While there were some issues I had with this game, it was nothing that could sway my oppinion that this is a straight up 5 star game. Came here straight after playing project kat, and I must that that I am pleasantly not suprised. This continues the trends of the prologue, being a fantastic example of how pixel RPGs should be.
The art strikes yet again as professional in anime-esque levels; though I must say I miss the cute little tutorial sections! I'd go as far as to say that the pixel art and environments have actually somehow IMPROVED over project kat-they're so atmospheric and really set the mood! Both the background and some of the scenes in the game greatly remind me of Undertale, in the best ways possible; I'd even go as far as to say that-in the environment art direction- it tops Toby Fox's work. The lighting is just so immersive and stunning, only complimented by the music. Speaking of which, some tracks also had given me MAJOR Deja Vu from Undertale, particularly the Waterfall section; again I mean this is good spirits.
The story is yet again captivating; it has kept me interested throughout the whole game, and I have nothing that I could critique about it. So much so, that despite the issues I will soon discuss, I persisted through just to be able to experience the game myself.
Now, I must discuss the two issues I felt this game had.
First, a more logistical, possibly bug-related issue-the fuse puzzle in the facility. From what I tried, I could not trigger the elevator to work without "freeing" the monster(?). I know that some people HAVE found a way, as I was attempting to follow a walkthrough, however what they input, and what fixed the elevator for them did not do so for me. I searched further and found you CAN actually remove the "25" fuse and use it to fix the elevator and that seemed to work for me; with one small caviat-a frustrating 15 minutes or so of retrying a billion times getting killed by a shadow figure. Mainly, my main issues with this are: 1. The non-shadow figure solution would not work, despite seeing it work for others
and
2. With the shadow-figure option, and with some other parts of the game, I feel like the functions could be explained better in-game. For example, I didn't realise until lengthy trial and error that the "hide in the bushes" section relied on you waiting in the bush for longer than the beating stopped. Same for this particular issue, I feel like the game should've somehow clarified that it WAS possible to quickly get inside the elevator before the shadow figure kills you, instead of leaving the player guessing whether they're glitching the game or if it is impossible.
As for my second issue, it is regarding the spook-factor of this game. Now take what I am about to say with a grain of salt, as I do realise I may be de-sensetised to horror(I consume quite alot of it). But I must say that the game was more mysterious than scary. Yes, some parts were disturbing, but mostly only for the first time seeing them. Second of all, the many chase scenes proved to be more irritating over time than adrenaline boosting. One thing I CAN say was done well in the horror department, would have to be the few times you would see a creature at the peripheral of your field of view, only for it to dissapear the moment you move closer. The first couple times of getting killed by the shadow figures in the facility(before the fuse box issue) also got me a little; similarly to the fairy ring.
All in all though, despite the aforementioned issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the entirerty of this game and am looking forward to Chapter 2!
(PS. Rune is just ADORABLE)