Surprisingly polished and quality game. But, I can't in good conscience recommend this game without some assurances or clarity on AI usage in regards to writing. Apologies for the essay in advanced xd.
Also, as a forewarning, I have not yet finished the game, so it's possible I'm missing some context that would change what I'm about to say.
Positive Remarks
Really fond of the writing. These types of games usually have god awful dialogue that takes you out of the story, so this was a breath of fresh air. At least from a line to line, diction perspective, it was competently executed. However, some of the promised narrative beats on the page description are absent, which I'll elaborate more on that later.
The combat/gameplay is also a standout in my opinion. Usually with these types of games, the gameplay loop gets monotonous after a while. But because you'll be changing form's regularly, combat avoids feeling too repetitive or plodding, as you juggle different playstyles depending on your transformation. It absolutely adds longevity to the combat. It could definitely be fleshed out more, but for a one person operation, I'm blown away at how engaging and fun it feels.
I also want to touch on the visuals. There's only so much you can do with Kisekae and RPG Maker sprites, but despite that, I think you made the best out of them. The environments are nice and intuitive to navigate, and it felt pretty cohesive still. The moment at the river is prime example of this, and I'd love to see more like that.
Bugs and Suggestions
With my glowing recommendation done, I'd like to note some bugs and suggestions.
- In Area 1, you can use the dispel potion in places you probably shouldn't (mainly, when doing quests, i.e. when in the slime room, or in the goblin room)
- Similarly using the orbs when in town (you could be a succubus in broad daylight). It's not a big deal, and it's pretty funny, but thought you might want to know.
- If you return to the Area 1 intersection, you have to interact with the exit to go to the next map, which is different from all other exits AFAIK.
- When you remove the harpy transformation, you retain your speed increase (which I will happily use until patched)
- If you transform into a goblin on the same floor as when the quest is supposed to trigger, interacting with the door gives no dialogue prompt, and you have to re-enter the floor to trigger the quest (mechanically I understand why this has to happen, but still a bit awkward. Perhaps interacting with the door triggers a different cutscene if you're on that floor?)
- After returning from the goblin room and finishing the quest, the cutscene will have two goblin sprites: One still standing in the prior room, and the one we are talking to.
- The hero's pendant is removed after any transformation. Thus, if you obtain it prior to beating the boss, it's lost forever.
For some suggestions:
- I cannot tell what the goblin Magical Dust does, nor a lot of the other transformation spells. There's a little indicator saying +Transformation, but nothing ever happens no matter how many times I use it. Perhaps some clarity on valid targets, or indication of progress?
- It'd be nice if we can cast the transformation spells we have on ourselves. I definitely prefer the Female Adventurer skills to the Male Adventurer one, but going back to die to enemies in Area 1 takes forever. Likewise, to do certain quests you have to have certain forms, so instead of killing yourself, being able to cast the spell on yourself would be nice. I know later on we can get the orbs, but early game, and for the F-Adv form, I'd appreciate it.
- There's no way to beat the succubus without being transformed, is there? No luck with using bombs every round, and the hero's pendant did nothing to protect me. I think it'd be a cool secret, if you successfully did enough damage, and you could just give the orb early or something.
- Early game, the most critical spell to learn is Meditation. Perhaps you might want to force your first spell learnt to be that? Or have some scripted event of using the scroll?
- The harpy levels are the only place that are not quite as intuitive to navigate (because you can fly). Some indication of which parts of the map leads to the next map would be nice.
- After getting to Area 2, if you return to the entrance in base human form, the PC still just says "I haven't get any loots yet." instead of a more updated message (that the barrier prevents ANYONE from exiting).
- The goblin quest, It'd be nice to know where the sign's reference starting point is, as otherwise, even though you know which path to take, you don't know where the path starts.
Concerns About AI Usage
I have plenty more I can say, but I think that'll suffice for the time being. But, I am a bit worried about something. As mentioned, the itch io description states that the game includes themes of "identity loss, adaptation, and self-reinvention." But the last of those themes is utterly absent from the game's narrative.
The writing quality also varies wildly. Sometimes you get evocative descriptions like the screenshots on the store page, but sometimes you get "I haven't get any loots yet." It gives me the impression that, either you at least two different writers, or... AI was used. Especially with how incongruous the game description is to the actual content.
"Expect to change often—and unexpectedly."
This would be really cool, if there were random events that, depending on your actions, can transform you. Not present in the game.
"triggering powerful skills, passive effects, or even further transformations as they fill."
Similarly, it would add a really interesting tactical layer if this were true. Not present in the game (per the content I have seen so far, Succubus, Wolf, and Harpy).
"themes of identity loss, adaptation, and self-reinvention."
Not all games need a meaningful theme. This game is strong enough to stand without one. But, I'd love it if this one did. Yet the in regards to "adaptation" and "self-reinvention", there really isn't much content at all. Certainly no strong thematic throughline of the story.
These features don't need to be in the game to be a good game. And they aren't in the game. So, unless AI was used to write the page description, why does the description state they are in the game? And if AI was used for the page description, how do we know AI wasn't used for the rest of the game's dialogue as well?
Concluding Remarks
I'm not completely against the use of AI in any circumstances. If it's just a passion project, or if the writer isn't a native English speaker, I think it's understandable. In fact, if that were the case, I wouldn't mind helping with the writing! But, I think honesty is really important if you're going to use AI tools, especially so if AI generated material ends up in the game.
I really liked this game. I created an itch.io account just to write this review. But as I was writing it, it became more and more suspect that AI was used in this. So, I'm really hoping for some explanation, or clarification for what I observed. Because I really want to like this game, and I'd even be happy to contribute, but I simply can't, if I believe AI use is being concealed.
Anyhow, that's my two cents. I mean the best, and I really apologize if I come off as hostile or condescending. I just had a lot of fun playing the game, and hope that you'll continue development ethically and honestly.