Rating games using the Judge categories just for fun.

Gameplay

I think this game wanted to focus more on the story and world than in the gameplay, which is not a bad thing, but the gameplay sections felt really slow and repetitive. Not much else to say since the game is mostly about the plot

[5/20]

Presentation

I liked the graphical style inside the virtual world, but the real world fell dull in comparison, and not just because of the black and white aesthetic. The mapping was not as good and the tasks and cutscenes felt really slow and dragged out

I understand the point of switching perspectives, but it was rather confusing since you were apparently creating the high level player character but the main character seems to be Riley, and it is easy to get lost in who are you supposed to be at certain points of the game

The story is actually intriguing and I certainly was interested in seeing it through the end, but I had to stop due to already being an hour in and not wanting to do anything more with the gameplay segments

[12/20] -> Doubled to 24

Engagement

Both gameplay and story pacing hurt this category. They need polish so the player can get to the good parts quicker and more satisfactorily

[10/20]

Potential

The premise is super interesting, but I feel it needs a better core gameplay mechanic that better utilizes the game world. Before that is found, I think the true potential of this game cannot be realized

[8/20]

Total: 47/100 (3 Stars)

The game has promise but the lead up to the reveal of the real world is rather slow and the mapping in the non-real world is really... bland. There's also big leaps in levels and parts of the non-real world stuff doesn't make sense (such as why you're playing a male even though I made a female avatar and why I'm suddenly level 15). I feel like the dev wanted to allow customisation but also had a character already in mind for the story so faked out the start and it just didn't gel well for me. 

As I mentioned, the maps weren't great looking. I would have really enjoyed it if, say, the first part was really pretty and bright and just lush in order to contrast with the drab and blandness of the real world. It didn't feel different enough visually to make the comparison that I think the dev was going for. Like, there were a lot of greys used in the non-real world which made the reveal of the real world fall a bit flat. If, say, it'd been a forest dungeon with tons of plant life and animals and stuff and then suddenly you're in a grey world it would have shown a lot better the whole "Escape from the real world into fantasy".

Granted, I didn't play the game to completion but I played enough to get a decent taste, imo, of what was going on in that respect. The gameplay itself was confusing. You didn't get taught about the battle system and while it was simple once you understood it, it was also far too easy. Also, having to wait in order to attack is a bit annoying, as it drags what is a relatively easy battle out incredibly longer than it should be. MC could one-shot all enemies but I had to wait upward of 4-5 turns for 3 enemies to be killed because MC had such low MP and the regen skill took three turns to let him do anything again. 

Overall the game has some decent ideas but needs a lot of polish to showcase them properly.