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Bildungsroman: Murders in the Sanatorium's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sound/Music | #37 | 3.402 | 4.500 |
| Controls / UI | #39 | 3.402 | 4.500 |
| Overall Fun | #54 | 2.457 | 3.250 |
| Art / Graphics | #57 | 2.835 | 3.750 |
Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Hello, this is my
really latereview:I want to first list that I misunderstood one of the screenshots making me sure that there would be a walking mechanic. But I was off the mark. And sadly, I have only realized my mistake after the event was over. So, apologies in advance.
So, the overviews did feel a bit long/drawn out. Cecil's accusation helped shake it up, and the doctor's comments as well. The gameplay is like any VN, I have the impression that this would be more reading a novel, and less playing an interactive story. Which is completely fine, as I enjoy both.
The art and image animations were done really well, the bows, slaps, etc. Added way more to the text with visual movements without using "animations".
The backgrounds would look "weird"? at times, but it did have a big contrast with the characters, pushing what needs to be seen forward and the background to the back without the need of "depth of field" effects. Which made this game look unique from other VN backgrounds I seen.
The sounds were panned well and did not sound cheap in any way. Never once did my ears get tired of the ambience or sound effects while playing the game. The music fit the situations they were used for; the transitions were smooth and only sudden when it needed to be. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but I recognize many of the tracks so I could tell that the tracks end was playing, and it always was when I ended a "segment". And since it was not noticeable until I was editing the video, it means it was done well.
The game is something that I would need to take breaks from often, but that is how every novel is to me. lol
So overall, the game was fun to read. But I did get tired when I tried getting to a good "stopping point", I never had any bugs (that I could remember), the game feels like it's era, and that is pretty much all I can think of.
Thank you for the Demo, and I will be back for more.
My VOD, if you wish to see it as well:
Thanks for uploading the VOD! I really appreciate that you've enjoyed it.
You were not the only person to assume that the map was an unlockable feature. I think what I need to do is to make it clear somehow (maybe at the beginning of the demo) that the VN features a map, character biographies, and notes. I'll see what I can do with that in the next update; maybe I should provide a notification in the GUI that the map is updated as the story moves from one scene to the next, but perhaps that might be a little distracting.
Now that I see more players reading out loud my writing, I do begin to see that some sentences seem to be drawn out, and that is something I need to figure out how to cut back. At the same time, I also know that VNs, especially mystery VNs, tend to reiterate the same ideas in order to drill the scenes and clues into the readers' heads, and that's what I've been trying to do. But there should also be a balance. I'll see if I can cut back some sentences without losing important information.
Again, thank you so much for the VOD, and really I hope you let me know more of your thoughts the more you get into the demo!
I am going through all submissions to make all developers aware of an important Google form I've made.
I'm joining the IQ folks to help organize smaller events in between the main FQ event in order to help prevent us from getting too many games in main events. Right now, I have a planned structure for these events but I would like to hear from everyone who was in this event in order to tune things better. The survey is a bit long, but it covers as much as I could think of. If you can take the time to do the survey by June 1st, I would immensely appreciate it!
You can find the form here: https://forms.gle/P9LPYwERhJtpZzteA
Hi!
To be upfront, I'm not your target audience, so I didn't play enough to really rate the gameplay/the mystery. That being said, as a fellow dev, there are things that I can review without playing the full game :)
I really liked your UI, the menus were well thought off, the navigation was intuitive and it worked without any issues.
The audio was pleasant, the SFX well placed and diverse. It fitted well with the scenes.
It might be just a personal taste, but I found that the backgrounds didn't fit the characters well. I think using real images with a filter could have worked with characters with a different art style, but I think anime backgrounds would been better here.
I liked the writing, it can be hard to write dialogue and set an ambience, but you did it well.
Thanks for your submission and good luck with your game!
Thanks for the comment. Any criticism is welcomed.
Yes, I do have an issue with the backgrounds as well. I have played around a lot with the colors, and it is somewhat hard to figure out what changes would not ruin the scene. Regardless, one of the reasons why I ended up using real life backgrounds is that many notable visual novels which started on a low budget did as well, such as Higurashi and Tsukihime, and even though they don't blend with the characters that much, the variety of real life images one can use helps set the mood better and more accurately than drawing and reusing the same anime background assets for multiple locations. Where can I search for several anime backgrounds of an early 20th century hospital? There aren't much options unless I'm willing to break the bank now. And using real life background images can help illustrators gain an accurate idea of the scene if I am to use anime backgrounds in the future. Anyway, that was my thought process.
Have you tried fotosketcher? That's one filter I will consider with your photo background. You can layer the effects on the more shape retaining filters and come out with something that feels more anime. I recommend their watercolor filter for your project.
https://fotosketcher.com/