I have a lot to say about this short, short game.
I have a few complaints about the game:
First and foremost, the length. The game is painfully short; only being 4 or 5 battles/20 minutes long. Take this as a hidden compliment, I really do want more.
Next, the dodging can be easily cheesed by pressing both buttons at the same time, removing the need to determine where the attack is going, and has you only focus on timing. The game becomes significantly easier when you figure this out. This could have been solved by placing a timer on each character's dodge, or perhaps making the I-frames you get from dodging directly affected by how many party members dodge at once. Dodging with more party members gives you less I-Frames, but you also don't have to worry about "aiming" your dodge. Dodging individually gives you more I-Frames, but locks you into a dodge animation. You can shake this up by adding attacks that change target mid-attack, but that might be a bit too RNG. Just a few suggestions.
This next one is a minor nitpick, but I never really saw the need to use the WAIT mechanic in battle. It seemed pretty useless as it offers no advantage (unless I missed something), and felt like it was only slapped on to fill the last face button on the controller.
Some minor nitpicks:
-The pace of battles felt a tiny bit clunky, like I was waiting for things to happen just a splitsecond too long (outside of dodging, where it makes sense for my rhythm to be thrown off), but that's highly subjective; I would just prefer a more snappier feel.
-Most items felt a bit useless, but this is due mostly to how short the game is, but also due to the fact that your HP and SP both refill after every battle.
-The battle menu feels a bit stiff. I feel like even one or two more frames of animation to the UI would go a long way. Think about how Persona's UI is constantly moving.
Here's what I love about the game:
-The art is some of the yummiest I've seen in a very, very long time. I love the blue on pink, I love the pink on black, I love the hard contrast of the colors on the ground against the gradient fade of the water's reflections. I love the overall style and presentation of the game, besides the slight clunkiness I hinted at earlier.
-The humor landed every single time. I got a few good laughs out of this game (all intentional). I'm a sucker for bizarre, meta humor, and this game was like a shot up the arm.
-The characters, for the very few lines they're given (main characters as well as enemies) each have their own personality.
-I'm a sucker for good fonts. This game pleased me very much in that regard. It's not always about how much you spend on a font, or whether or not you make your own, but more so choosing the right font for the job. You did. A lot of game devs overlook good fonts, but luckily the font choice was one of the first things I noticed.
-The music. Pure bangers. I especially love how in one fight, the song crescendoed as the fight got more intense. That really, really rocked.
-The combat UI reminds me of Persona 5, almost like it was directly inspired by it or something.
Things I want in the (hopefully) inevitable sequel/expanded release:
-Jumping in the overworld, even if it's useless. It's fun. Enough said.
-More party members, maybe even enough to warrant worrying about team comp. Self explanitory. Also, with more members comes more dodging, and if you position four party members in the same way as the face buttons on a controller, it might make for interesting attack patterns where you need to dodge with two people for one projectile, one after the other.
-More content (duh). At least 10 hours, but hopefully as long as humanly possible.
-More Ashley Rando (duh)
-Really sad parts that come out of nowhere, but don't detract from the humor (duh)
This made an excellent demo and proof of concept.
The raw talent on display here wowed me in only 24 minutes.
Tighten it up and make it a full release, and I legitimately think this could be the next big cult classic.
I'm looking forward to whatever comes next, and you've absolutely earned a follow from me.
green_keen