Most of the time when I play a jam game, I come out of it with tons of feedback I want to write up. Detailing every little thing I liked or disliked about the game, and the ways I would have approached it differently. However this was not a “Game” in the traditional sense, but rather something a little more unique. I didn’t get the feeling that any of the visual, audio, or gameplay features were implemented to make the game “Fun, but rather to create an emotional response from the player more akin to a book, movie, or visual novel. So please take this feedback with a pinch of salt, as I do not know what your original plans for this project were, and my opinions may not align exactly with the vision you had for the game.
First I want to talk about the art. When first opening up the game I am greeted with a title screen that doesn't really prepare me for the game I am about to play. While the background is technically “Pixilated”, it doesn’t match your game's artstyle at all. And the font choice has a similar issue, where the shaky lines almost look like pixel art, but are just different enough to clash with the rest of the game. Overall making your title screen feel a bit unprofessional.
As a small note, the title screen scales a bit differently in the windows build vs the we build. Giving the web build a smaller look than likely intended. I suggest using the “Scale with Screen Size” canvas setting to fix this for jams. Also, this is the Illinois State University Winter 2025 Game Jam, so it's a bit strange to make a game for next year's jam.
Moving on to the in game art, you do a really good job using a limited amount of sprites to create a very believable setting. The environment has a desaturated look to all the colors, helping tie everything together and creating a much more calming look. The distant background really helps sell the illusion that there's more out there, however adding a bit of parallaxing to the background and clouds could have helped make everything feel a bit more natural.
As for the player, I think the basic design works ok in this calm story driven game, however something about their animations feels off. The way they “sink” into the floor in their idle makes them feel a bit out of place, since everything around them is on the same plane. Typically the idle would have the head/hands bob up/down, so this approach was a bit unusual to me.
As for the audio, even though they are just royalty free assets, the way you implemented them really helps bring the world to life, and sets the tone for the rest of the game. Just about everything has a well made sound effect, even small things like birds flying away and going through doors, which really helps make your world feel alive. My only complaint is that the audio mixing can be a bit all over the place, making some sounds feel louder than others. This is particularly harsh with the rain sounds and doors.
As for the ambient sound, I think it helps set the mood. On other games I have commented that ambient sound is usually improved by layering music, but for a game like this I’m not 100% sure. I do think layering some soft music over the ambient noise might have at least helped on the title screen, since it doesn’t stand out right now.
Next I want to talk about the gameplay. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but starting the player in a confined space and then revealing a larger outdoors is a great way of making your worlds feel more complete (Like the opening to breath of the wild, but on a much smaller scale). Aside from that I think most areas do what they are created to do and feel like they aren't too big or small.
As for the gameplay mechanics like taking care of the flowers, I don't have much to say. They aren't really “fun”, but I get a feeling that's not the goal. They fit the tone of the game and that's all there is to it.
That being said, I wish there was something more to the decision to pet the dog or turn off the radio, but as far as I could tell messing with them has no further effect on the game. I don’t usually advocate for secret features in jams because if a player misses it then it doesn’t improve their experience, but since your game is so simple I was still hoping they had a secret purpose.
But overall the slow movement and basic mechanics lean into the calming gameplay and help the tense storm moment stand out, so I think it works.
Overall, this was a hard game to review, but an enjoyable experience to play. I apologize if this review was a bit much, but I'm doing this to all the games from this jam as I think critiques help us grow.