Hi there!
This post might come as a surprise to you but I'm fulfilling my obligation of writing a review for every entry I played in the RPG Maker Game Jam 2025 and haven't had the time and motivation combo until now. Apologies for the wait.
I'm one of the 6 judges for this RPG Maker Game Jam 2025. I was one of the 2 judges assigned to your game, and we have been assigned to rate your games according to each metric highlighted on the game's main jam page, and submit these ratings to the organisers, who will then appropriate what happens with that. Please contact them in the Q&A if you have any further questions about the judging process. The judges will work on different time schedules, so even if I may have finished playing your game, the entire process might not be finished as of yet. Many of these reviews I am posting while still judging.
All that aside, I'd like to share my VOD of me playing your game, which contains up to an hour of gameplay, and some final thoughts at the end! Depending on whether I stopped the VOD early or not, it will also contain many of the thoughts that I say to you below, which may cause repetition. So just be aware of that.
I will also attach a review below this VOD. I will not disclose my ratings for each category as of yet, but those will be revealed in due time. Not all judges are required to post a review or VOD to each game, but many will do so even if it's optional, including myself.
Here's the VOD:
ThemeThe twist at the end was beyond expectations for sure. So it gets a good number of points for that. More points could have be gained by being a bit more surprising or clever with the implementation of Beyond Expectations throughout the game instead of simply as a twist at the end story-wise.
Gameplay
Short enough to not overstay its welcome. However, I did sadly hold attack for the entire time and defeated all enemies including the final boss simply by holding down attack, and more strategy in this arena would have benefitted the game somewhat. Also I was craving some slightly more complex dungeons and/or enemy types and/or moves and/or any requirement to have strategy that I would have liked. But those are implementable, given time and polish. The dungeons were also quite short and didn't have as many decisions in them that interested me as I liked, from my POV. But they looked nice, and I think that matters a lot!
Engagement
Short enough not to overstay its welcome, but the twist, while clever, didn't leave me wanting to explore it much more. The gameplay could be punched up to engage me more in the concept, I feel, which is just a time and polish thing. I think with time and iteration, it can become very effect. But the cute concept of the cities of Texas was quite fun, and the flavour of it all was something I enjoyed quite a bit. :)
Presentation
Cute pixel style! And great music! Some inconsistent pixelling, e.g. in the balloons in the main house, and a bit more could be done to elevate the whole thing in general, e.g. with regards to cathartic conflict resolution, but overall - it's got a lot of potential!
Polish
Some passability issues, but otherwise I didn't really come across many bugs.
Overall
Thank you for making this game. I very much think every game is a gift and the fact you've spent your hard work and effort into making this game shouldn't go unnoticed. Keep making amazing games. Every game's a gift <3