Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Theme

  Incredibly tough subject matter on the get go. You are a young Mownt ready to be an adult and you already have to be drafted to war against the colonists. Would you find love and still get a family despite the harsh times?  Would you want to fight against the war? Already so many choices and it’s hard to pick.

  Gameplay

  The game is pretty much easy with a few strategy. It’s pretty much a standard JRPG and not much to say about it. IT works. The way you decide how to go on with your life also affects this and I like it for that.

  Presentation 

  Tight level design, pretty writing, very nice soundtrack and cute custom graphics. The game feel is definitely there. 

  Engagement 

  I wanted to give my Mownt a happy ending. There’s a lot of motivation and great pacing behind it.

  Total – 72/80

• Well, I didn’t expect a game about a little bug to be so existentially terrifying. This was a very efficient game, no filler or unnecessary features. The short length of the lives really draws the player in and I didn’t stop until I had gotten all the endings. Battles were well-balanced although the longer ones could get tedious. I’m not sure the final scene was as uplifting as it was intended to be, the futility was still kind of disturbing. In that way, it’s very 2017. Really creative and interesting work.

  Score: 59/80

• PRESENTATION
  

  Graphics are custom and they work well together, looking good. The mapping does a good job in conveying size in some areas, whilst others can be a bit confusing, but for the most part it's solid.

  The writing is very well done - both technically and otherwise. The story itself is interesting in that it changes based on the choices you make - sometimes in drastic ways. The characterisation is fairly bare but that's mainly because it feels more like you're playing a documentary than a character-driven game - which is what the game wants you to feel.

  The sound and music is there but it didn't really stand out much. It didn't do anything jarring, though, which was good.

  GAMEPLAY
  Gameplay consists of standard jRPG fare - battles, walking and interacting.

  The biggest component of this game is the choices you make and how they affect the game afterwards. You are playing through lives of the Mownt you're in charge of, looking for peace, and the choices are the most important part of the game in that regard.

  Battles are skewed a bit to the harder side of things, but they're winnable and the skills you learn help to get you through them. Some are better than others and some unlock from story choices.

  You can also review old lives and what led to them (some of which can give hints to other lives).

  ENGAGEMENT
  Running through the lives of a small creature as you watch it die in the pursuit of peace and happiness is pretty engaging. Each life is rather short (some shorter than others), but that shortness makes it less of a pain to restart and choose new, different options to attain that peace.

  THEME
  The theme of the game is 'seeking peace' and it does well to incorporate that into both the mechanics and written aspects of the game with both choices and the skill abilities/battles.

  68/80

• 42/80

  Game freezes if you try to talk to the enlister from the wrong angle. No reason for the extra save points when you can save at any time. Some endings are much easier to get early on than others and other ending help a lot more than others.
  

  The ending just made all my effort feel pointless. Certain areas can force a complete restart (lose all progress) due to having no access to an escape node and being forced to battle, potentially leading to a forced game over.