It's highly atmospheric and has plenty of cute characters. Unfortunately, I had some glitches with the mouse cursor not appearing, and I don't think I understand what I did to solve the four elements puzzle. Did make it to the end though.
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Ante Anima's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Characterization | #52 | 3.353 | 3.353 |
| Mental Engagement | #54 | 3.118 | 3.118 |
| Atmosphere | #62 | 3.706 | 3.706 |
| Overall | #64 | 3.176 | 3.176 |
| Lasting Impression | #69 | 3.118 | 3.118 |
| Overall | #72 | 3.235 | 3.235 |
| Emotional Engagement | #100 | 2.529 | 2.529 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
A very interesting puzzle game, I really like the art style and atmosphere of the game!
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Agent of Primary ColorNice job! Congratulations on getting this complete, it has a lot of elements working well together
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Dark Light (Game Jam Version)The artstyle, setting, and atmosphere are incredibly impressive and captivating.
Awesome!
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NIGHT SHIFT+1 for Bao. Another +1 for Goose. Very cool artwork, setting, and atmosphere. Opening dialogs in the bar set the tone well, though it does feel a little heavy-handed with the 'call to adventure'. As some others mentioned, the cursor disappears frequently, seemingly when you're not on a hitbox of some kind and there is no image for the cursor. I must admit I truly had no idea how to make it past the first puzzle. I was expecting some kind of visual or audio cues to indicate the correct choice. After dozens of trial and errors I got too frustrated to keep trying.
Edit: Playing PC version btw, also it seemed the resolution was slightly too large for my monitors, overlapping to the second.
Submitted
The Enigma of Mr. XThanks for playing. We are sorry that you had a problem with the cursor, and we are looking into how to fix it. Unfortunately, we don’t have a Windows machine at our disposal, only a virtual one. The mostly tested versions are for Web and Mac.
In the spell puzzle, you need to grab (by left-clicking) spells from your inventory at the bottom and then right-click on a scene to cast them. You are absolutely right: we need a better explanation of the process.
OK you'll have to forgive my initial ignorance haha but it is a bit of lesson on how to teach dumb players like me. I really enjoy the sun spell puzzles and would love to see lots of these, but the puzzles at the shrine as others have said feel very trial and error-y. It was nice to return to the bar and speak to characters again. I would really like to see Bao involved heavily in the story as he seems like quite a knowledgeable character, and also because he's a talking kitty.
Cool visuals! Love the setting, very stylish design.
Maybe there's too much text, but I believe it can be solved (if decided to) with hiding the previous text, when the new paragraph appears.
Didn't get that spells have some kind of a force field at first, so stuck for a while in the beginning. Maybe it wasn't too obvious...
Text and dialogues are asking for more choices and freedom, but it's the matter of time and for the jam it's best to get your story straight, which you masterly did!
Wished for a change of music on locations (or maybe a switch to some ambient/drone scapes). But that's already asking too much.
Still had some time stuck finding the best way to put a spell (and oh so hard to get the Shrines done, although it's understandable - yet hardcore doable) but really enjoyed the flow of your game. Very cool journey in the Japanese setting, somewhat cute and entertaining, thanks!
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HorseMareIt looks wonderful. The visuals are great and the music is very fitting. I really enjoyed visiting this world, it's an interesting setting. The puzzle mechanics have a lot of potential, but I have to admit that I was a tad lost during the four elements puzzle ... I could practically hear Bao making fun of me. :)
It's a very promising start into a new adventure. I'm curious to see what happens next.
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Under the SeaThanks for playing! We are glad you liked the game! We are also looking forward to developing the game. The four elements puzzle is indeed esoteric at the moment. We need to place a better explanation of its logic.
PS: We indeed planned for Bao to be a part of this puzzle, but ran out of time during the jam :)
This was such a treat! I was totally engrossed by the dialogue, story and setting. All the art looks great, and the spell reaction puzzles were really cool. Maybe in post-jam versions there could be something that punish the player for getting those wrong repeatedly rather than just getting an opportunity to retry it over and over. Like people have said earlier, the shrine puzzle might need a hint, but it was still pretty neat. Following you, I need more of this!
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My Mother & MeThank you for playing! We are considering making the supply of spells finite and then requiring players to spend time replenishing it. Making this game a blend of adventure and team management was a part of the initial idea :)
However, the mechanics of team/resource management is quite different from the mechanics of point-and-click adventure—that’s what we understood clearly during the jam. And they don’t fit easily together. But we’ll still think about how to blend them :)
Never been in a honking contest with a Goose before :D Well written story. I truly hope you keep working on this, after the jam. This game has great potential. Good job!
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SpaceshipWreckedVery neat environment. Can defiantly tell you put work into it! Wasn't sure if some of the moments did not allow me to click were by design or bugs, but overall gj!
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Cubic ChroniclesThis game has such a lovely atmosphere, it's a treat to play. I had a few technical issues, the cursor would disappear sometimes and I was unable to get the browser version to load at all so I downloaded it instead. When I beat the game, I couldn't figure out a way to close it; I had to manually shut down the program. If there's a button to close the game I'd suggest making it more apparent, or otherwise including one if it doesn't exist.
For the gameplay itself, the puzzles were fun to solve once I figured out how they worked. Not obvious, but not overwhelmingly difficult -- aside from the 4 elements one. That felt like a lot of trial and error; that's not a bad thing, but it did feel a bit like lucking into the right answer. For the general talk/interact segments, it was sometimes difficult to tell what could be clicked on since background elements mostly blend together. Aesthetically, it makes it all look cohesive -- but it makes the game a little more difficult to play.
It was very enjoyable overall, I have to say! The art and music are beautiful, and the characters and story are really interesting. If you plan to continue the game after the jam, I'd love to play more.
Submitted
The Butterfly QueenThank you for your comprehensive feedback. The cursor has a problem, but we noticed it only in the web version. Thanks for reporting it! The “close game” button is indeed something we forgot to add XD.
We are thinking about how to improve the 4 elements puzzle with additional hints. Interactive characters and objects are indicated by a cursor change. Maybe here, the cursor wasn’t working for you? I don’t know if an outline or highlight is needed. It looks a bit off. A hotkey to highlight interactive objects may do.
Thanks for playing. Glad that you’ve enjoyed the game :) We indeed plan to continue working on it.
WOW this was awesome, loved the arts and the puzzles, gg !
Submitted
Everything is going upPlease try this link with Safari: https://ante-anima.herokuapp.com
It is the same version available on itch.io now but fixed for Safari. It should load on Chrome as well, but on Chrome/Mac it takes a few minutes to start, so better use Safari.
Thank you!
Unfortunately, Google still hasn’t updated Chrome to use Metal for shaders. You can work around it, if you start Chrome from the terminal (command line):
/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --use-angle=metal
This way, the game shall work from itch!
PS: Please first quit Chrome before starting it from command line.
The art and the soundscape are really pretty! The worldbuilding is great as well. I managed to beat it, but I wasn't 100% sure about the logic of the temple/shrine puzzle at the time of beating it, so it felt a little accidental. I think I understand now, but still, beating it partly by accident doesn't feel ideal. The chain-reaction-of-spells mechanic seems neat, would've liked to see a bit more than that. Overall, it gives an impression that you didn't get around to implementing everything you intended to, but the base is solid!
Submitted
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