Heya!
Really nice game! I feel like CharMaeMengMing below me said a lot of the stuff I wanted to say though 😆 But I really like how simple the gameplay is, while at the same time requiring you to use your brain. I don’t think I’ve seen this specific type of gameplay before either. Only reason I’m not still playing and instead writing this comment is because I reached the end of both modes…
But yes, ditto on the amount of highlighted text. Love the dialogue tooltips though, it reminds me of FF2.
For feedback:
I wished that when the Lesser Keeper boss switched to the… harbinger? The harvest? The enemy type that deals AOE damage and steals XP from all emblems. That one 😆 I wished that when it became that type, its “level” would also visually switch to reflect the damage it’ll do. Sometimes I would forget that it’s an AOE and not a “one-on-one” attack because it stayed at 16. Either “3” (I think it was 3 damage to everyone), or perhaps a big 3 with a tiny “x6” similar to other enemy damage modifiers (with 6 being the number of player emblem alive).
It took quite a bit of time (at least 30 seconds) for the game to launch the first time, to the point where I was a bit concerned. Like, the icon wasn’t even showing up on my task bar while loading. And I have a pretty good machine if I say so myself. I know nothing about optimization in that regard, but if shortening the launch time (assuming it’s not a problem on just my end) isn’t possible, maybe add a loading bar to reassure players? It was only for the first launch though. The second time the icon showed up early enough that I wasn’t concerned (and it overall didn’t take more than 10 seconds).
I actually didn’t mind the sketchier art during the choice/NVL section. I felt like it was its own thing without necessarily clashing with the rest of the game? I could totally see you refining the linework and leaving it colorless for example.
Really enjoyed how there were always reminders of how the game works accessible during combat + reminders of your solaces and other such bonuses
Oh and while you can skip most conversations/cutscenes, you can’t skip the dialogue mid-fight which can make replaying the story mode a bit of a slog, especially when they’re “tutorial” dialogues.
Also I’ve accidentally discovered that double-clicking a node/battle will make me move there as if I held left-click, which is very nice but I wish the tutorial told me about it (maybe it did and I just have fish brain though)
Besides that I love Weapon. Ngl That one screenshot of her and Magic really picked my interest at first 🫢 I want to love Spirit but I feel like he’s going to stab me in the heart right when I start thinking everything will be alright 🥹 especially if I believe what that bird is saying…