WOOOOOOO YEAHHHHH WOOOO *FOAMING AT THE MOUTH*
I've got some critiques because I'm inescapably picky, but lemme just say Common Raykyu W. Every time there's a team eclipse blushing sprite (specifically drawn by him), my life extends a few years. I know he's in charge of the design work as well, and I think it really goes to show just how much he's grown. Love a man with a mane, Korpa dm me. The warbear is sick as hell.
I don't know if this game is exactly challenging any brave new frontiers, it's not an unusual fantasy set up. But I don't think everything has to be a deconstruction or a twist or anything like that. To be honest if we're just telling a standard fantasy story but it's 1) gay and 2) furry, that's enough of a difference from the norm for me. I think the names are good, because it's hard to balance Fantasy Enough Names with Normal Names without them clashing, but having a Chris amongst Korpa and Manfrey and Ferdinand didn't feel weird. I like the personalities, I think it would be really easy to have 3 characters that are both a bit snappy and a bit sarcastic blend into each other, but they manage to each hold their own ground as distinct identities. I also just like the archetypes the main two embody. Healer who packs a punch is a soft spot of mine, but I also especially like when there's a sword master who embodies his swordplay in aspects outside of combat. Fencing (and most formal types of fighting) are really complicated and involve things like feints, misdirection, defense, offense, etc, and I think that translating that into other aspects of his character, like being a spy, or a general, is something you should really lean into even more as the story goes on.
A lot of my critiques lay with this being a jam entry, so I'm just gonna blast those real quick. There's not really any blocking, the (gorgeous) sprites face away from each other half the time, sometimes the music loops just a bit too quickly, or comes in in weird places, some of the sentence structure is very ESL, stuff that happens when you're Crunching, and I know they'll be ironed out later since this is a longform project (which I'll get to later). I've got two real critiques. Firstly, some of the names. "My Tainted Life" sounds... I mean I get how the miasma and the tainted interact with the story, but it sounds like a light novel isekai title that's missing a few words. Unfortunately the meme "my baka life/my chud life/etc" also kinda comes into play. It's just a little silly which I don't think is the intent, and that's the same problem with Moon Blade. I get what the title is trying to evoke (I think) but it feels a little deviantart. "My ultra cool swordsman OC Moon Blade" which I mean, he is ultra cool, but maybe the title could be something more like "Blade of the Moon" or "the Crescent Blade" or something like that. You're gonna be standing on the (blade's) edge of cool vs. cringey either way, it's a narrow path to walk, I think it could just use some more workshopping. It could also solely be personal taste, that's just how I and my reading partner felt. Speaking of Moon Blade, that's my other critique. Maybe I'm just misreading the powescaling on these characters, but I get the feeling that this legendary general is supposed to be one of the most individually dangerous people in the kingdom, so seeing him get suckerpunched just feels a little contrived. I'm all for him getting hurt and its use in the plot! It just feels like there's no way he hasn't been in a similar situation before if he's really that vaunted and amazing. I would assume even if his hearing fails him sometimes due to his abilities, he would hone other senses to make up for that when he's vulnerable after using what is apparently his signature move. Just seriously ramp up the danger of the warbear earlier, make it mutate faster, make it more dangerous right off the bat, just something to make it a little more believable that this living legend would get caught by it. Hell have it show up after he paralyzes Frey and he's forced to take a blow for him because of his previous actions rendering the prince vulnerable.
Sorry that was a lot of critique. But! I think most importantly, often times projects that are longform and released in a jam are just inherently unsatisfying. People treat it like a chapter one, and it doesn't really hit a lot of notes beyond a bunch of set up (that may or may not ever be touched again). MTL avoids that, which I think is really worth praising. It's a chunky boy at 14.5k words, but it tells a whole satisfying story contained within its first chapter. We get setups and to be continued, but it doesn't feel like we're left wanting. Hell, we even get Hotted Boobs and a kiss. Joel could never. It's a really endearing cast, and a cool setup, and it makes me excited for more, without leaving me going "okay... that's it?" I've already got a lot to like about it, and I know there'll be even more to come. Finally, Roar did amazing work on the CGs and BGs. Goddamn what a king. I don't know who was in charge of the combat CGs choreography, but the angles and the poses are some of my fave, and came off really dynamic.
Great work team, glad you've got a project to work on when you need a breather from your main work, and something to look forward to after its finished.