This was very deep. The mood was great, and the simple grey color pallet really helped it. Always nice to see fun RPG maker game. I've made a couple games with it myself, but I only have one on itch at the time of writing this. I felt just the right amount of scary, to where I want to continue, but also not seeing everything coming.
I love the a lot about this game, especially the theme and ideas! The introduction of the thing in the woods was excellent. I especially loved how the monster blended in with the trees and was so surprised when they got me the first them, and then I started noticing them everywhere after that. It has a really good amount of wtf is going on, this is kind of spooky but nothing really to run away from yet...? I'm slightly afraid but not terrified? The dark and moody grayscale and the music lends a eerie atmosphere that fits very well. However, I think after that the tricking could have been more subtle: I really liked how at first the mother seems just kind of off, asking the child to pick vegetables right after she supposedly nearly got killed by the monster, ordering her around, and the fear about the monster in the woods, but "I would hate for you to meet the same fate as your sister" is very unsubtly rubbing-hands-evilly-together evil that I felt it ruined the twist where you hide from her, the actual monster.
I only got two of the endings, but I agree with another comment in saying that I wish there was an ending with the girl and monster together. Both of the ones I got involved the girl getting adopted and growing up and dealing with trauma in very literal terms and therapy which contrasted a lot to the strange and dreamlike atmosphere of the game. I didn't really enjoy the tonal shift or the endings that much. Also, replaying the game to get them was a pain because it was slow and the choices necessitated restarting, which stopped me from getting the third ending.
I enjoyed the nonbinary sibling and how the girl could recognize their gender, while their mother could not, and the implications of just what that could mean for their death. The different use of pronouns between them was well done.
I also think the endings could be improved if they had been split up differently. IMO giving the player choice to walk during the scene where the monster is menacing the guardian would work really well, as you could decide for yourself whether to turn away and go into the forest or go in to stop. I also think that the split between not wanting to see your guardian die and wanting to get away from the guardian could be better if it wasn't so distinct... not wanting to move away from the woods and the monster isn't a mutually exclusive feeling from not wanting the mother to be killed in front of you. But I guess if both those endings are about re-entering society and growing up it doesn't make much of a difference overall, in the end.
I don't know why I haven't responded to this yet, but I really appreciate this response! The feedback is incredibly helpful. I'm working on creating a more fleshed out version of this story, so thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment, friend. <3
No worries! I made this game for the Nonbinary Game Jam, and the protagonist's sibling is nonbinary. I also intended to expand more on those elements, but ended up running out of time. I do intend to have that more explicitly stated and explored when I make the next version of this game. Sorry for the confusion!
wow, this is fantastic! just the right amount of spooky and it left me curious about the monster and the child/sibling's connections. i loved all 3 endings! <3
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where do you find the walnuts & mushrooms? (edit - found them!)
This was very deep. The mood was great, and the simple grey color pallet really helped it. Always nice to see fun RPG maker game. I've made a couple games with it myself, but I only have one on itch at the time of writing this. I felt just the right amount of scary, to where I want to continue, but also not seeing everything coming.
I love the a lot about this game, especially the theme and ideas! The introduction of the thing in the woods was excellent. I especially loved how the monster blended in with the trees and was so surprised when they got me the first them, and then I started noticing them everywhere after that. It has a really good amount of wtf is going on, this is kind of spooky but nothing really to run away from yet...? I'm slightly afraid but not terrified? The dark and moody grayscale and the music lends a eerie atmosphere that fits very well. However, I think after that the tricking could have been more subtle: I really liked how at first the mother seems just kind of off, asking the child to pick vegetables right after she supposedly nearly got killed by the monster, ordering her around, and the fear about the monster in the woods, but "I would hate for you to meet the same fate as your sister" is very unsubtly rubbing-hands-evilly-together evil that I felt it ruined the twist where you hide from her, the actual monster.
I only got two of the endings, but I agree with another comment in saying that I wish there was an ending with the girl and monster together. Both of the ones I got involved the girl getting adopted and growing up and dealing with trauma in very literal terms and therapy which contrasted a lot to the strange and dreamlike atmosphere of the game. I didn't really enjoy the tonal shift or the endings that much. Also, replaying the game to get them was a pain because it was slow and the choices necessitated restarting, which stopped me from getting the third ending.
I enjoyed the nonbinary sibling and how the girl could recognize their gender, while their mother could not, and the implications of just what that could mean for their death. The different use of pronouns between them was well done.
I also think the endings could be improved if they had been split up differently. IMO giving the player choice to walk during the scene where the monster is menacing the guardian would work really well, as you could decide for yourself whether to turn away and go into the forest or go in to stop. I also think that the split between not wanting to see your guardian die and wanting to get away from the guardian could be better if it wasn't so distinct... not wanting to move away from the woods and the monster isn't a mutually exclusive feeling from not wanting the mother to be killed in front of you. But I guess if both those endings are about re-entering society and growing up it doesn't make much of a difference overall, in the end.
I don't know why I haven't responded to this yet, but I really appreciate this response! The feedback is incredibly helpful. I'm working on creating a more fleshed out version of this story, so thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment, friend. <3
I wonder, why does this have the LGBT tag? Nothing against the game, really, just wondering.
No worries! I made this game for the Nonbinary Game Jam, and the protagonist's sibling is nonbinary. I also intended to expand more on those elements, but ended up running out of time. I do intend to have that more explicitly stated and explored when I make the next version of this game. Sorry for the confusion!
Aaaah, I get it now, well I have high hopes for the future version, keep up the work!
Thank you! ^-^
wow, this is fantastic! just the right amount of spooky and it left me curious about the monster and the child/sibling's connections. i loved all 3 endings! <3
Aw, thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! =)
i loved this game
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. =)