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When I saw "choosable pronouns" in the list of bullet points I got really excited that there's finally some customization for me to feel represented, since I use xir/xem pronouns which are rarely EVER represented in media, only to be disappointed that it was once again just the choice between the she/he/they like in most games :/ A shame because this game looked really nice and I'm a bit hurt that once again, even in a queer bundle, I struggle to find proper representation of who I am...

An AI could do mundane debris collecting, you know? No need for a human to do that.

Very heavy-handed and pretentious writing. The one-sentence per line style wears thin very quickly and the message conveyed was very generic. 

But they haven't improved in a long time and people here are malding at me giving said feedback.

Game started out promising, nice dialogue and atmosphere, but then it just became jumpscare with a spoopy face. Come on now. Even the voice acting was top notch

I actually played it for quite a while, it had me hooked even, which makes it doubly sad for me that its in such a sorry state. My comment wasn't rage bait at all, it was my honest opinion, and I don't understand why you and others feel the reflexive need to shield the devs from criticism lmao. The game can have lots of glaring flaws, and still be fun, those two aren't mutually exclusive bucko

Its not a "masterpiece" lmao, its a game with a good concept and terrible execution. With this much funding and the game having been out since August 2022 more should be expected and demanded. You haven't played a better game in a "long time"? Want some recommendations? Cause you clearly seem starved for quality in that case.

If you had the time to count the characters and comment on all of my replies you could've also read the post lol, obsessed loser

tf you mean "bait"? Name one thing about my comment that's untrue?

Where to even start with this? A conceptually interesting and fun game ruined by a plethora of issues that make it seem as if the devs are deliberately trying to make the gameplay as annoying as humanely possible. The base layout was nice and condensed last update, now it's even more tedious to navigate than last time, especially because you have to quickly switch back and forth to interact with the various functions of (power is at the bottom, server room in another hall entirely, etc.) it on top of having to babysit the protagonists hunger and sleep needs. Good thing the dev also decided to add hunger damage. Both of these stats could've been left out the game entirely, but they just HAD to be in there. Oh, by the way, since the Base is bigger now, the usual gameplay loop of Finish up a Crate with Processed Signals-->Carry to Pickop Point- involves walking through two doors and a hallway, the doors of which you cannot keep open.

Next up the various "little" things. Dear dev, please go outside, pick up a fucking rock, and see how long it takes for you to smash a wooden board. Unless you have major motoric disabilities or late-stage osteoporosis, I guarantee you that its not going to take a few dozen times of smashing the board until it cracks. I do not see a single conceivable reason as to why it would be this way, neither story- nor gameplaywise. Did I mention that something as simple and ubiquituous as picking and placing objects also functions in the most burdensome way imaginable? It took me five minutes just to figure out how to fill and use a box of drives, lid and everything. Oh, and items stack in your inventory despite possessing different qualities (Batteries stack regardless of charge, Sheets of paper stack no matter if somethings written on them and what) forcing you to drop them on the ground and individually check them each time. If you're going to imitate a source Engine game, don't forego player convenience to make it maximally tedious, please. 


Not to mention the dirt and trash everywhere - if the fact that the place looks worse than an illegal dumpsite in rural Bangladesh is supposed to convey that the research station is abandoned, it could've been demonstrated with environmental cues that DON'T obstruct what you're doing!!! If the base was abandoned, it would be dusty and overgrown, but it wouldn't look as if two rivaling football fan clubs inhabited it overnight. The buildings containing the transformators are so full of it that you cannot even enter without taking some of it out the doorway, with no rhyme or reason, just as if the dev felt like spamming trash in there.

If all the cumbersome features mentioned weren't enough (by NO means exhaustive) there's also the fact that the sleeping you HAVE to do (remember, stamina meter) is frequently interrupted by nonsensical, and yet aestethically identical nightmares that quite literally throw you out of bed, if you don't complete them. And guess what? If you dont, then it literally depletes part of your stamina, making it wasted time. Ridiculous.

Inserting a drive carrying a signal into the processor cannot be done from a comfortable angle, because the devs still haven't fixed it, so you need to literally throw it into the slot as if you're performing a bottleflip and hope it sticks.

Since not a single apparatus on base is allowed to function reliably, the devs also made the radio tower break down this update, since we didn't have enough micromanaging on our plate yet. And you do that via clicking a button on the panel. No visual indication of anything changing, no sign of you having actually done something in the world that affected the radio tower. Lazy. The radio tower adds absolutely nothing to the game aside from another chore to manage, and moreover, it seems like no thought went into it because your superiors insist that the tower is needed to "triangulate your location". You do not need to do this in the early 2000's or late 90's to digitally determine someones location (GPS exists, and they are apparently still able to message you to tell you that they cannot find you) and even if you were to somehow totally slip off their radar, the location the drone lands on is ALWAYS THE SAME. They do not even technically need you to broadcast your location at all times, they never track your actual location (which would make the game easier, therefore its not a feature).

Instead of adding new features that would build on the games strengths and make it more fun(f.ex. more ways to inspect or interact with the astronomical objects you're observing, especially when that very same process is also extremely tedious), the dev just adds more things to keep track of and more chores. At this point the game consists of 90% babysitting antennae, servers, and transformators (ordered on temu I suspect, with the frequency they break down at), your own physical needs, and 10% actual horror content or exploring the cosmos. The actual content you're working towards experiencing in this game is tiny; it's artifically bloated by the tediums and work routines the dev keeps piling on to make it seem like there's content.

Oh, by the way, some of the most glaring bugs still haven't been fixed yet. For example, the fact that the nonsensical automatic processing upgrade (essentially enabling you to flick a switch determining the level at which the processing ceases) is reset to 1 whenever you load the game. Since this game is all about time and resource management that creates a major annoyance, especially if you saved while being out in the woods. It's so full of them, in fact, that you often can't even tell if somethings supposed to be a horror element or if it's just collision glitching out and creating noise.

Speaking of the horror: The pacing of it is terrible. The game succeeds in making you feel on edge through the isolation and mildly creepy happenings around you, but never delivers, thereby overstaying it's welcome and wearing out quickly. The first weeks are more or less just your boring wagie-routine with tiny specks of spoopy here and there, spread on so thinly that its often impossible to tell them apart from the bugs. It needs more actually scary, not ANNOYING things happening. Less "Haha Burger"s, sexualized Aliens, Crates, and underpaid IT-Labour, and more atmospheric horror could do the trick, perhaps? Just a suggestion.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people asking the devs for an update are called out as impatient and "entitled", and that the devs were brazen enough to tell their community to stop asking for them. Guys - he earns 9.200+ Dollars a month on Patreon, this is no longer a simple passion project (it's his only active project in fact, that's where all this money is going towards). This game and it's community deserve monthly updates and a responsive developer actually adding real, tangible content, real QoL updates. You do not take that much money without being held accountable. It doesn't work that way. He doesn't even give proper status updates, let alone real updates, and yet the game is in a sorry state. How about he and his companion tackle all the issues mentioned above instead of adding funni sex aliens to the game? And like, soon? "It's out when it's out lol" doesn't work anymore when you're earning that much. The Game is not "BIG" - in fact, it's rather small in reality - and "taking a fat break" from it implies that a lot of hard, sudorific work has gone into it. 9.200+ Dollars, by the way, in case you forgot.

Writing kinda mid tbh

Got annoyed with the fifth fish or so and quit. Make them less tedious to catch

I see, thank you for elaborating and the respectful reply. Yes, me not playing to the point where the problems I mentioned are actually addressed might have skewed my view of the entire game.

And?

"Uhmmm it's literally a GAME why are you critizising it THOUGH??"

What you are is of no interest to me. I also literally stopped playing it after realizing I didn't like it and that it was pretty bad

The art in this game is ok. The problematic parts, that made me quit after the first sex scenes, become evident right when you start. So, first things first, we are introduced to this female-presenting character called Hazel. Just to include the stupid "boymilk" meme, she literally commits a crime and CUMS into your coffee, an act that is implied to be taking place regularly in the Cafe. In any country of this planet, that would be a giant scandal, and her life would be ruined, should it ever came to light. Apparently, the MC is retroactively ok with this, but that does NOT make it okay, even in the slightest.

The sexual harrassment continues with Hazel literally ripping your boxers off without asking, but I suppose it's ok because she's conventionally attractive and hot.

Oh, speaking of "her"; this game, despite including a Trans character, and addressing things such as gender identity, at the very least ostensibly, and being aware that trap is a, I quote, "outdated term", could not be more offensive towards Trans-people and femboys alike. Hazel is the only example of this I can cite, due to not having fully played the game: She visibly reacts positively to being referred to as a Girl and avoids referring to herself as a boy. This strongly implies her being a transfem, rather than a boy, who would insist on their male gender identity. Neither the protag, nor the narration ever dispute this, referring to them with male pronouns and even call them as a "guy", just because they possess a penis. Oh, and also, the Cafe being called an "Estro-Cafe", and Hazel, the "Femboy" literally just looking like a girl with a Penis, no visibly boy-ish traits at all, really fails to capture the whole "Femboy" thing, and looks like just another damaging mischaracterization of Femboys and Feminine Men in general. The implication is that they're on Estrogen, which you most definetly should not take unless you actually want to transition. Thank you for romantizing a damaging trend.

Then, during Sex, she refers to herself as a, I quote "sissy", and the Protag calls her a "cumdump"; that could very well be interpreted as an insult, unless you really know it's their kink. In Hazels case, we don't know upfront. They literally just met, and are already fucking.

Let's continue with the Anal Sex. Has anyone working on this game ever done Anal actively or passively? If they did, they should be aware, that it's not even close to being as simple as spreading lube over your ass and hoping for the best. Anal takes preparation, cleaning yourself etc., so unless Hazel is always perpetually prepared, just in case yet another male customer comes in that she would like to sexually harass, this doesn't make sense - oh, wait, nevermind, she claims of it to be her FIRST TIME, just so the Protag (and the Player) can have the satisfaction of taking her virginity, and of course, the Sex that follows functions perfectly despite her lack of experience and they both romantically cum at the same time, just like in my amazing H-Doujins. After that they even have the gall to say how "different" it is from porn, because you got to clean up afterwards. Kudos for the writer(s) to think about this one for more than a single second.

Anyway, I suppose if you turn your brain off, it could be erotic, or something.

Interesting and unique game. Only thing missing would be some cleaner writing and an ending where you cut the Liars face off, to give it back to God.

Cute character and art, though the writing leaves much to be desired. Do there happen to be any more intimate scenes with him?

Very mature

Right, 'pologies for that one. 

What do you mean, exactly?

Why was my critizism deleted? That's really insecure, dear dev

Surprisingly competent writing and presentation. The dialogue is very authentic too. Is the dev of this game a NEET herself?

I find the game to be kind of lazily made, no offense. The clothes are just pngs (in some cases not even properly cropped) that don't even register/snap into place when you drag them over the respective bodyparts. The boy also shows no reaction to anything you put on him at all, so that's a letdown as well. You're essentially just dragging pngs across the screen.

Also, the music suddenly kicks in 10-15 seconds into the game.

I'd like the game if it had actual clothing placement and if the boy had dynamic reactions to what you're doing, otherwise it's hardly a proper "dress-up" game.

Hey. I like the concept, but in it's current state, I find the game to be nigh unplayable and very lackluster. Let's start with the logical errors: Why is a person convicted of treason forcibly drafted to enact death sentences on criminals? I think the fate of such people, especially in 1776 Boston, would be to hang from the very same rope that we make others swing from ingame. What's more, why would you place the responsibility of deciding over life or death into the hands of a person with potentially high criminal energy? What's more, how does the Mayor, who should purely legally and administratively speaking not even be responsible for and capable of critizising our decisions, know wether or not the person was innocent but only after we hung them? Why doesn't HE execute said criminals, if he's so all-wise instead of making a traitor like us do it? What's more, the evidence in all of these cases was lacking, absolutely insufficient to persecute or even suspect anyone for, let alone EXECUTE (!), not even in the late 1700s was the American Justice System that bad. The historic context of it being set in Colonial America, which, on principle, could've made the game interesting, was awkwardly inserted, and the aestethics (the papers, drawings, the language, etc.) do not abide by it, which makes it seem incredibly inauthenthic and jarring.

From the way the cases are presented, and with the lack of evidence to collect in every single one of them, it is impossible to convict anyone with any degree of certainty, which, in this type of game, is an absolute dealbreaker. The only way for us to do the moral thing is to KNOW who we need to execute, rather than simply doing guesswork and having an all-knowing diety of a mayor tell us wether we were right. This all-knowing mayor also happens to be incredibly tolerant, because our criminal record as a traitor not withstanding, we are permitted to keep our job despite executing two innocents in a row, and being let go with a slap on the wrist. What sense does this make to you, dear developer?

I apologize if this may have come off as a rant, or rude; I merely want to draw your attention to the glaring flaws so that you may work on them and make an actually good and interesting game out of this.

(SPOILER WARNING)

Hello Ronove,

So, today I played the game on stream with my girlfriend, and I couldn't help but leave a comment.

I would like to begin by stating that the presentation, in artstyle and design (especially the pixel art) was to my liking and that it has a lot of potential. It's clear that passion and effort have been put into it and that theres room for much more.

However, as a game, it was an underwhelming experience. All the story elements (Characters, Plot, Social commentary, etc.) were very barebones and had little to no impact; partially because the game was so short, but mostly due to surface-level writing.

CHARACTERS

The relationship between the Sorcerer and his apprentice, clearly meant to depict an abusive dependancy, fell totally flat, because the bond between the two was hardly ever expanded upon. Ingame, the apprentice was nothing but a magic tool, meant to serve a very simple and almost menial purpose, to be put to sleep once said purpose had been fulfilled (for what reason? Why couldn't he simply been kept awake? Surely it would've been useful to have another skilled necromancer at hand?). The relationship between him and the Sorcerer, implied to be much more deeper and with a lot more backstory (including romantic baggage very transparently hinted at in the dialogue) was never explained or shown. This makes both characters feel incredibly shallow and the plot all the more unimpactful. The other characters, only seen ingame as Skeletons, are nothing but a few contextual lines of dialogue to us, therefore, we, as the player, cannot have any form of bond towards them, making the scenes in which they are resurrected emotionally meaningless.

PLOT

When it comes to the actual plot, there were several inconsistencies. For one; the character suffers from very selective amnesia, left with just enough memories to love his master and know that they have been ordered to resurrect him, but not with enough memories to realize the ultimate futility of what they're doing, only enough to carve and write very cryptic notes that could've been much more straightforward. Only due to player intervention does he suddenly realize the loop he is in, and then decide to leave his master behind forever and simply leave with no regrets, which, considering his seemingly deep adoration for him, is strange and not in character. (By the way; if he's supposed to hide his necromancy prowess, why does he decide to walk around with a gang full of spooky scary skeletons? Shouldn't that raise some eyebrows?).

About the nymphs - their barters with the necromancer don't make much sense. Why are they willing to trade one of theirs for an object as mundane as a handheld mirror? What would they use it for if they are dead? Are they a hivemind-collective that values a slightly valuable item over a "drone"? What's more, when the Protag decided to not take her life after all, the unredeemed gift was simply ignored, and the nymph asked for an additional (!) item to give him very general advice.

The memories our character goes through clearly depict a time when he lived as an apprentice under the masters overlordship along with the rest of the court in a much more conventional setting. However, at some point, the implied Battle happened, and the master decided to use him as a human battery for magic storage. However - at the point of the game - the battle happened centuries in the past and there is no imminent threat to the mansion and/or its inhabitants. So why does the Master decide to simply put us into a magically induced coma the second we raise him from the dead? Why can't we just keep going like before, until he has his army assembled again? It just makes him look like a Dick for no conceivable reason, which is doubly weird, because he does display some affection for the protagonist. Which leads us to the third point.

SOCIAL COMMENTARY

If im not totally mistaken, then a central theme of this short game would definetly be abusive relationships and independence. There are two endings, and although they are never classified as good or bad, it's very clear which one's which. In the good ending, the Protag leaves behind the tutelage of his abusive master (possibly boyfriend) to pursue an independent existence. In the bad one, he is put to sleep, to be used again as insurance, should the battle for the "World" (whatever that means) go wrong for the Xth time (by the way, why doesn't the Master ever change his strategy in the face of all these failures? Is he stupid? And why do his enemies never realize that leaving him as a fully intact skeleton on the altair inevitably leads to his resurrection? Why don't they just burn his body and dispose of the ashes into the ocean or something? Or maybe just behead him? Without a skull, a resurrection doesn't work after all, as clearly stated ingame). The main problem with how the relationship at hand is depicted is that the Sorcerer is a one-dimensional villainous conqueror who uses the Protag as nothing but a tool for his ambitions, which stands in almost total contrast to how he has been portrayed in the memories. Even though his manipulative personality does shine through, there are plenty of hints and dialogue cues scattered about that imply an intricate and even romantic bond to the Protag. All of this, however, is not just never expanded upon, it is totally thrown away in the bad ending, undoing the built up plot, and in the good ending too, by merit of the Protag simply abandoning his master. Not only does this make the games characters impossible feel attached to, it also makes abusive relationships seem dangerously easy to see through and likens abusers in such relationships to cartoonish villains that can be easily distinguished and discarded, and getting away from them is presented as an easy act, which it never is.

This game had a lot of premise. Intriguing characters and setting, good art, etc., but it failed to build and deliver on all of that. Why? The relationship between the Protag and the Master, and even the rest of the court, could've been definetly expanded on and imbedded into a more satisfying and deeper plot. I'm genuinely lost as to why it was all dropped for a very short and lackluster experience, when it had the potential for so much more. It didn't become bad, until I realized - "Hey, wait, that's it? That's all?"

Either way - given the contrast between the writing, and the presentation, I couldn't help but feel the need to write this well-intentioned piece of criticism, in hopes that you will take it well, and that you may use it to improve your work further.