I've see many praises here, so I will play a bit of devil's advocate. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this game, especialy because of Castoria, however it is clear that it needs more to not be "another" game.
Of course it is just a Demo and it is made by only one person, but there is some core things that I wonder if it could not be improved, although of course I am not demanding for perfection.
Be noted for those who did not play, there will be spoilers, you have been advised, I recommend for you to play as it is worth it and then come back to see the rest if you so desire.
Graphics/Visuals/Interface:
Look, the character design is probably one of the things that makes the characters so charming, be it with Castor or Castoria, however all the rest is... lackluster to say the least. There is a lot of potential though, for exemple the simple logo, the entire part where the character glitches on the game especially how the interface changes to the situation, I loved it so much as well as the letters when it is on "yandere" mode and the unique (I'll call it arabic for sake of calling it something) arabic letters, really, all of those are very charming and they do well it's purpose while give the game a clear identity.
That being said, I can not say the same for some goofy parts and other bothersome things, for exemple, when you are "playing" winter wish, it is in some kind of DS or Swich that doesn't looks great and helps give the feel of a an amateur made game, this happens mostly because it tries to give a 3d feeling... in a 2d game, that usually doesn't mix well, as in 2d the perspective for depth and texture is different so it feels out of place. Other goofy thing I find is the twisting of the letters in the entry of the game, like it really kills the vibe, especially because it starts really well, the logo moving across, glitching and then giving you the options is a really solid execution, although I'd argue that it could be shorter and done a bit faster; however the twisting of the letters isn't clean, it takes a lot of time that makes me be like "bro, I just want to play the game, let me play it", and worse when I want to quit, because whenever I quit, the entry plays all over again when closing the game should be something quick, since there is no prompt to ask if I wan't to go to the main screen or just close the game. Perhaps it would be better to mix the original winter wish main menu with the demo, make the just lozenge glitch and then the options with the name appearing?
Also, for the interface, whenever there is the 2 options for lovely or yan, a text appearing about what would one say is apreciated, as well as an option to remove the guide to what options would lead to what, and of course, making the order of the text random maybe with a visual representation of the lozenge twisting and inverting.
As a resume, embrace the glitches, unique letters and the 2d for the graphics and visuals, define a clear identity to the game, while try to reject things that would remove the simplicity of things.
Story/Characters/Interactions:
The personality duality is by far the strongest point of the game, as well as so far the focal point of the game. Yet there are some things that feel... off, or to be more precise, that needs more development before certain situations happen, for exemple, the character development of the MC is abrupt to say the least and some decisions aren't fluid; when you start the game - skipping the AI and childhood friend part as I'll talk about it later - the MC is like "dam hot af Castoria, dream girl bla bla bla" and then he says she isn't his type to 2s later start treating her like shit and that her route is just bothersome, to later being able to treat her like a goddess basicaly, I know it is "darling duality" but making the MC be bipolar for free like this isn't great, it makes the story feel empty, rushed and worse, sloppy. If the point is to make the MC like this, then develope more about it, altough I wouldn't recommend.
Meanwhile, for the love interest there isn't much to criticize, it is very well written, albeit there is some things that could be implemented to deepen their personalities. Castor and Castoria are the figureheads of the game, implementing other characters is not a bad things, but it is when it is waaayy to disconnected, for exemple, the start of the demo you are talking with a company about AI's ???? Why? and I don't mean in what is the story reason, but why it is there, at the start? Even if there is a good reason, it feels to disconected if for exemple I choose not to talk with them, that is not good, why not instead this about them later when the love interest talks about money, this way it is given a reasonable reason for one understand why would the MC looks for a shady AI company, it creates the intrigue about if it is related to Castor(ia) appearing, or perhaps would it be an sapient AI, what would the Castor(ia) think about it if you brough it home because of the necessity of money etc. While about the childhood friend, although it is fine for having an interaction with her at the start, if we don't, will she appear worried later? Would Castor(ia) be fine with it appearing? How would promissing or not to just belong to Castor(ia) affect what it thinks about the childhood friend, those options have me high hopes for those things, however it also made me question if there was plans to develop as such, because if not, then what is the point? Why give a situation that makes the player hope may happen something but just being a false option? This wouldn't be a good thing as it would make the story feel disconnected and with that "missing" sensation.
We do know that Castor(ia) can change it's appearence in reality, so some powers it has, therefore leaving this as a loose end is unwise. Therefore it is recomended to develop on this as well, while I recommend to keep it just as the power of transforming her clothes, the cultural shock and force of habbit could create many situations that deepen her personality as a person.
As a resume, embrace the struggle between being normal and the obsession of Castor(ia) as the focal point of the story and making a solid MC that can embrace her crazyness or reject it, while avoid creating loose ends and empty interactions.
Anyway, I talked too much, even though I wanted to say more, I see a lot of potential, especially since the story so far is already good, but improving those topics is what differentiate between a mediocre/regular dating sim to a genuinely good indie game; honestly I wouldn't mind waiting 5 years from now if it ment on this being at least a good finished game. What can I say, I got hooked on Castoria, she has a great concept story so far and a voice actress that can be threatening and hit that sweet spot when needed, so I've been looking at this gem ever since I manly posted that video, I give my highest wishes for this to be a bomb.
Yeah, there is a lot of positivity here, which is wonderful ^-^ and I can still hardly believe it + really appreciate it :3 But what you don't see is the negative stuff I get sent privately to my email, haha. The positives still massively outweigh the negatives, thankfully, but it doesn't stop the nasty stuff from really getting to me and massively demotivating me when I read it >.<
Manly playing the game was both a blessing and a curse, haha. A blessing because, otherwise, hardly anyone would even know the game exists still, and the level of support has been incredible :3 But a curse because it has also attracted a number of people who, while they profess to love the game, have proceeded to make demands of me in private, saying that if I don't include X or Y content for Castor/ia, or if I don't change X or Y that they don't like about the project, then they will trash it and everything else that I release o.O Of course, there are also just haters too >.< And worse than that, but I won't go into more detail because my arm is still broken at the moment, and it's still quite difficult to type with just one hand for now x3 So I can only apologise for that! If I could use both hands, I'd type out a much more in-depth response!
Firstly, regarding art aspects, there's not much I can do to change most things because I'm not an artist :( (that's why there are no CGs in the game, though I am commissioning my artist friend LPB to create some for future updates :3) All the sprites are assets that are edited by me in order to avoid using them with their default appearances. I spent many hours in GIMP recolouring them and adding additional facial expressions that they didn't come with by default. All the backgrounds are assets. And yup, you probably guessed it by now, the switch-like console is also just an edited asset x3 The UI is the only part of the art that's mostly made by me. Some of it is a combo of edited assets + my own stuff, but most of it is stuff I managed to put together in GIMP. As I said though, I'm no artist. I can't draw to save my life >.<
All of that amounts to giving the feeling of an amateur made game because the game is technically made by an amateur, haha. I have no formal experience or training in any aspect of game dev x3 It started as a hobby, out of wanting to make a game that contained the stuff I wanted to see because, at
the time, I played a lot of VNs and none quite had what I was hoping for in a game - an English-voiced male yandere character, where the yandere romance was the only romance, but there was still a proper story behind it all (and so, I made my first game around that, Solipsism Reigns :3) I may have gained a lot of experience over the years since I started making games, even completely switching engines at one point. Heck, I even managed to teach myself how to start making music so I could include some original tracks in my games, but still, I am not an artist, nor a writer, nor a coder, or composer. Everything I've ever done is self-taught. And making games is a hobby that helps me to cope with my depression and other mental health problems x3 As my friend once put it upon seeing my first game finished, - 'I don't know how you did it when you can't even draw, but boy, you sure are resourceful!' haha.
I'm also unemployed, so when it comes to game dev, all I have to put towards projects is the stuff that people kindly donate :3 Which means that, for example, I can't really afford to hire an artist to draw a better-looking version of the device that MC plays Winter Wish on. Cos any funding needs to go towards CGs or voice acting.
There is a key you can press to force skip the title screen animations, but I can't remember which one it is, and I can't check since I can't go on my PC atm with my broken arm x3 I know what you mean though about needing a more efficient way to quit and stuff cos it is quite slow.
Won't say too much regarding bipolar MC cos the jury is still out on whether I am bipolar myself or not xD My therapist once suspected I might be, but now she thinks perhaps I might have ADHD as well as my autism, and that the two together at war sort of mimic bipolar traits. Anyways, I do get what you're saying, but the game is supposed to be all black and white with little to no grey area for both MC and the love interests. The player can indeed make MC less believable and more unstable by ping-ponging between cruel/kind options and acting polar opposites, but everything will have consequences in the end, and there is a point to being able to do it all, it just doesn't really show yet in the demo like a lot of things cos the story isn't far enough in for a lot of stuff to make much sense >.< Even if a player goes full kind/sweet mode though, it still won't result in a typically healthy relationship with any of the characters. It will be less crazy than the alternative options, and probably considered the 'good' route or ending, but yeah, it still won't be healthy, because the whole concept is about how black and white thinking and extremes aren't healthy x3
Castor and Castoria might be the only available love interests atm, but I was planning to have many more routes than that (2 of which are already partially written, just not in the demo yet x3) For example, Cana, the childhood friend mentioned in the demo, is a love interest with their own route, and depending on the player's choices, Castor/ia and Cana could well wind up encountering each other, where there are, of course, consequences :3
The stuff to do with Kiaria Corp and the AI I really can't say much about without walking right into spoiler territory. All I can say is that it has to be at the beginning for things to work the way I eventually want them to. It might seem nonsensical now, but there's a reason for it x3 Trust me, once it's actually implemented, it will make sense. The problem is that almost everyone thinks the game is mainly Castor/ia's story, and that the story begins with MC and Castor/ia, but that's only because that's all that's playable for now. Because that's all I could finish in time for the game jam it was originally submitted to. In reality, Castor/ia is actually just an option in a much bigger game that I had planned to make. The story doesn't have to start with Castor/ia. Heck, once the full game is eventually finished years from now, a player could play without even encountering Castor/ia if they chose to do so. I think I might have briefly mentioned it in the past on Patreon/Ko-Fi, but I don't really remember.
I would've left out the AI and Cana branches from the demo to save confusion, but the problem was, I didn't have space to make backup copies of my working copy and the public demo release. In my working copy, the branches that are inaccessible in the demo do actually lead to more content, but it's unfinished. Because I don't have space for backups, it was easier for me to leave those branches in and block them off than to completely remove them and then have to add them in again >.< It's stupid, I know. But my PC is old, my hard drive is full, and it was pretty much my only option :(
And yeah, I already touched on Cana, the childhood friend, but to give a solid answer to all those questions, basically, everything you asked is already written into the story :3 So all of those things will be answered. It's just I haven't been able to actually make any of it playable yet (part of it is playable in my working copy, but I'm nowhere near finished coding in all of the stuff that's been written already >.<) But yeah, Cana will have their own playable route. Player choices will determine if Cana and Castor/ia discover each other's existence, and if they do, there will be consequences according to the choices previously made.
Hehe, I would say more too if it wasn't for my stupid arm >.< Typing atm is just so slow and awkward. I appreciate you taking the time to write everything that you did though :3 Constructive criticism is always helpful! Often, people will say they don't like X or Y, but offer no suggestions on how to improve, so it's always nice to hear different opinions on stuff with actual suggestions. It's just a shame that there's not much I can do about some of the points that you raised, like the art stuff >.<
And being completely honest, it might actually take 5 years or more for me to properly fully finish the project xD the scope is pretty big, and a lot gets in the way of progress :( My mental health issues mean my productivity comes in spikes. I find it easier to work on multiple projects at once rather than just one. Negative emails, comments, and reviews make me want to quit the project because, at the end of the day, I'm making it for fun, and if it stops being fun, I have no willpower to keep going >.< Funding is difficult because voice acting is expensive, and I can't even run a Kickstarter or anything because of my personal situation. I live in a country where because of my mental health issues, I have to accept government aid in order to survive and be able to afford food and stuff, but while accepting that help, I'm not allowed to try to make any sort of income, even if it's just a tiny amount, it's not allowed, and if I did, I would immediately lose my aid, then I wouldn't be able to afford food >.< Aaaand, to top it off, one of the voice actors is unlikely to reprise their role even with payment offered. Soooo, yeah, there are a lot of barriers that make development quote slow :( haha. And that's not even including the fact that my arm got broken in several places a few weeks ago xD so I haven't been able to work on anything since then, and I'm stuck like that until it's healed.
I'm glad you like what little is there so far in the demo though and that you can see potential in the project :3 With any luck, it will be finished eventually! Just gotta keep taking it in baby steps I guess.
Hi, I'm very glad that even with your broken arm, you managed to type so much, I know how much it must suck, hope it didn't hurt or anything in the process.
I'm also happy about how you took my contructive criticism. And about the art stuff, don't blame yourself for it, although I wouldn't recommend for you to try and do everything, try and diverge it, you said about your friend but for exemple, why not also do in your patreon, asking or doing a contest for some assets to be in the game? Heck you could do it right here and I'm sure your e-mail would be flooded with it; you could allow for it to leave the signature in the asset and, I mean if I was good at it, I would do it, it would be so cool to see a dope art of mine with my signature in it and in a game I love to top it all off. Still for an amateur you should be proud of yourself, it is already above avarage from most amateurs games, especially considering that you do it all basically.
I don't judge that you have those possible mental problems, after all I date a esquizofrenic, so perhaps that made me question why it felt too bipolar (and maybe why I like the yandere and maniputalitive nature of the game), still, I wouldn't say it is a bad thing for it to be like this in the game, after all as you said it is meant to be like that, however - and I assume that is a hard thing to do - just because it is meant to be like that, doesn't mean it shouldn't be deepened; maybe in the best friend route with her questioning the MC and/or Castor(ia) about their seemingly bipolar way of talking? One way to make it more natural is to put a bit of yourself in it, as a player of D&D and other RPG's, I do this a lot of the time and it gives more vividity (I assume you already do this, but well it doesn't hurt to recommend).
And story wise, I'm glad to hear all of that and I'll put my faith on you. That being said, although that is for you to decide, I wouldn't recommend for the other routes to be completely disconected from one another, for that each route would be to have way good and deep on it's own, wich sure it can be nice, but I would argue it is way harder to do, by making it conected, each route can enhance each other by adding details and perspectives, also giving the sence of a cohesive storytelling and a clear image of what the game is about, the only problem is if it feels forced cof cof disney star wars films.
Well, about the problems with gaining money, it must suck, I live in Brasil and I don't know the rules for those kinds of supports nor how to cheat the system, however can't you use someone to bypass such a thing? for exemple, you are working with a pseudonym, so if you made a bank acount in your (mother/father/brother/psychologist (yes, really)/family/etc) name, it wouldn't trigger the government, the system is very balanced with no exploits, so try and search for ways to exploit the hell out of it, and don't feel sorry for asking your psychologist or anyone really for this kind of help either, they will understand.