Hello! Hope you're doing well!
First of all, thank you for taking the time to test the game and write such a detailed and precise review. I know that takes time, and I really respect thatāI truly appreciate it.
I'm glad you had a good time, and I totally agree with youāthere's definitely room for improvement!
Regarding your points
1ļøā£ Ending System_We simplified the ending for production reasons (we only had a week). Originally, we wanted a system where if the player had a medium number of coins, they could choose their ending, but if they had too many, they would automatically get the bad ending, and if they had very few, theyād get the good ending. We even considered a special ending for collecting zero coins!
2ļøā£ Descriptions & Emotion_I understand your point about the lack of descriptions to deepen the characterās emotions. Since this jamās audience isnāt used to visual novels, we intentionally kept the text minimal to avoid overwhelming players. But as a VN player myself, I also feel that more descriptions would have made the experience more immersive!
3ļøā£ Choice Clarity_You're rightāsometimes, it's obvious which choices will spread despair, and sometimes, it's not. I thought mixing both approaches would create some surprises while still giving the player free will to spread misery or not. But I see what you meanāit can make the system feel inconsistent.
4ļøā£ Lack of Emotional Attachment_I completely agree. The problem with using multiple universes is that players donāt get attached to the characters, making the moral choices feel less impactful. This is a shame because the game is supposed to make players question their morality. Iāll definitely take this into account for future projects!
5ļøā£ Comedy vs. Seriousness_This is an interesting pointāit raises the question of whether comedy and serious tones can blend together. I think they can, but in this case, it might be too 50/50 instead of having a dominant tone with subtle elements of the other. (Itās something we often see in theater, where heavy messages are hidden within comedies.)
6ļøā£ Linear vs. Interactive Gameplay_You're absolutely right. I was worried that VN players are rare in a generalist jam, so I feared that if the game was too linear, people would lose interest. Thatās why I decided to include more coin-related situations, but itās true that this came at the cost of quality and emotional impact. Your suggestion is really interesting, and Iāll definitely share it with the team. The idea that suffering can become so extreme that it turns absurd is a great direction to explore. (While still creating a real dilemma of "Might as well finish what we started...")
Thank you also for the bug reportsāIāll make sure to note them down and fix them!
Also, I just noticed the bug that sometimes appears at the end. There shouldn't be any timed choices at the end of the story; they only occur during the zombie event.
You're absolutely right, I need to work more on emotional attachment, whether through the art, design, or writing. In this jam, I limited the word count for my team, fearing that non-VN players would lose interest. But as a result, we probably disappointed the ones who were actually here for the story.
We might actually submit this game to the NaNoRenO jam, since we created it during that period! So, we may make some changes before then.
To wrap this up, I just want to sincerely thank you for your honesty and for taking the time to play and give such in-depth feedback. Thatās incredibly valuable, and it's the only way we can improve.
Thanks again, and I hope youāll enjoy our future games even more!