This game is definitely not for me, (i am neither good at strategy nor chess) but there were some things I can comment on:
- Custom art and tone was engaging and held tone well.
- Presentation is very muddy: while assets alone are fine, all together the game seems very hard to parse: backdrop is too detailed and distracting, while pieces blend in. It's also hard to tell when pieces are done for the turn or not (yes, there is a signal but something that pops out more would help).
- I might not have payed enough attention during the brief tutorial, but I feel like things weren't explained enough. Tutorials are difficult, but a more detailed one (on player demand at least) would have been very helpful.
- Again, this might be me, but I felt like the concepts got mixed in weird ways: chess concept? sure. Then rpg maker style combat skills? Er, ok...what happened to chess? In general I think better onboarding is necessary.
I spoke more during the vid, but overall the main problem for me was conveyance.