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Hi PK!

Just thought I'd let you know that I did a Let's Play of this game for Valentine's Day this year! Here's the link if you wanna have a look at it: 

Keep it up! 

Awesome job, dude! How well do you think the tileset mixes with your previous releases, like Time Fantasy? 

WHAT I ENJOYED:

- The battle mechanics. It seems a bit basic to start off with, but what I really enjoy is that you have a great gameplay loop with really solid mechanics. Everything makes a lot of sense, and is incredibly intuitive. I especially like the Save the Spire-esque telegraphing of the next move. It allowed me to feel very smart when tackling Revenants and especially the boss. 
- The story. Even though the player is in the dark for maybe a bit too long a time at the beginning, both in relation to the characters and the world at large, I can assume this is a byproduct of the demo nature of it. And when given the story, oh man, I LOVE this concept. Perfect mystery, and problem that the player can really get behind.
- The polish. See, I have less to say generally about this game because it just fits together so well. Nothing seemed extraneous or out of place, everything was really nicely balanced, and I felt myself no longer taking notes because I just wanted to play the game! So well done on the immersion and making the player feel comfortable and in control.

WHAT I DIDN'T:

- The dungeons. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff you put in there. The traps, the Revenants, everything - nothing inside the dungeons were poor additions. But because of the nature of your game, you run into the big problem of everything looking very samey, which would be a shame, because you have a great story and the battles are really really fun. But corridors being a tile wide, enemies walking randomly in square rooms... I know this is a failing of the plugin, having used it myself in the past, but should you continue on with this project, the first thing I think you should focus on is trying to find ways to game the system and not have what are essentially the same floors. From something as simple as different tints and putting some tree events in there, to even enlisting the help of a coder to tweak the plugin so rooms can vary in shapes aside from squares and widening the corridors. Yeah, it's just the product of it being a month-long prototype and there not being many options for in-engine generators (though there is a Spelunky-style one for RMVXA that I WISH someone had the time/knowledge to translate). Just something to keep in mind moving forward.

TL;DR:

A really fun rogue-like with a fun gameplay loop and an intriguing mystery to get you excited to explore. The dungeons you do explore could do with some variety, however, especially as you're asking for a looping, tower-dungeon gameplay style.

Thank you for showing off your game, hadecyn! You've made a incredibly fun game with a lot of potential. Best of luck in IGMC2018!

- Caleb

 Thank you, dude. I really appreciate it! 

If ever you get the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

- Catog

(Reposting from my reply on the RPG Maker forums)

What I Liked:

- The presentation. This is a dayum slick game, with killer 8 bit music, and a great Gameboy aesthetic. The title screen art is fantastic, and the boss monster is visually very impressive.
- The world. The Tower of Mu is a really cool concept, with you encountering a bunch of people who have given up on the way. My favourite are the Pig People that tried to climb the tower to revert back to their original forms, but gave up because their "king" decided it was better for them to stay put so he could rule. So keen on that.
- The design. It was obvious that you'd taken a lot of time to figure out how your systems could best interact, and each room presented a different puzzle. And it boggles me still that this was made with RPG Maker. It goes to show that we're not limited to the constraints of our engine.

What I didn't:

- The HP bar. As far as I can see, its only use is to indicate fall damage, which I will get to. The problem is that it's rendered useless by the hazards placed around that game. Now, I see where you're going with this, with your "hardcore" design philosophy, but it means that the player is given a meter for a single system that doesn't carry over to the rest of the game. Traps and hazards, I can understand as one-shot kills. But the monsters around (especially when it comes to the boss) are destructible, and respawn wherever they were killed, thus leading to points when I'm trying to jump up on a platform and suddenly this bird respawns and one-shots me, which seems less "difficult" and more "unfair".
- Fall damage. I have no problem with this as a concept, but at times it felt wildly inconsistent. I could fall into a side hole slightly lower than the one I was meant to, and end up taking fall damage, even though earlier I fell onto a roof slightly off-screen and was fine. Some tweaking, maybe increasing the amount you have to fall to take damage, and this could be a good system, forcing people to stop and think more.
- Sliding. So when you land on a platform, there's always a little bit of "slide". This is became the bane of my existence when it came to the fiddlier platforming sections, as I would land perfectly on the platform, and then slide off. Perhaps making it so you slide after dashing, but not after a regular jump, could mitigate this.

TL;DR:

A great start for a game that uses an engine unconventionally, with an already strong sense of style and world, but definitely needs more refining to make the game difficult without seeming unfair.

Best of luck! 

- Catog