A little while ago, you commented positively on my SKG jam entry and asked to know what I think of yours. I don't respond to all such requests in the jam comments, but your jam comment was the first one. Fortunately I think this is a very cute and worth-observing game.
What I'm about to start saying may sound insensitive. I hope it doesn't sound insensitive. See, I have good things to say about this game, but I'll be talking about the less glowing things first.
I realize that this game only uses one button, however it was also a bit unintuitive in spite of that, and when trying and failing to reel in the hook I often didn't know what I was doing wrong. Even reading the game description now I find things that I don't understand. Also I don't feel very comforted to read about the way it has a possible softlock (which luckily I never encountered) , however in this month I can't really talk: I uploaded a game to this very same jam that has a broken update loop which without an update will be potentially unplayable in 20 years.
After getting far in Banff, I found that some text was cut off, leading me to believe that the online version has some sort of "overscan" on it.
But I liked it. Mostly because of the artwork and characters. As weird as Banff's gameplay may be in "video game" terms as far as games go, I like it anyway because of the overhanging feeling. It's got this nice background with terrain and tones of near-nighttime encompassed in a consistently pixelated render (I think) and as a bonus it's also very dithered. I like the dithering. Even though the foreground is in some places not at that same pixel-bitting resolution. The music helped it as well. I guess the sound design was pretty good. In July 2025 there's no real triggers for me at least. It's a chilled-out game, though you will probably never hear me sincerely refer to anything in the world as "relaxing" because the description "relaxing" in general is just a sore spot for me. If I was one of the people who like using that word I probably would call Banff relaxing.
Those characters about 68% speak to me. I wouldn't call them relatable, but their story resonated a few times. Of course the young guy is an indie game dev who shares his games with his dad... I wish my dad was as interested in playing my games. The best thing about the characters is that they talk nice and have a simplistic/rustic but charming and cute appearance. I'm very glad that they're not "malmy sprites". It has sprites that could be called "low-effort", but they're not "annoying" simplistic sprites. For an event like this, graphics like that are all you really need.
I don't know if you can see my rating, but I rated it. Out of many people who pass judgement with their votes on websites, I'm one of the more demanding folks. I'm a real fussy bitch.
Even if Banff is not something to play as a challenging sturdy game, or even if it's got some jank as a mere chilled-out virtual experience, the thing remains that this is just a really cute and emotionally-grabbing thing to turn on. I need more games that are aesthetically and thematically similar to this one to give me some reprieve in this nightmare world. I might even try to make a game jam game cute in tone next time I join one, if there ever is a next time. It's a very pretty game, I'm gonna put it on the fridge.
Today was not my first time playing. I actually touched this and some other games in the jam a few days ago, but didn't really go anywhere. I didn't expect to finish this game, but today I did. And when I saw the guy alone on the wharf I immediately said out loud "Agh shit!" before the monologue started. It definitely affected me.
I still don't know why it's called "Banff"...
Also the "2038" was a nice touch. I think I know what you meant by that.