(I am now in a rush to test as many games as possible to help, so please do not mind the cursory reviewing style.)
Semi-on-the-fly remarks:
- Controls are QWERTY-only instead of layout-independent (I have an AZERTY keyboard).
- The graphic style is simple, but somehow, I am still immersed in the story; some dramatisation effort. :) The difference in sizes (small door, small police outline on the ground…) could be seen as voluntary, which it may be. I also like the transition clock! :)
- Some sounds would give more life. Possibly a background too, but maybe you chose black? Can be fitting, seeing the drama.
- Going to the cut arm, my character is suddenly teleported to the door; the text flashes too fast! Oh, and voiceover! But I did not get everything (had to turn up the volume midway)… :o I would advise putting subtitles! Helps in general, especially non-native English speakers (of which I am XD).
- Haha, "Help">"About…" gives "Tutorials10506©"! X)
- Cutscene! I like the dramatisation effort. :) Nevertheless, the action can be a bit fast at times; I still think that some text and other indications could help better make out what is happening.
- Like the heartbeat effect for the (funny!) family portrait
- scene where you can only move forward, towards the dead wife; a lot of things are pretty much like an interactive film, actually. Now, some people enjoy this, but I think this you can still have this much narration AND introduce more gameplay.
- White instructions text on black background ("over 150 peoples […]"): I think a concise bullet point recap of the objectives/tasks would greatly help getting to the point! It is fine having descriptions and whole texts, but do not forget that CLARITY is important!
- Camera sequence: I love the opening/closing camera effect! :)
- I am pressing "A" as told, but unsure this works; I think some audio or/and visual cue would greatly help the player!
- Aaaah, is this sequence inspired by "Five Night at Freddy’s"?
- Not sure if I can move or anything, besides watching the cameras; apparently, repeatedly pressing "A" maintains the guy to the right. Enough to win the phase.
- Lots of different narrative sequences, I appreciate the effort. Haha, the hand coming from the ground! XD And a video as background in the graveyard; visually nice, but feels very different from the black/static backgrounds from the earlier parts of the game.
- I must confess I do not really get the ending, maybe the volume was too low at times, or I may not be as focused as needed, but… what happened and what happens?
- WOW, that LOUD Michael Bay-style ending music, and visual effect!! XD Sounds like a superproduction!
- Hey, by the way, I see you used Clickteam Fusion 2.5! :) I used to use Klik software (especially Klik & Play and Click & Create), quite some years ago, by the same people.
- Bug: wanting to start again (to see if I could inspect the teddy bear!), the START button does not work anymore!
- Glad I tried inspecting more: "Not useful". So, this is very straightforward!
- Also, seeing again some cinematics: I had missed the speech therapy joke, and the twist of fate after the asylum guy states nothing ever happens. XD I like the humour, either in some visuals or dialogue.
- I also realize there might be a computation mistake: 300 seconds makes 5 minutes rather than 6. ;)
- Aaaaah, I better get the camera sequence gameplay: you press A while looking in reality (by the way, nice 3D rotation effect! I had completely missed that!!)! But then, how do the cameras work? Do you merely have to look at the guy?
- Creepy eyes!!
- Trying a game over on purpose. Waiting while eyes; nothing happens?? Putting the camera: does make me lose! But without indications, merely put back at the blue-haired guy cutscene. I think some indications as to what happens in this camera phase would help.
- Ah, menu via the Escape key! I think you should state it on the game and in game. "Screen Size" toggles fullscreen mode, actually, so I think you should rename it as "Fullscreen" or better, "Toggle fullscreen". Escape does not work to continue?? <:o Oh no, I wanted to see the end once more!
- All right, stopping here; just asking you to explain the ending or write down its dialogue here, I just wish to understand. :)
Takeaway: essentially a narrative experience / interactive film; the only part with really challenging gameplay (where you can lose) is apparently the camera section (and there is also choosing the right object from Martin’s paraphernalia, but hey, that was quite straightforward!). I think you put a lot of work into narration and dramatisation, so I understand the game as mainly a way to tell a story, with drama and some humour.
I think you could help make the story/events more understandable, with subtitles and some more transitions (including text, sometimes?); I had trouble figuring out WHO I was (first, Daniel; then, the blue-haired (detective?) guy; then, the asylum guy?). Also, the camera sequence would need some clearer indications as to how things work. I finally saw and understood the door, but how the cameras work is still somewhat mysterious to me (it seems different from "Five Night at Freddy’s" — which I only know a bit —, since the guy could sometimes move while I was watching him).
Graphics were sometimes mismatched (for example, the main room from the camera sequence and the camera opening-closing effect are nifty 3D-looking material, while the rest is essentially personal hand-drawn rather static images, and the end and title screen use videos), but I like that you put a lot of personal drawing into it. Lots of audio, too! But I felt the dialogue was not always clear to hear; still, great effort there too.
My biggest criticism would be on gameplay: I feel the player need to get engaged more about doing something actively, instead of attending quite passively the action. Fans of interactive films may disagree, of course. ;) But hey, that is my take on it! As for the theme, although I had trouble following the whole story, I see through your answer that the connection is narrative. I think it would have been nice to also have a gameplay connection, but this is still fair.
Interesting to have a film-oriented game, not yet seen one! :) Thanks for your time.
(Game jam advice: you can get more people to try out your game and give you feedback by testing and reviewing other games yourself, I would advise you do it in any game jam you take part in! :))
PS: by the way, seeing this: did you really make the videos, 3D-like elements, and music + some sounds (gunfire…)? I suspect this might be an oversight on your part! You can still modify your answer using the upper-left button. ;)
"Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes, using clickteam fusion"