not sure if there's a point in playing the NG+ mode. If my performance during the game didn't make any difference it kinda detracts from the experience.
It's otherwise a well-put together game with some unique mechanics and a good story. Nice entry, Caz!