| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fan Favorite | #11 | 4.375 | 4.375 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Excellent animations and clear tutorials. Loved the voice acting and cutscenes as well. However, while there was a compass, it did NOT show me my goal for an area (at least that I could initially tell).
Suggestion: Make the compass give the player the goal. In both areas, I just wandered around the desert until a cutscene happened, with no indication that was even where I was supposed to go.
I enjoyed this entry, as the overall production quality and polish were both top-notch, and the gameplay was solid though not groundbreaking; there are certainly a lot of small improvements which I'd like to see in a full version, mostly pertaining to the combat - while the fights were reasonably balanced (after you break the level 1 barrier at least), I can't say they felt particularly dynamic, and not for lack of quality battlers as those were all fantastic.
Things to consider for future iterations:
Just to be clear, the above are largely small issues and I believe overall this is a great start. Additionally, the things which were done well (detailed extensively in other comments) are done extremely well.
Good job to the team!
Thank you for playing the game and thank you for the feedback. We think all the points you mentioned are absolutely true. Fortunately, a lot of them are corrected on the full game (like shift not costing you the whole round, it does not regenerate mp/hp though, that was done on this jam to make it worth it, a bit or having a more consistent plot). Mostly, was because of the lack of time and it was our first try on the MZ engine.
the sandstorms, yeah...is as you mentioned it, we wanted to show are weather system, but yeah, missing is one of the most frustrating outcomes in any battle, but there was no many weathers you can exploit on a dessert, maybe if it was less punishing would've been better.
Also important to mention, this will be updated as the jam ends, as we want to add some to it (like a proper ending that shows why the are together in a campfire, add /edit animations (some of them doesnt even have sound) and overall, implement all the feedback given.
Glad to hear that all the critique you have given, you consider it small issues and overall you have a good experience. The full game first episode will launch episode will be released REALLY soon, hope you can play it.
Again, thanks!
The game starts with epic music, auto full screen and a replication of the FFX intro. Instead of a blitzball it's a shield though. It's pretty tight right of the bat and I like how the music was sequenced to show the title when the drum hits.
I like that I get to be a wheel of cheese. Cheese is good.
The sound effects are really loud, but that's kind of unavoidable without great pain when you include voice acting. Which this game does, and does well I might add. It's a tough fight to make all the SE and VA a normalized and balanced level. Unfortunately if I turn the SE down, the VA gets too quiet. That being said I've seen most projects that try VA get this wrong, and these sound levels, although not perfect, are acceptable.
The Keen Eye skill shouldn't be useable outside of combat as all it does is waste MP, but the game allows you to waste MP. Using it in battle is pretty cool though, it's like a Libra or Scan ability.
I like the show states on hover plugin, more games should use it.
The Dragonbones battlers look pretty good, but the walking chibi sprites has got to be the biggest heads I've ever seen. (That's what she sa... nm)
I enjoy walking around on the maps, they look pretty cool.
Leveling up restores HP/MP, a generous touch that I appreciate. There's also a healing springs not too far from where you start. It's almost always a good idea to give the player a free heal point at the beginning when they're still learning the game. Well done.
The sandstorm screen effect is a little intense, you might want to tone it down just a bit.
The beetle just farted fire at me. For real, it even sounded like a fart.(Best game ever made? idk maybe?)
Shadow strike is cool, but it's a little slow. Like the whole sequence could be a few seconds quicker.
Teotl's walking sprite looks like a girl with purple hair. But his bust looks a muscle man wearing feathers and short shorts. Neither of them are actually bad, but they don't really match to me.
The story is short and the game is pretty straight forward. It was good, I liked it. You can definitely tell there was inspiration from Final Fantasy VII and X. Probably other games as well. Well done Varoclaw and team, this was a great entry into the game jam!
Thoughts recorded during my playthrough
+ = I liked it
- = I didn't like it
* = Comment/neutral
====================
+ Wow, that title screen! Epic!
- Not a fan of the FPS counter, and no way to disable it in the options. Had to look up the hotkey to disable it.
- On the topic of options, the only option is for audio? There are a lot of QoL options by default in VisuStella's OptionCore, and I think it's a mistake to remove them. For example, I know not a lot of people use the UI color options, but it can be helpful for color blind people.
* No option to configure input. I highly recommend including that in the options. Let people set things up so it's comfortable to them. If you want your game widely played, always consider accessibility. I know it's difficult - if not impossible - to account for all accessibility scenarios (especially within the confines of RM), but it's always worth utilitzing what is easily available.
+ The intro is pretty badass. Voice acting, animations, even a reverse animation of what was shown. Impressive!
- I must touch on the topic of accessibility again. I know it's unthinkable after investing so much in the voice acting, but consider adding an option to turn it off. Every game I've made so far that includes voice acting has been praised for when I include such an option, and been criticised (at least in testing) when I do not.
+ Cool intro for Bree
- Not entirely sure what to make of that initial item pickup. Looked like the game was playing for me for a bit, and I wasn't even sure what it was supposed to represent. (Is the game showing me my starting inventory? Is it trying to tell me to search every tile because you never know what's hiding there?)
+ I like the "Search" tutorial window. Looks very stylish, even has a modern touch with the example animation.
+ Oh, now the item pickup makes sense. It's one of Bree's abilities.
* Why would you not just leave that ability on all the time?
+ This game definitely looks cool. Custom art all around, custom HUDs/UI, even includes 8-directional sprites for map walking.
* I nearly died on my first battle. Apparently switching to the opposite alignment was a bad idea. Luckily Bree dodged several attacks.
* Full heal at level up? I guess that's good since I was pretty low on health at that point.
+ I got significantly stronger after the first level up. Now being opposite-aligned isn't so painful.
+ This game continues to deliver visually. Well-crafted Dragonbones animations, great voice acting for the attacks, action sequencing...this game looks GOOD.
+ I like how the radar helped me learn that the tall mountain areas can be walked behind. There even was a reward in one place!
- Not sure why Teotl doesn't have a sound effect when he strikes. It's oddly silent.
+ Side stairs? Interesting. They're a little wonky to walk on, but they work.
- Something about Cloud Kieran's appearance at the end feels unsatisfying. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with how he was described as "taking a break from his quest for vengeance." Nothing about that has been established, so it just seems like it's out of nowhere.
+ That said, the strike at the end of the battle was pretty cool and the dialog after was a fine wrap-up.
+ Cool credits roll. I like the inclusion of the concept art.
Summary
This game gets huge style points. It looks great, better than most games I see from RPG Maker. You're fully utilizing the visual tools available and providing a pretty polished experience here. Great voice acting also gives the game a quality boost.
I didn't mention this in my notes above, but it's not clear what my destination is (I played most of Bree's section walking upward, thinking I should ultimately go left, but then walked into the endpoint without realizing it). Same goes for Teotl: I was walking around, just trying to explore the map as fully as I could, then suddenly it ends (though in a way, that's in keeping with the story, so maybe it's not such a big deal in this case?).
While I don't think this game is flawless, I do think it's a great "free sample" version of the game you are ultimately building. Way to go!
KV! Love your detailed feedback as always. It is always appreciated. Im glad that you find so many positives things vs bad things. TBH I think there are some harsh feedback that can be given in this entry, but if you enjoyed it way more than complain about it, its great.
All the commodities like Va´s option off and the options menu was due to lack of time, it was going to be added(our main project has all that) but then we ran out of time, we couldn't polished it more (like some SE missing, ex: Teotls swing.) etc. The FPS counter, totally forgot to remove it from default, since I always disabled it with f2, our bad.
I think the one of the most common critics was the directionless of the game itself, player's didn't know where to go, some of them found it meh while most of them found it troublesome and frustrating. and yes, there was a reason why we didn't direct the player, but it was the wrong choice. After this is over we will add more things to make it a better free product and we will add direction for people who wants to progress.
Thank you so much for the feedback, we will release the ep 0 very soon, I would love to have your feedback on that game as well, since its a more polish product but it was done with MV not MZ, which you know has its drawbacks.
Again, thank you friend =)
It was very exciting to see some MoTM action in MZ! That artwork and action sequencing was really good. It was also cool using that radar mechanic for treasure. Voice acting was great as usual, and I thought the desert map was really nice. Cool UI info interspersed throughout. Below are some feedback points I hope can help!
For jam games I typically don't like random encounters. After 2-4 battles, I found myself running from all of them, which is not fun gameplay. It also creates a conflict between exploring for treasure and battling. If there were a few enemies crowded around treasure points, that creates some cool tension, and makes it less of a chore to walk around looking for stuff. I would have preferred a few scripted battles at map points, along with a nice amount of hidden treasures to find.
Action sequencing could use just a tiny bit of improvement, particularly in the impact of hits. Shield bash, for example, needs to feel like a solid hit. A little animation on the enemy, some knockback, small screen shake, all would make the hit more satisfying.
I also was confused for a bit about the "weak" and "strong" popups. I feel like they were reversed in this game compared to other games, so I thought my attack was only doing 4 damage even though the enemy was "weak" to it.
Overall a beautiful entry. Had lots of fun despite the short journey.
Hi human!! As always, nice and detailed feedback. I agree that on a jam, random encounters might not be the best but since it is the main´s game prologue, we didnt want to have people confused with a total different battle encounter system.
But enemies lurking near treasure sounds an idea we could steal from you he he.
We also agree on your second point, regarding action sequencing needing some oompgh! We ran out of time so some details, were not implemented, one of them was polishing the action sequencing. Teotl´s basic attack doesn't even have a sound ha. But yeah, that will be fixed on the future.
About the weak and strong impact, yes, in 99% of the games, when you sea the word WEAK, you assume the enemy was weak to the attack, in this case, it was in reverse, so weak, meant the impact was weak and did less damage. This will be fixed in the future were the color of the pop ups will change and no confusing word will pop.
Thanks again friend!!
This game is looking great so far! My major complaint is that it was over to soon LOL. The art, music and combat were spot on. Only other thing I can say is that there's no way to quit the game from the start menu; and the chibi sprite of the second character looks nothing like his portrait. Otherwise, thought this was ridiculously well done.
Hey! we are so glad that you have an overall fun experience!
I have always disliked an "Exit Game" on the start menu, BUT the game is for others to play not just for myself, so I´ll really consider adding that option. About the chibi sprite of Teotl, I wouldn't say it looks nothing like it but it is true, we are not quite there with that sprite, all of this was done specifically for the jam, so time was short, but yes, it needs more work.
Thank you for your feedback! After the jam is done we will launch the actual episode 0 (this jam is the prologue for that) so stay tuned!!
I think I had way more fun than I should've treasure hunting. I scoured that map until there was nothing left.
I really like how you've presented your UI and tutorial, that's something I want to get better at myself.
The music, voice acting, unique art and fluid combat, all came together for a very enjoyable experience. I'm interested in seeing more of the game, and not only to do more treasure hunting.
A very nice prologue to the prologue! Very high polish in terms of presentation.
Was a little lost at first in what direction of the desert map to be heading towards (but I just ended up treasure hunting anyway!)
Interesting system of swapping between the light and dark element - can see some potential of some tactical choice in combat with it. Combat I felt was fairly balanced. It has a satisfying end to the boss fight with the appearance of the 3rd character. I think there's a missing sound effect for Teolt's attack as he silently wacks his foes with his sword.
The custom art is great with the dragon bones battlers, character busts and sprites, and cutscene animation. JD has done a good job with the amazing music too.
Definitely an impressive entry!
Glad to read this words, specially from someone as you, which tends to develop really cool games with high standards. Yeah, you pinpoint one of those flaws that I wasn't aware, the sound of Teotl´s attack is indeed missing =(.
But if, overall, we got a very good impression out of you, then its a win on our book!
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