First, wow, thank you for taking the time to provide detailed feedback, (you are literally the first person that has provided ANY feedback, so this is GREATLY appreciated!!)
- "Too much": This makes total sense. In the "actual" game, you would start with basically none of these mechanics (Level 1), and slowly add them / build up. In the demo, the player(s) are Level 54, so they already have higher magic, timed attacks, sword techniques, and items to combine / make tea. It initially made sense to me to make the demo at ~Level 50 (out of 100) so I could show all of the mechanics that exist (and that they are functioning.) I guess while I was writing the manual and walkthrough, and it got to 56 pages, that should have been a clue! In the "actual" demo (Steam, website) there are 5 areas, and the mechanics build slightly, but it is still a lot. I think I should make a demo that is closer to the beginning of the game, and only introduce a few "advanced / high level" mechanics. What are your thoughts on this?
- Movement: Yes, yes, and yes. I have gone back and forth a ton on this. I have increased the speed a lot from it's initial value, and maybe need to do more! The momentum is trickier. I also "feel" what you are saying, but there is actually no code that is specifically doing that. It may be the "camera follow" code, or just the physics I am using for the controls, but I will definitely make changes so they are more "tight / crisp / responsive". I also feel like the camera lag (which is somewhat purposeful for a "theater" type affect) should be changed so it stays "tighter" on the character...
- Area color palette: You are correct for this area. Unfortunately itch's file size limitation meant I could only upload one area (instead of all 5 in the actual demo). This forest was meant to be "dark, harder to see / "low contrast", compared to the village, swamp, and grove. (The dungeon is even lower contrast!) I basically tried to make "dark forest" so it contrasted with "bright non-forest", but choosing this for the ONE area on itch was not the best choice. Also, in future forest's, I'll make the color palette have more contrast so the effect is not SO drastic. I'm glad you brought this one up, because it was def something I was really unsure about!
- Character style / face: All I can say is, "I know". Starting this (huge) project as a solo developer, I knew there was always going to be finite time for every aspect. I also knew I am BY FAR no artist, and do not have much artistic ability! When it was time for character design, I spent as much time as I could on the low-poly body, and of course the faces. I know in a the character-driven RPG genre, this is VERY important. But I probably just lack the artistic skill to make them have more "detail" and "character". As I work towards releasing my first chapter, I will continue to refine the character face details and try to make them better :)
Overall, thank you so much for playing AND taking the time to provide all of this feedback!!
-Mike