and i finally finish playing all of the jam's submissions with this one! fitting that i end with the one made by the co-host(s). though, wouldn't that mean you can manipulate the results and just give yourselves the win? hmmm... (i'm kidding XD)
seriously tho, this was really fun!
it's nice to get a more arcade-y and gameplay-based game from this studio. not that your story focused games are bad or anything, just that it was neat to see your take on a different genre. obviously this is a prerelease and i'm guessing the finished game will have more plot, but just with this little tease, i'm pretty interested in what could become of this idea!
one thing you can always expect from daybloom project's games is that the presentation will be top notch. and it's no exception here. the vhs filter, the really great pixel art (do you KNOW how good it feels to get an rpg maker game with big pixels??)... and the ANALOG HORROR TAPES?! i wasn't expecting that at all, but they were so cool and added such a unique identity to the game!! overall the visuals get an easy 5 stars from me, and they give this game such an awesome vibe (srsly i can't stress enough how ungodly cool mixing analog horror with fantasy is, UGH why isn't that concept more popular-)
the gameplay was really fun! the three maps i played on (idk if there's more) were pretty fair to navigate across, and i completed all of them without too much trouble. the mare footsteps are a simple touch but it's a GREAT one, reminding you that your enemy is there at all times. the only map i had some trouble with was the grid one from how similar everything looked, so i just grabbed pen and paper and literally made a map haha. it was cool to chart my way tho, it wasn't a problem! one issue i do have with the gameplay is that i never really used the special abilities; it was pretty easy to get by without them. but hey that's better than the game being so hard it's required to use them lol.
the story was intriguing and it made me want to get every ending! angry monster mares is really neat concept and i like how it's never really explained what this "mare's flu" is, where it came from or why are we looking for pillars. it adds a cool sense of mystery to the proceedings. like you're an spectator watching the characters do something that feels important, but you don't actually know what it is or even if it's a good thing, it's really cool! though i do have one complaint about the story; the ending tapes move way too fast and it's near impossible to read all the text. it's not the worst thing ever since i could mostly tell what happened in each one, but making it go slower would've gone a long way for the lore.
all in all, this was a great proof of concept, and i hope you find success in the finished game whenever it comes out! :D