Hello from tonight's stream! When I was first looking at the screenshots, I had no idea what I was in for. I actually thought this wouldn't be a fun experience purely from looking at the art style. However, I was proven immensely wrong.
This game ended up hitting so many notes of other games that are quite popular within certain communities that it just felt like it belonged in that set. I got heavy Undertale vibes mixed with Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG, some Pokemon and Earthbound! This with the material in the story itself makes this such an amazing experience. For me, it felt like a child's super hero fantasy story would be like, based on them watching shows like Naruto or Bleach or Dragon Ball, where there's an ever growing level structure for the hero to overcome. There were "Beginners," the bottom of this pole, and the "Seniors," who are the second highest rank in the Warriors. Even the names lend to this simplicity. And just like those shows, the child's story would immediately introduce a bunch of characters as their friends and outright explain their personalities and why they're friends.
It takes this all and then makes it very serious. Throughout the intro of the game (not counting the super intro before you get into the game's intro), we're shown everything in a light-hearted matter. Then as you're made to do the run all the way back... a tentacle just pops out of the ground and grabs someone! It crushes them before pulling them underground. You learn that a monster is making all the various sinkholes that have been going on, and you just watched a person die at the same time. Holy shit.
And this isn't even me getting into the Undertale-esque intro with that dude talking to you and then causing a windows pop-up to come up on my screen with my name on it! It's wild!
Combat is easy to understand, the music fits in what the vibe is at the moment, everything else works amazing.
But there is one thing, and I mentioned it earlier. Unless the style is intentional, I would suggest overhauling the look of the game. If it's intentional, no, hey, I get that too. I'm just saying I'm not trying to insult you in any way, shape or form. I find so much of this game amazing and I do think the graphics should try to fit there as well. But again, if intentional then I understand and it works well.