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(+3)

I played on the web using Vivaldi as my browser. On the web, ESC closes you out of fullscreen if you are in it and you have to press it a second time to pause. It would be nice if there was another way to reach the pause menu, such as using "P".

On my first playthrough, I got the "Rage against the machine" ending, I romanced Bernard, and was close enough to Wendy to admit that I had feelings for her too. I view that one as my 'true' ending, as that was the ending I got by playing the game as I normally would without going for specific achievements or endings. I played through a few more times to see all the endings, and I got all the achievements.

I started a new game, listened to the opening speech, had a coffee with Lee and Wendy, and went through the tutorial. I got to first inlet, but, before I could interact with it, my character said that I was caught and getting pulled out, and I got the "You're fired" achievement. I was then taking back to the beginning speech by Captain Lee. I tried again, this time without sharing a coffee with anyone (as I was told I didn't have any credits) and without going through the tutorial, and the same thing happened. The first time my Siren's Call was at 120.0, while the second time it was at 0.0. I believe this was related to doing the tutorial or not.

I completely refreshed my browser and was able to interact with the first inlet. I was able to then play the rest of the game as normal. I was also able to load and play my old save.

I really liked the story. I figured things out pretty early on and enjoyed seeing it play out. I liked how the coffee conversations changed base on conversations I had with other characters. It helped bring more life to the story and made replaying the game more fun. I thought both Bernard and Wendy were likable characters. I wanted to spend time with them and get to know them better. I really liked how you included polyamory during the conversation with Bernard towards the end of my first playthrough. It felt a realistic and very positive portrayal of it, which is something I always appreciate. I also loved that they were both cool with my character being trans. Warden was an interesting character. I felt like she was the character I got to know the least, in part because she had less screen time, in part because she came across as a more focused on the job over anything else type of person. I think I could have enjoyed learning more about her and getting to know her better, but between the length of the game and the current story, I think it works as it is. Lee was a fun character to dislike. Even when I was trying to romance him, I thought he was an absolute jerk. As a character, I think you did a good job with him. I really liked the fact that his personality remained constant whether you tried romancing him or not, and that I found him to be a jerk either way.

The unconscious were an impressive combination of feeling very real and very abstract. The art helped give them that abstract feel, while the conversations with them made them feel like people. I liked how talking to them nudged the story in one direction or another. The orphan really tugged at my heart and I wanted to check on and help him the most.

The mini-games were fun. I got lost a couple of times in the Cognisea, but I was able to find my way with enough exploring. The different zones were a nice touch; I liked the little additional bits of dialog I heard in them. I enjoyed the beacon mini-game quite a bit. I got 100% on each one, which felt rewarding.

The art was really good. It conveyed a lot of information, from the moods of the characters (the little blushes were so cute) to the feeling that things weren't right at some of the islets. The music and SFX were also spot on and really helped set the tone.

This was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. I hope you do more with this, whether with these characters in particular or in this world setting in general.

(+1)

Wow thank you very much for your very detailed and very nice comment! Such dedication to complete all the achievements!

I’ll try to answer some specific points:

  • Thank you for pointing out the problem of the ESC key for the menu! You’re right, we should allow another key as well!
  • I am sorry for the bug your encountered during your second playthrough. Thank you for the detailed feedback though, I think I have identified the problem by reading your log.
  • Glad you liked the story and characters! Glad you like the inclusive aspects of the game, it was reallt important for the team. And you’re right, Lee is intended to be a jerk: he is a depiction of our personal experiences with hierarchy and upper management.
  • Thank you for sharing your feeling about the interaction between abstract and real world elements. As you may have noticed, this game was partly inspired by usual cyberpunk topics. Also, as we mentioned, this game is an updated version of a game we first made in 2024 for the narrative design award. So the elements you point out were thought as visual storytelling; so thank you for noticing!
  • The theme of the narrative design awards 2024 was nautical, so that why we wanted to include this exploration phase. It was intended to be a little challenging, especially for the last islet. Fortunately, you found your way at the end!
  • Wow impressive to get 100% on each oscilloscope mini-games! I was not even sure it was possible due to poor implementation of float rounding!

Anyway, thank you again for such a positive review!