Ahh!! I just finished it finally!!
Oh my gosh. So many elements of this were so nicely laid out. SPOILERS AHEAD for anyone reading.
The easy stuff to say is the art and the sprites were all really cute and readable, I loved her sad little pout even on her sprite. The villagers had a cool design, effective and convenient. the way small things interacted was cute, like the way they looked in the water and her hands rowing the boat and her little feetsteps in the sand.
But on TOP of that! I really liked the subtle undertones of the story. And forgive me if I'm just like, reading into it haha. I liked the theme of choice and freedom throughout the story. There was some moment where she's standing in this trapped cave about to hurt herself and she's like "I'm so free!" and I'm like girl you're literally trapped haha. But that's so honest to how humans are. The illusion of choice and of "getting away". But no where is really away. She wasn't free. She was still running away and that's not free.
AND I liked how she had help up until she made her ONE choice for herself. No one was around to tell her what to do. She was all alone in that cave and made the choice (or I did lol) to pick up and use that knife. And the second, the very second she makes her ONE choice for herself I thought it was so interesting how the old sailor turned on her. I get why, he was afraid for his life. But thematically I thought it was so fitting how immediately she gets ostracized and called a monster after making what (in her eyes) was the one adventurous and bold choice she had ever made for herself.
I thought the pacing was really good I could feel what "act" I was in at ever moment and that speaks to your skill as a writer, for sure. I can't think of any major issues I ran into. I didn't do down the bad paths so idk what's down them, now I think about it. I thought the water chase scene where you're swimming away from the mariner dude was a little sudden and out of place with the rest of the game? The placement of the rocks in the water make it a little tricky to tell where you bump into them and in a crazy chase sequence that can be frustrating. I got through it on my second try but i IMAGINE if I hadn't I'd be annoyed. But just cuz of the rocks.
Also! (spoilers for The VVItch 2015 movie) it reminded me in many ways to the ending of that movie. I ummmMMMM won't say why haha. if you know you know.
Sorry this is an essay, I really loved this one Egg!! The music and vibe of it were really well done and all your maps looked so clear and cohesive. It's harder than ppl think it is to use RTP stuff and make it look nice and like it really belongs in the world. Really well done.
Omg thank you soso much for the detailed comments!! Im so glad you enjoyed it, and dw i dont think you're reading too much into it-
SPOILERS ahead while i gush as well!
I Really wanted to convey that, no matter what she did. She was always somewhat trapped in a way? Like even if she got whatever it is that she thought she wanted, It would still be at the risk of losing absolutely everything in her life as a "human".
She'd be backed into a hole regardless- but when looking down the barrel of what awaited her, should she go back- she thought: "screw it, I'll play along- what else do I have to lose??"
I wrote a lot of notes around how Alga was so deeply wishing for a way out of this "human" life, how she just wanted freedom, even at the cost of her cognition- though ultimately, it happened without her realizing that till the very end. I had notes writing down how she wouldn't continue about the sacrifice till she saw what she'd become, and choose to become a mermaid in the end anyway, too.
I'm glad you saw what you did in the old mariner, because that's exactly what I was going for! A guy who had seen the horrors of the past- he knew it would only lead to more chaos. And you're right- the one time Alga made her own decision without the assistance of others, it snowballed into the climax of the game.
I will say, I didn't originally plan for the chase scene at the end- I felt like it ended too abruptly without it, so it was a last minute decision. I did have a somewhat hard time setting up the rocks in a way that would be challenging but not too easy for players, though if anyone looked at the eventing/region stuff I did, they'd be appalled at the structure I went and did just to make it work 😭 so that's on me, I apologize! But I'm glad you made it in the end of course!
It's wild you mention that film, because I have seen it and the parallels are totally unintentional, but that's so cool that it made you think of it- it's incredibly flattering!! The VVitch definitely had that aura of it all, and i wonder if it influenced me in a way I wasn't aware of (since I hadn't seen it in several years, but it def stood out to me!) So thank you!!
To note, no RTP was used in the game, aside from rtp edits made by com-sho, and the rest were purchased assets (rtp meaning the default assets that come with the engine), but I do always worry about not making my own tiles;; I'm just not confident in making my own haha;; maybe one day!
All in all, thank you so much once again for the wonderful comments and the deep dive (lol) into the lore! You've no idea how happy this made me to read, and it only serves to help me grow, moving forward! ❤️