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:

It seems this game is about Delphia, in a world that seems unbearably dark. They have to confront one of their biggest fears, in someone who criticises them. The game is in black-and-white-and-gray (for the most part!) and that usage of colour has symbolic meaning as to the lack of colour in the main protagonist's life, as well as perhaps other things.

I know that every game is a gift. So thanks for giving this game to us! This game is quite short indeed, for a game jam game made over a month. Not that that's a bad thing, but its length does barely cover the requirement for this jam. In saying, the themes there are present and decently conveyed. I dodged the event on the way to school, so I ended up just playing 1 battle. The battle that I ended up playing was cool, and I liked that it explored certain elements of the story within the gameplay.

I just wish that the game was a bit longer, so the story and gameplay aspects could take time to grow and mature. Just as the story was starting to get its hooks in, it ended. I think the game in general needs more meat on the bone, metaphorically speaking. It's just maybe not quite full enough of an experience to make me feel for it. I did *start*, but I think it needs a bit more.

The maps are decent. They are quite plain, though, but the portraits and battlers look really cool and the music is well-placed. Not an overly showy presentation, but a decent mood, especially considering the colour effect involved. There is a minor visual bug for the sprite walking on the road on the way to school... it often has a dead line of black pixels that should be fixed.

The theme seems to be about an unexpected resolution to an emotional conflict leading to the world turning to colour, even if this isn't completely obvious.

I just felt that while this was a decent hook into a bigger story, it finished far too quickly for me to have a complete emotional investment in it. There were unusual choices and placements for words like "physiognomy" and "malingering" that, while valid words, felt too flowery for the context. There was a lot of descriptions like this, with big poetic flourishes that didn't always land, and they were filled with adjectives about concepts. Some of it was strong, and other times it felt a little over-written in this aspect. But overall, it was somewhat pleasing, if way too short. If anything, this is just an indication that maybe a bit longer and this game would've nailed its themes more. But I can't tell from this particular fragment I've seen. There seems to be a promising seed here, but it needs to grow into a bigger game.

All in all, thank you for making this game. Every game is a gift, and I'm thankful that you made this one. Keep making games! Keep being awesome.