itch.io

Many feelings on this game, for it would most likely have been my most favourite, if not for some big caveat. The graphics are gorgeous , especially the character arts. Also the environments are very detailed. The ideas of farming, item shopping, leveling and money farming bring many mechanics to the table that could have been made for a really great mixture. The scope of this game is quite big, but, from what I played of the action portion of the game (first dungeon + boss) it is pretty good in its spacing of content, it never felt like something overstayed it welcome or things like areas were to big or drawn out. The music was great and the sounds good, it even had voiced lines for the welcoming lines of characters. 

But now I get to the mayor flaw: The combat. It is a big part of the overall game, so it is quite center staged and it was, sadly , frustrating. The hitbox of the characters sword is quite short and can only hit the front, not a bit diagonal. So parts become a problem were enemies place themself to the side of a bottleneck like a bridge and there is no way to hit them without getting hit by them. Also there is nothing like a stunlock or knockback mechanic to avoid hits by enemies. Many enemies recklessly charge into me and hitting them does nothing to get me out of harms way (Except for the snakes , if i analysed it correctly) . Also their hitboxes linger a bit after beeing defeated. 

Those would be the main points that led to a lot of frustration, which is why i only played the first dungeon. I surely was able to port home at every point, but it felt like trial and error and walking back again and again was a bit annyoing. 

The theme was not 100% met, but this is a bit subjective. One would say having combat is not "friendly" or romancing is not quite the same, but i don't want to get to hard on this. If those points were fixed, this game would have been stellar and surely placed first or second for the games I reviewed. This is why this is possibly the biggest review text I wrote, because i really saw the potential and talent behind this one. Please don't take it the wrong way. :)

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Lots of music on this one, while i found the checkers track a bit overtuned in the bass department, I liked some of the tunes, like the one on the screen with the checkers NPC. I liked the idea with the minigame, though it could have been more difficult or maybe have different difficulties. Could have been a theme to have more of them and make friends through playing games. The storytelling is a bit loose , but the implications are clear. A bit more variety would have been nice. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

It was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. I liked that it was not a linear chain quest but had some twists, although it would have been sufficient to get wood 3 times for the business guy, but that really is nitpicking. Cute Dialogues. Sudden twist and cute ending.

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

It was a short and quick experience. Gave me a  smile due to the music and the sound after completing. Really adorable cat! :) A simple concept , pure QTE.

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Adorable concept! Really enjoyed playing this one. Unique idea, at least in my experience. Also really dug the music! It was fairly well balanced for such a short game, but some questions really go me sweating , made me drink my health potion all the time, but i managed to beat it first try, but it was really tense. Really nice character art! Also good idea with one monster dropping the answer to the nintendo power question, which would otherwise have been very difficult. :) Really enjoyed this one!

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Really loved the concept and presentation. Adorable sprites and animation. Great intro and boot up logo! Took me one ride to grasp the concept, but after that everything was self explanatory and came organically. The idea of altering the levels depending on the passenger was a nice idea. Some levels however where simply a alternative goal to the prior one and played relatively the same. (bells level even has 3 variations). I even would not have mind longer levels when they had a more unique concept or twist. But this is a really great foundation that could be taken even further. Music was really pleasant. I would suggest making the scoring screen a bit shorter, after some repetition it gets a bit tedious. Liked the playable credits! Overall I really liked this game!

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Movement is solid and everything is learnable in the context of the game. The game starts with introducing mechanics like a trampline and then the next level utilises is more. Then the level with the rain came, where i learned to shield against the rain with the slime. The next level was practically the same , with a mushroom at the end , that somehow did nothing(?). After reading the comment section of your Jam Page I edited this part and found time to play that last level (the wind level) again, since I also got that softlock. If not for that, the idea with the leaf was pretty good and fun. I certainly think if you stick to a full game, you would manage to use different gameplay mechanics and make interesting puzzles with it. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Really enjoyed the music on this one and foundation for an enjoyable game is certainly there. The jumping mechanic, especially the fast downward traject gets a bit in the way, especially when there are frame drops that lock the players ability to trigger the multi jump. Other than that, the rooms get slighty more difficult but rarely add mechanics. Difficulty is raised by less non-harmful space to navigate. Also , there is a room with water, which physics are not fully utilised. I know, I must sound really negative, but I see that there were many ideas and just needed a bit more time to flesh out. If future projects add more mechanics and utilise them to make for diverse and more challenging game play, there is a lot of promise! 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Neat idea and while i thought there can be a lot of trial and error involved, I found after one failure a strategy that worked for all 3 levels. A little twist per level that the player has to work into their thought process would have been nice. Maybe with an ability to re-seat the pupils. This would make for a really fun minigame. The music was okay and not exhausting, only the victory jingle played a bit dissonant over the level music.

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Cute little characters. The fetch quests in itself were not difficult but led to different mechanics like rockbreaking. I really liked the idea with the fishing minigame. This was a nice and well balance touch. The boss battle was a bit easy if you only stood before him and spammed your sword. You lose two hearts but then the friends cutscene kicks in. I don't know what would happen if you would not have befriended everyone, though. Some i-frames and also a bit more damage feedback would help. The second phase with the rocks is a bit to fast for the player to react and leads it into a more "trial and error" approach and feels a bit unfair. Could be a pattern that has to be memorized but if you do a hard boss battle with trial and error, you should have a save point before it. I had to only walk 2 times to it , but it felt a bit annoying. The music was a bit exhausting after some time, but it was good that there was different music in the houses and for the boss. Otherwise the idea between character interaction with an occasional hard battle in between is pretty good, but could also need a bit more context storywise. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

A very weird game. The music is atonal and there is no apparent goal. I found the weirdness also a bit curious invoking because i always wondered what will happen next. There was some effort put into creating many different characters. Also I like it when games switch in playstyles, here, from top down to 2D sidescrolling. Sadly these elements are not utilised in meaningful ways and so the only thing that lasts in the end is the thought: "What did I just play?" Interesting weirdness that would benefit from more purpose. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Took me 3 tries to get the good ending. Would have helped if I talked to everyone from the start, so it is on me. :) Simple music that does not get exhaustive. The characters and animations felt quite unique. Amazing pixel art portrait of the protagonist in the intro and outro. Really beautiful. Walking and jumping felt fine. Picking up items was a bit tricky. They seemed to have a small hit box and sometimes it felt like I had to hold the B button. Not elegant, but since there was no timing or precision needed, it did not get in the way overall. Fun little experience. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Though this game stretches the theme of the gamejam very far, I found some interesting ideas. Movement is solid and while the teleport is not mandatory for the first two levels I really enjoyed the second boss and the final level + boss and the dual lane setup. This could have even been the theme of the game and be used in different variantions. In the level 2 though I felt not incentivised to swap the lane.  I first though the plane enemies to be a bit to agile , but it helps that they have a clear pattern, so it felt just fine in the end. Would have liked to have one additional enemy in the final level to have one new component there. The hitbox of the own shot was quite generous in size  but the firing rate was just fine to not feel OP or underwhelming. Maybe a bit less hitbox size or firing rate would have been the sweet spot, but it was no major drawback. The music track really made use of the 4 bits and i had the feeling it stretched it with a few tricks. I liked it , but it gets exhausting over the course of the game because it is so "in your face".

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Really adorable sprites, ingame and in the cutscenes the bunny and dragon get a lot of detail. Really nice menu screen. Liked the twist and playful approach with the gamejams theme that the run and gun approach gives you the bad ending and the pacifist run the good ending (and is also a tad more challenging and gives replay value). The dialogue at the end really added charm even if it was a bit nonsensical. :) I always like it when games use simple sounds in text bubbles to give more nuance to a character.

The gameplay/platforming has a light difficulty progression from start to finish and everything can be learned in context organically without context except for the double jump. After you enter the building with the , you get a context for the double jump. It would have been nice to have before you get to the key. The knockback after firing is a choice , that did not get in the way but may be not liked by every player. Also some enemies mix up their bullets and upon re-entering a area where you K.O.ed the dragons they are trapped in a repetitive K.O. animation (but the animation is nice :) ). The music is really simplistic.

I really enjoyed this short trip. I found lots of qualities here, especially on the animation side. :) 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

The game stays constantly fresh by using the different animals with different gameplay elements. This way it is more like 6 minigames. It always made you wonder how the next level will play. All in all though they are very easy and would be more challenging if there were less tutorial screens and some parts could be figured out by oneself. Some tutorial screens vanish very fast before they can be read. A confirm button would be nice here. It is also confusing that in its second level the monkey jumps much lower (the monkey sprite really was adorable and had a nice animation!) This game would have been very satisfying if every mode had some progression in terms of new mechanics and difficulty. Nonetheless i liked the variety. Sadly no music and sound on this one. Some effort went into the cutscene graphics. Really nice! 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Just edited my text here before posting since i saw many had that problem with the (now infamous :D) "red turret room". I really liked how the game staged its narration. The dev's approach was not to introduce mechanics and flesh them out immedeatly, but switched things almost every room which fit the scenario really good. Music was okay and served the mood. Also sufficent audio feedback for all elements. Visually clean and appropriate and immersive enough for the context of the story. I really liked how the bossfight in the end used the game's overall idea and went for some unconventional approach. Really worth fleshing out with more ideas and a polished difficulty progression. I really enjoyed your first finished game and i imagine this can be an even much better title if you have more than 7 days. :) 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

The labyrinth is very good designed and challenges the player's spacial awareness. The puzzles build up in complexity quite nicely. But you have multiple ways of progression once you find out that the litters you push the dookie boxes into are also ladders to a level below. I only discovered it by chance because once you have pushed the boxes into it they are blocked until you re-enter the screen. Could have been done a bit more elegantly, but it is not impossible to find out. Charming conversation with the woman in the end. I think I just got a weird bug in the end, where the man at the counter said i have to pet 2 more cats and there was one cat not permanently switching to "happy" after petting it. I was able to pet it 2 more times and got the ending this way. There was also a yarn that seemed not to do anything and a mouse which path i was able to block and then interact with, but it seemed not to do anything (left over ideas?). Only one song was used but it was really enjoyable and not annoying. Movement was clean and the speed felt appropiate. I enjoyed playing it, only the ending with the bugged cat dragged it a bit out. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Adorable very minimalistic sprites. Very good progression in terms of adding new mechanics and slowly ramping up difficulty in the platforming. Clever use of the elements. There were some invisible blocks that did not seem to be intended, though one level had a smiley added on top that could hint at some trolling could have been intended. Movement and jumping felt really good for this kind of precision platforming puzzler. My main gripe was the jankiness of the switches. I figured out that only one can be pressed at the same time, no problem, but sometimes they triggered unintentionally by swapping characters. The music was a bit dull and really barely noticeable. (But not annyoing). I really could have seen me playing this for longer if there were more levels, because I liked the games design in general. Only the switches annoyed a bit. 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

The sprite of the girl and her expressions and later additions depending on the choice are very well done. I can see the effort put into this. The writing was intriguing and convincing in context to the goal - to judge her action. Where the choice really is a matter of perspective, which also is clearly hinted at the way the girl and death are talking to another. I really liked that. There are some minor choices in between for different ways in the dialogue , but they are not changing the ending. The music is very simplistic , but in general really adds to the emotional tone. I liked the shift in pitch after the the picture cutscene. A convincing short story. Really liked it! This game would be my "honourable mention" that would also make me wish for a seperate narrative/walkingsim/fetchquest category.

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Very clever puzzling parts with light platforming mixed in. There is no clear progression in terms of adding new elements and introduce them with a organic puzzle separatly , but it uses the sum of its parts in very different ideas and always feels fresh and never dull. Very good difficulty progression with only two tutorial button prompts in between. The rest comes organically to the player. Took me one two times until I realised that the planes of the character got their own colour and they fall through the plain of the other. This couuuuld be hinted at, but i don't consider this a big oversight. I really liked the idea with the "Don't feed the spikes"-sign as a hint for resetting when you softlock your run. :) Also nice that there are short cutscenes, they add charm to the characters and context, also they are completly optional because they are integrated into the world map. Speedrunners will love this kind of thinking. There could be maybe some more music, but the track in the levels is pleasant and not exhausting. Neat little twist in the finale where the two characters can jump on each other. Also there is a multiplayer, though I could not try it at the time of writing, maybe I get the chance to test it. One of my favourite overall packages in this gamejam

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points: 

• catchy music 
• I liked the multiple choice idea but wished that it would resolve in some gameplay use 
• That last sentence on the raft killed me :D 

Other Feedback

• pretty straight forward , more or less a walking simulator without any gameplay mechanics

It was a very short game which created big expectation due to the multiple choice idea and the "overworld screen" with the icons for the different zones. I found the latter a clever idea to make travelling around the island fast. I would have wished those Multiple choices would have different effects and gameplay twists

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points: 

• catchy tune in the village 
• adorable concept 
• some funny dialogues (i like puns, so i liked the aware wolf) :)

Other Feedback 

• some quests don't complete (picture of the moon), some items are not usable (ranger key did not work), so i maybe was not able to complete everything

Funny and charming idea, but maybe the scope was to big or some bugs prevented me from progressing in the side quest chains. Many NPC have no dialogues and do nothing. The idea was engaging enough to see if the dev/team came up with more gameplay ideas in addition to walking and talking

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points: 

• good overall concept 
• nice heaven twist, also for the additional player skills 
• music is enjoyable

Other Feedback 

• Introtext had a bit short screen time, would be nice to press a button to end it after reading 
• hitboxes of bullets are a bit deceiving 
• double jump mechanic is a bit unresponsive, sometimes it does not work 
• needs more visible space to the upside, many death occur by getting hit by suddenly appearing bullets 
• the best choice at the skeletons always was "checkpoint", the rest was way less useful 
• jumps in difficulty due to its layout of spikes , plattforms and enemies. 
• I found that building up movement momentum was a bit slow, but that could be a matter of preference. 
• could introduce more enemy types or gameplay/environment mechanics. 
• could hint at possible interactions with the lost soul by displaying a button prompt at the first one

I like tough platformers, also minimalistic ones. The foundation is good but held a bit back by repetitiveness, random difficulty and perceived unfair deaths. The main flaw would be for me the slow buildup of movement momentum and the clunky double jump. Still it is a charming concept and I was satisfied when I found god. :) 

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points:

• Charming intro! 
• engaging music 
• nice feature to change instruments and musical scale when switching emotions!!! 
• nice how puzzling and platforming goes hand in hand 
• setting is immersive but also clean and good to read

Other Feedback 

• level 2 is a bit tricky, double swap emotions while jumping to move the block was a great idea but so early ingame it was quite a difficulty spike 
• sometimes strong framedrops 
• the mushroom jump is a bit hit and miss. I like the option to get a high jump when I jump from inside to mushroom, but it does not always work and I guess it is a bug. Gets in the way with one of the bee puzzles, but it is just a minor annoyance

This game really made me smile. It gives good context with its intro. The music is catchy and has that nice emotional twist. Puzzles are self explanatory and always go hand in hand with the platforming. Apart from some difficulty spikes there was no dull moment and i really enjoyed it until the end. To be honest one of my favourite Top 3 of this contest.

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points:

• Charming concept  
• Explains the game largely by contextual gameplay 
• jumping felt good 
• all in all very good puzzle progression 

Other feedback  

• movement animation really minimalistic 
• sometimes movement freezes when switching to a very close partner, but continues after some button presses 
• level 7 and 8 would have made for me if they would have switched its order, 8 felt easier than 7 and helped me better to understand what to do in 7
• music feels a bit exhaustive after some loops, but I liked it
• Level 14 felt like a big difficulty spike. because the platform duration was pretty short. 
• platform hitboxes duration time related to visibility are not in sync
• I was not sure if I did the correct thing in room 2 of stage 15, i jumped on the spiders head and then over its left claw to the platforms with the butterfly. Took me a while to figure out. then room 3 or 4 was somehow not important because I just needed to jump on the buddy and charm. was there supposed to be some kind of mechanic? 
• Regarding the theme it was okay 

I really enjoyed playing through this short puzzler. The dev/team has a general idea how to scale difficulty and to introduce new mechanics organically. Just here and there was a bit of trial and error necessary.  

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

Strong points:

• Charming concept  
• Explains the game largely by contextual gameplay 
• jumping felt good 
• all in all very good puzzle progression 

Other feedback  

• movement animation really minimalistic 
• sometimes movement freezes when switching to a very close partner, but continues after some button presses 
• level 7 and 8 would have made for me if they would have switched its order, 8 felt easier than 7 and helped me better to understand what to do in 7
• music feels a bit exhaustive after some loops, but I liked it
• Level 14 felt like a big difficulty spike. because the platform duration was pretty short. 
• platform hitboxes duration time related to visibility are not in sync
• I was not sure if I did the correct thing in room 2 of stage 15, i jumped on the spiders head and then over its left claw to the platforms with the butterfly. Took me a while to figure out. then room 3 or 4 was somehow not important because I just needed to jump on the buddy and charm. was there supposed to be some kind of mechanic? 
• Regarding the theme it was okay 

I really enjoyed playing through this short puzzler. The dev/team has a general idea how to scale difficulty and to introduce new mechanics organically. Just here and there was a bit of trial and error necessary.  

- Vashetrockner from ncon_ev

The fast battle system makes it super fun from the get-go.  Multiple starting characters are a great motivation to start a new playthrough several times.

- Oliversum from ncon_ev

From the first seconds this was one of my favorites. I really like the color palettes, the cute small but expressive sprites, happy and friendly atmosphere helping others around town and especially the music in this.

- Oliversum from ncon_ev

Love the friendly atmosphere including nature, good music, the colors and especially the gameplay variety with the mini-games.

- Oliversum from ncon_ev

Fun RPG-like game with innovative Undertale-inspired combat mechanics for the Game Boy. The rhythm-gamer in me wanted it to be a music/rhythm-RPG at first glance. Maybe an idea for another game?

- Oliversum from ncon_ev

Nice twist on the classic box-moving puzzle. At first I thought it was a co-op puzzler (with cpu), but the other cat is not as co-op as you want it to be. "too" friendly ;)

- Oliversum from ncon_ev