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(2 edits)

That was quite an adventure. Positive points:

  • Unique mechanics like random blindness triggered by the dragon roars and using light crystals to reveal the enemies.
  • In-battle dialog makes for some lively banter that you don't see too often in RPG Maker games.
  • Expressive portraits to emphasize the characters' emotions.
  • There's a story with a bit of mystery.
  • Only one major bug (mentioned in the criticisms); it's otherwise smooth sailing
  • No crazy skill spikes or impossible challenges.
  • Battles don't last too long.
  • The objective is always stated near the beginning of each section and is clearly defined.
  • Good BGM choices.

But of course, there are negative points too:

  • LOTS of typos (you even call yourself out for it in the end, so at least you know).
  • Text overflow in a few places too.
  • Harold's room is bugged (I think someone pointed that out earlier).
  • No weapon upgrade for Marsha?
  • No place to fully heal.
  • Battles are a bit too easy with not enough skill variety; I just set the "Command Remember" option to "On," set my attacks, then spammed the OK button.
  • Items don't clearly indicate what they do or how much of an effect they will have (like, I know that it will restore HP, but how much?)
  • Potion lacks a description.
  • Why so many pickaxes? Only 1 character can use them and they are all the same.
  • It would be nice to know how close to reaching the objective we are; something like a HUD or a counter in the item descriptions.
  • It's not always clear why we are doing certain things. Like, I know that I need to mine the rocks, but why? And how many hits does it take to collect the gold? (Side note: I did eventually figure it out)
  • Some tiles are set up incorrectly so I can walk on things I'm not supposed to.
  • Transitioning to other maps is inconsistent; sometimes I need to press the action button, other times I need to just touch the right area. It's generally preferable to make transitions happen on "player touch" unless you need to use an item or want the player to search for the transition point.

Looks like you used minimal plugins, which is often a good idea for a first game. I hope this experience has allowed you to explore the engine's capabilities and give you an idea of what plugins you will need for future projects. I think what you have here is a solid first game and hope that you will continue to grow and make even better stuff in the future!

Hi! Thank you for the wonderful review!

I'm so glad you liked the mechanics and the interactions of the characters. I was worried about the character's interactions being to heavy or in the way. I'm also happy that you felt like things were smooth in fights and skills. I was going for easy, fun play and it seems like I managed that.

I will address most of the cons like this: Play test. I need to play test. I MUST PLAY TEST! I think 50% to 75% of all my problems would have been solved with more play testing. <- My biggest lesson from this jam!
That said Ill address the unique things you brought up.

Marsha's weapon was around the camp near the top if the mountain. She got a magic upgrade as well. Crunched for time I did not implement it properly after setting a president for the first 3 upgrades because they all got told, while Marsha's was bassed on pure discovery. 
Thank you for pointing it out, I hadn't thought critically about it before.

The pick axes were one part a copy paste "I need to make this cave more interesting"  and partly because I had a bunch of miners that were going to be part of the story, but after I lost my most resent back up - two days before the Jams deadline - I just didn't have time to finish that part of the project. ^_^'

And then my brain melted.

Again, thank you so much for this review! I will come back to this, and the others, while I make my next game so I can avoid all of these mistakes (and make all new ones)!