Hi there!

I'm one of the 6 judges for this RPG Maker Game Jam 2025. I was one of the 2 judges assigned to your game, and we have been assigned to rate your games according to each metric highlighted on the game's main jam page, and submit these ratings to the organisers, who will then appropriate what happens with that. Please contact them in the Q&A if you have any further questions about the judging process. The judges will work on different time schedules, so even if I may have finished playing your game, the entire process might not be finished as of yet. Many of these reviews I am posting while still judging.

All that aside, I'd like to share my VOD of me playing your game, which contains up to an hour of gameplay, and some final thoughts at the end! Depending on whether I stopped the VOD early or not, it will also contain many of the thoughts that I say to you below, which may cause repetition. So just be aware of that.

I will also attach a review below this VOD. I will not disclose my ratings for each category as of yet, but those will be revealed in due time. Not all judges are required to post a review or VOD to each game, but many will do so even if it's optional, including myself.

Here's the VOD:

Thank you for making this game. I'd like to talk about the game really quick, and how I decided to judge it based on the requirements put before me as a judge.

What I would like to say first about "Isle of the Beholder" is that it seems like quite a standard fare for a JRPG segment, which is not an insult - it's what I would expect of the engine, and that's okay. I liked the surrounding architecture around running the game, with the launcher and such, and the controller rebinding and systems around it, and if I am not mistaken you are the author of such tools? (Forgive me if I'm wrong.) So I appreciate that a lot.

The game itself is quite short, with a puzzle outside a building and then a cutscene inside, and then a house portion. As such, what is there is fine and it is quite passable. I was surprised that it ended so quickly. I think that more points could have been scored in general if the entry felt like it went somewhere further than that. But as it is right now, it does feel like a fragment of a bigger thing, rather than a story in itself, if that makes sense.

That said, what is here is pretty nice. I might not have understood all the placements of the tiles in the puzzle outside the temple, but in the end I got there, and then it just kind of... ended at the house, which is fine! I just think that maybe I'd enjoy it more if it were a little longer. Not a massive complaint, of course, but I think it is one that will affect the points given to this entry.

Either way, thank you for making a game! I'm sure you'll be able to continue to make amazing games in future. There's clearly potential here. Keep making games!

I wasn't expecting a short rpg experience, which is surely welcome. The plot is simple, but not that common, but also the battles are pretty standard - with each character having their class and skills.

There is not a lot of content to evaluate the game, also because I solved the puzzle by mistake. Even the battles were very sparse, I fought like 2-3 enemies.

Overall I would say that without having more, the game is a simple experience that feels a short chapter from a longer story, not a game on its own. I don't know if that was your idea or not, but the game didn't felt very memorable given the short length and the default mechanics. I know though that with only one month of development it's hard to implement longer games and stories.
It was a nice short experience - I enjoyed it - but I wouldn't say the game went beyond my expectations.
Here's the VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2441782234

Tempo is nice, the characters likable, the maps pretty, and the battles were fun enough  (although a little on the easy side). I was a bit overwhelmed by the available combat options for the length of the game (three stances for Marina, the number of spells the mage had etc). The hints for the puzzle were a bit confusing. 

Isle of the beholder has a lot of promise to tell a great story to its players. The ferocious enemies who protects the island from its greatest secrets that most explorers dare to find. The maps are well done and the puzzle were simple but neat. The game ended on a cliff hanger, where you want to know more and whats gonna happen next. Over-all a great job. 

An important addendum:

One of the hints says that a package "is waiting on the south city". It's sort of an error. It should mean that the package has arrived on the south city.