This creation is monster. A truly exquisite, beautiful monster...
First off let me say that I was completely absorbed from the start. The situation of the protagonist resonated very strongly with me (I am also a Prince XP) and the plight of his seemingly oppressive life under the crushing boot of authoritarianism really struck a deep chord with me.
I also dig the subtle references to identity and perception of self. It can be a highly divisive topic in today's ever increasing 'big brother' society and it was handled with great care and guile here.
Visually and audially the game is sumptuous; like I was given a rich box of chocolates at the theatre for real. The character designs and on map animations were a joy to behold and someone obviously put a lot of heart and care into making them.
The highlight of the game for me was the antagonist. What makes a great antagonist for me is when they go above and beyond the singular dimension. Making the protagonist doubt themselves; making you as the player empathize or at least sympathize with them is what makes them truly memorable. I think this may be my favourite villain out of any indie game I've ever played.
The combat was difficult, yet for me, satisfying. Please take this compliment with a little pinch of salt however because this is my singular preference. I think for more casual players the combat may perhaps be a smidge on the difficult and thus, frustrating side.
For example, if you enter a fight with three enemies and are surprise attacked or miss your first attack, then you are pretty much cooked. What I did was to save after each and every successful fight (which I encourage others to do) and use the sword for balance. The club I found too slow to be effective and the knife too weak. Sword is best for balance.
I did like how your health was recharged after each fight but that does mean to make it balanced, each and every enemy troop must have the capability (and hell they do) to wipe you out each battle. That means no healing in the fights. As I said, I was locked in because I prefer brutal/unforgiving fights (as evident in my own entry) but for anyone reading just be aware that the game does like to hand you your ass on a semi-frequent basis.
Overall a truly impressive spectacle and a thought provoking experience; one that will stay with me for a very long time. I'll hold my hands up and say I don't usually play game jam entries all the way through to conclusion but I was totally gripped by this one. One could say it clutched at my heart strings tight and I danced like a puppet along to it's merriness true.
To avoid spoilers, I'll post this, just so you devs know the decision I made at the end. Excellent job on this one, something to be well proud of come day's end.
PS: Review comes from download version rather than the browser version.