Despite only being one chapter long and ending with a 'To Be Continued,' My Tainted Life easily avoids the common pitfall of feeling like the writers had to choose a spot at random to end the game abruptly for the deadline, and instead makes sure that readers walk away feeling satisfied by the conclusion. Honestly, you could tell me that the game was a completed project, with the intent to leave readers imagining the type of adventures Manfrey and Chris get up to after slaying the miasmic bear, and I would believe you- that's how good the writing and pacing is.
As for the art, the game's presentation is some of the best I've ever seen. Sprites are just detailed enough with their borderless style that it almost emulates old pop-up book art. The backgrounds and CGs, instead, are rendered with grandiose lighting and texturing, which helps the game's art direction feel balanced in a way that I'm not sure I can describe. I like it- is my point- and I was most impressed by the CG used for the sparring fight between Manfrey and Chris, which perfectly posed the characters to show their varied fighting styles. During long stretches of dialogue, however, the sprites end up feeling a bit too stiff and don't change or shift around enough for my personal taste. The main example that comes to mind is right after the sparring CG; the innkeeper comes back and stands between Frey and Chris on the screen, watching them fight. Even as the text continues to describe their fight, the innkeeper is just standing in the center, and it became distracting for me.
The writing is very impressive, almost every line feels perfectly hand-picked, especially during the fight scenes. I was enthralled by Chris' character and Frey's ideals, and I'm excited to see how those two clash and come to understand one another as the game continues in future updates. The one piece of writing I didn't like was the kiss scene. The kiss itself felt like great set-up for a romantic subplot between the two, but them snuggling in bed together afterwards made me feel like I somehow skipped a bunch of dialogue. At that point, I felt like like the two had come to see each other as fellow warriors, not lovers, and they almost immediately go back to how they were acting before the kiss.
Overall, those small flaws don't hold it back from being an excellent experience that I'd easily recommend others play, and I'm extremely optimistic about the game's future, if this is what your team can do in just a month.