Post by Salbei in Leafko comments

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Note: The reviews of the next chapters have been added as answer to their previous comment respectively below.

[Review of Chapter 1]

Charming art and relatable characters. The story and setting is loosely inspired by one of my childhood favourites and is already intriguing to follow. I also liked the lore-building within the areas.

If I would need to mention something to improve it would be everything, really - which I don't mean in a bad way.

The game just needs a bit more polishing in all areas to make what there is shine even more. Seeing that this is only the first chapter, I think this is a solid start.

Keep up the great work!

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On a side note, I also did not mind the pacing - which is not meant to be a shot against anyone. It just means that different people enjoy different styles of how a game portrays itself.

I would say it may be something for people who take their time if something grabs their interest.

Just try it out!

Salbei1 year ago (3 edits)

[Review of Chapter 2]

I really enjoyed the second kingdom and the style/character of its inhabitants. The story continued as expected and the characters (old and new) kept their charme.

The dungeon was great. I liked how the theme was executed in both lore and gameplay.

I also liked the small touches for getting into the kingdom and dungeon, respectively. Leafko changing the outfit visibly instead of just stat-wise was also a nice surprise.

The two side activities are a good addition, it was fun looking for the hidden items. The idea with writing back a letter with different answers is interesting, I am looking forward to how that will turn out.

As far as feedback goes: I would mostly suggest another round of bug hunting before release. I did found two issues in the first chapter which should be new. I also stumbled on multiple scenes where the english translation did not trigger.

There are also a few things I would look into in regards of polishing. For example how item management is handled after certain events.

While I enjoyed the battles and how both characters have their roles (in both chapters), the balance still is a bit off. Enemies started a bit more difficult in chapter 2, but they quickly became incapable of really hurting me (exception being the solo-vents and bosses) while having the highest defence stats in regards of equipment. I did need to buy a few mana recovers in the dungeon, but other items and ailment spells seemed rather unneeded/ineffective against enemies.

Equipment also seemed to be mostly weaker than what I already had (except the upgrade to the nut items), so the armour shop seemed a bit underwhelming in that regard.

I don't think these things have to be overhauled completely, I did like the freedom of playing how you like. But a bit of fine tuning would probably make that even more enjoyable.

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A bit more on the feedback side this time, but as said, I did really enjoy where the journey is going and the different story and gameplay aspects you have put in.

Thanks for the update and keep up the good work!

Salbei1 year ago (2 edits) (+1)

[Review of Chapter 3]

I liked the different gameplay approach for both the town and dungeon area. They were also again nicely crafted. I also noted various improvements in terms of adjustments, fixes and qol, which is great.

What I would note as improvable would be the following things:

- The balancing in fights still seemed a bit off if you have the best gear in the game. Again, I like that it does not force you to do combat a certain way, but none of the encounters came even close to being dangerous for me. If I had to put it in numbers, maybe increasing the enemies damage output by 10 to 20% would be something to go for?

- The "quiz" in each temple room was a tad too trial and error, I think. The right answer always made sense after choosing it in terms of where the story wanted to go with it - but without that prior knowledge it was really easy to mess up each row of questions multiple times. Maybe putting slight hints before some of the decisions would help?

- I would also suggest lowering the encounter rate within the puzzle rooms. While I did not mind having them in general to have a constant sum of fights during the dungeon, they started becoming so frequent that they became a bit distracting while solving the puzzles.

- I still had some items left in my inventory I "should not" at the end of the chapter. While not too troublesome, I would assume it could become convoluted at some point. Specifically, I remember the "bonus item" you can get in the temple not being consumed after having used it in the village, as well as some key items from dungeon 1 and 2.

- I had Mora as the first party member during the entire temple area. I am not sure if that was intended, as the scene where you lose the big key was incorrect because of that.

Other than that, it was very enjoyable. As always, the game does not hold your hand at times in terms of what you have to do next, which I do appreciate. I also want to praise that this chapter felt more tight and polished, at least with the current update. There were some minor mistakes here and there, but nothing bad.

Overall, a great chapter and a solid improvement in terms of delivery.

Keep it up.

Salbei1 year ago (2 edits)

[Review of Chapter 4]

This chapter marked a sort of return, both literally in form of re-visiting the citadel, but also in some of the pacing and gameplay.

I liked where the story was going with the characters, as well as the dungeon, which definitely took up most of the playtime this time around.

The ideas for each area of the ruined city were well implemented (I think the 'hunt' could get a bit out of hands with how the spawns worked sometimes). The riddles still proved difficult for me to see how they were meant to narrow down the solution (maybe I am just thinking too directly?), but they felt more lenient in how you could still solve them (I really liked the end of the rose route, by the way).

In terms of side attractions, I like the concept of using the flowers from Daphne for something else, although I never really felt the elements to be that important in battle. (I also found the double-weapon way more practical). I also enjoyed the actually more hidden side quest to find out… ‘something’.

On the feedback side, once again I would suggest a broader testing run before release. I found a bunch of little quirks and oversights, as well as a few confusing and player locking issues. Some of them appeared during normal gameplay, some when re-visiting locations during or after the chapter.

So, really solid chapter once again. It felt a bit weaker compared to the third one, but I could not even say why. I think there is no real reason. Everyone simply has their favourite part of a game and I always try to find a 'feeling' of how a chapter came across to me. As mentioned in the beginning, this one felt like a mixture of chapter 1, combined with something new and returning from the other chapters, as well. Which, given the point and story of it, fits this chapter really well and is definitely not something bad in a good game.

Great job as always.

Salbei235 days ago (2 edits)

[Review of Chapter 5]

From a game dev perspective, I am leaning towards this chapter being the most impressive.

Not only did the dungeon change to give yet another entertaining concept, but you also return to previous areas for short objectives and cutscenes, which made the whole Kingdom of Forestia feel alive and ongoing.

It also marked the tie of some loose ends in story bits of the previous chapters, as you finally meet the character foreshadowed all along.

They are certainly an interesting type, heavily influencing not only events but also how you play.

There have been improvements to the battle system and balancing, and while still not perfect in every encounter, it did come together quite engaging.

The way scenes are handled and the gameplay is expanded upon, you can clearly see the growth of the developer.

On the feedback side, as usual: A solid final round of testing - and trying to make sure not to break previous things.

I had more soft-locks then there should have been. I guess the good news is that by finishing the game, it should be clearable as of now.

So hey, check it out.

Overall: Really, really enjoyable. Probably even surpassed the third chapter for me objectively.

Great work.

Salbei2 days ago (2 edits)

[Review of Chapter 6]

This chapter returned to a more classic style of rpg gameplay in terms of puzzles and mechanics. It explored what riddles and obstacles you could put into a certain environment while crafting a connected story around it.

This concept - when executed well - makes for a very fullfilling experience - a proper feeling of adventure.

The area this time around - a misty and spiritual forest - is designed vast and exhaustive. From a normal design perspective, this would sound bad, as it leaves the player confused and tired. But it executes the theme of the setting so well that it makes sense to be like this - and within this context it is designed effectively well to create the intended feel in an enjoyable fashion.

The story is tied to this location very strongly in both main plot as well as portrayal of the characters. It gives the new side character a fundamental outlook of hope despite what is happening. Together with the role they are playing in regards to Leafko themself, it not only creates a perfect immersion into the setting and gameplay, but also makes for a really wonderful partnership for the story and growth of the main character.

At the end of the chapter, I was really invested in their quest and beliefs, which made the final scenes and how they were executed so much more touching. I am not exaggerating by saying that I was not attached to characters like this in a long time.

What adds to this is something that I really enjoyed this playthrough, as well: The additional polishing in small details and gameplay in general that comes with every new chapter. I really noticed this time around how people of the world not only changed dialogue quite more often that you would expect, but were even replaced with other people or put somewhere else as well. It made the world feel very alive and it was fun to go back to previous areas. What also helped in that is noticing how every settlement has a purpose in terms of shop items, which not only differ but get updated along the way.

That last segment comes to a bit of a halt when entering chapter 5 and especially chapter 6. But it makes sense. A lot of these little touches and details were added over time to improve previous content.

Which brings me to my only critique about this chapter: It does not feel as polished as the earlier ones. Which I could not care less about at this point because the developer already showed me more than once that they put more thought and passion into this project that I would ever had expected at first - and that I can safely assume the content that did not receive the same revisions as of now will receive them in the future.

I wrote in my review of the first chapter that this game may not be for everyone - which is okay. And taking feedback into account and shaping the game over time can be a good suggestion in general, as well. But I still feel that - whatever route the game will take in the future to become better or garner more attention - it is already great in what it does right now. Because these specific thoughts and details that went into making it are what should be appreciated.

In regards to technical performance: Very good this time. Except for two softlocks (which have been fixed by now), the game was really stable and tested.

Keep up the good work. I am sure it will turn out well - no matter what.

itch.io

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