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GuyWithTeaCup1 year ago (2 edits) (+1)

This game has a lot of story going on. A very lot. So much that I had some trouble following what's going on. Jams don't give too much time for development, I understand, but there is so much text, it badly needs some cutting and rewriting to decrease its size without losing the meaning.
Graphics are a mix of usual RPG Maker designs and some simple hand drawn portraits. Understandable. Default RPG Maker font? Well that's unforgivable. It shouldn't be that hard to slap something different - some awesome fonts are completely free for non-commercial use.
Gameplay is a hit and miss - game would gain a lot if it wasn't about simply walking around aimlessly on flat scene with no perspective taking a wild guess which square on a grid means instant game over or not. It reminded me much about very early Japanese adventure games on fifth generation of consoles like "D" and "Doctor Hauzer" in that regard. Default RPG Maker game mechanics are very restrictive and don't really fit the game's aim that much.
Puzzles are sometimes overexplained, sometimes they are solved by deduction and sometimes you get lost and have to check every object in the mansion until you found the one you need. Thanks god there is actually a word-document with a guide inside in case if you stuck. The fact that all puzzles are rigidly structured in a form of "theater play" acts is making it much easier to comprehend. 

Blood drinking mechanic is present but completely redundant. Just not press Enter while around silhouettes and you will get the best ending out of three. 

While I can't say that this game is really good, it at least is not hard or obscure or puts a lot of obstacles in front of player (except for a tons of texts). As someone who played a lot of RPG Maker games in one's adolescence all flaws of this project are tolerable, and I actually kinda enjoyed it, but I can't deny that it would benefit greatly from  the change of game engine and design direction.

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Wisteria Sakana1 year ago

First of all, thank you for the time you dedicated to play the game and write this comment, I really appreciate it.

Going by points.

The amount of text. I put "story rich" in the tags, but I think I'll edit the page to include "visual novel-like". I thought about your words, and I came to the conclusion that, at least for now, this wordy style is what I like best. Actually, I think here we're going more towards the rpg/visual novel hybrid than the simple "story rich". 

The font part, I confess, surprises me. Maybe it's something more widespread recently? Personally, I've played very few RPG Maker games that have a custom font for dialogue (It's more a prerogative of Wolf games), so I hadn't even thought about the fact that it might seem "weird". I'll keep this detail in mind and pay attention to the games that come to hand. 

As for the floor game overs, you're right. I've realized, both from your opinion and from others, that the holes in the floor are unfair and end up being more irritating than challenging. Theoretically there's a crack that indicates where the holes are but, in fact, if everything is broken and black and white, it's difficult to see them, if you are not the person who put them. Funny things is that I initially wanted to include among the features "Various ways to (not-)die", but I then decided to remove it because I didn't want to disappoint anyone who might be looking for a game like Witch's House. I suppose I'll reinsert it, also for the sake of fairness for those who don't want a game with so many game overs.

Regarding how to solve the puzzles, I too, with a clear mind, noticed that some things were explained to the point of exasperation. However, I don't have in mind the ones where you get lost and have to check everything. Do you remember any examples? (BTW, glad the guide was helpful!)

About sucking blood from people and the different endings. The game mechanic is "drink from [something] or "die"", because the thirst drops regardless as the minutes pass. You're not supposed to drink from people (Who, by the way, refill the flask twice as much). It's the point of the story: Clea doesn't want to drink from people and she won't unless the player pushes her to do so. Clea has no "game endings" to discover: if the player gives in to the curiosity to see the other endings, Clea has given in to her desire for human blood, and what follows has consequences. (To say that, I realize that this is definitely a visual novel thing rather than an RPG thing.)

That said, I'm glad that, despite everything, you kinda enjoyed this game! Thank you again for your opinion, you've given me a lot to think about.

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GuyWithTeaCup1 year ago(+1)

Regarding puzzles:

  • When you need to type the code into doors - I instantly guessed the mushroom color since there is not that many with 6 letters in them. But with the other door - I just couldn't find the right book because I couldn't figure out that piece of wood peeking from below is actually an edge of a bookshelf and is completely interactable. Even with guides telling me what exact room the book was - I still was lost for some time. It just was visually not clear. Also it was a little too on the nose that most books except for the one which will help you with puzzles are described with bland texts in dismissive tone. You don't even need to look that much - this puzzle pretty much solves itself.
  • Puzzle with the dead and rubber fish is a tricky one since their position is more ambiguous than it seems. Also I desperately tried to pick up stuffed fish but suddenly it was not good enough for the scene.
  • Almost every act requires a girl doll and I spend some time interacting with the girl doll in the room with mushroom houses. Turns out it is not the right girl doll I need and I can't pick it up until I'm gonna need it. But I have no idea about it. So every Act I had to visit that room and interact with the doll just to see if it's the one I need now. Actually in one of the acts I had two girl dolls in my inventory and neither were of any use for that same act. You better barrier away the items you don't really need behind some puzzles or whatever would work.

Bloodsucking mechanics are just not really clear and you don't even realize that there is some time limit unless you will really look for it. I blindly poked every corner of the mansion for some good time and still got like half of my thirst meter full. If some death traps would inflict thirst increase instead of instant game over, and it was evidently shown - maybe then players would realize that they have some life resource. And maybe if characters mentioned that their time in other dimension is fairly limited - then that mechanic would make some sense to the player. Right now it serves more like a gimmick that nobody will notice due to factors mentioned above.

On text: even if your game is a Visual Novel - over exposition is still a poison to the flow. It is a good rule of thumb to cut about 10-15% of the text with every draft. Spreading the narration evenly is good for the pacing too. You need to keep things short to the point even with VN's. Switching from text dumps to some action and puzzle solving in even intervals is necessary to prevent players from losing the track of plot. Texts in games are like cholesterol in veins - it is good in small regular doses but spikes of it results in severe clotting.

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Wisteria Sakana1 year ago

Thanks for the list, it was very helpful! I've already fixed some things in the update. The idea of making the traps impact thirst is great! (There's actually one that does, but it's pretty hidden. I think I'll expand it to others as well.)

Regarding the names of the dolls, absolutely yes. I don't know why I decided to call them the same, it must have been madness. 

The "Actually in one of the acts I had two girl dolls in my inventory and neither were of any use for that same act." however, should not occur. 

You get the Igel's doll by finishing the recipe. Ery's is in the mushroom room. Areth's is in the room with the amulet. The room with the amulet is unlocked by finishing Act II, and Act II can only be finished with Ery's doll. This means that, when you have two dolls in your inventory, it can only be Igel and Ery (Act II) or Igel and Areth (Act III), and one of the two will necessarily be needed for the puzzle. Do you remember how you ended up in this situation? Did you have to reload an earlier save? 

The cholesterol metaphor is wonderful and I will use it again.

Thanks once again!

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GuyWithTeaCup1 year ago

Sadly I can't say all the details, I just remember that I had two dolls and none of them worked. One of them came from the cauldron and other I can't remember.

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Wisteria Sakana1 year ago

Okay! I'll look into it.

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