So..
I...like this game.
Let's be fair though, I'd love it if it was cleaned up more, I don't mean visually or partially, I mean the plot needs a whole clean up.
Things just spike in intensity and one moment Rin will be this sane, okay-ish person and the other she's portrayed as comically evil and so insane she'll believe a fucking play is the equivalent of prediction.
The moral is very obvious, be nice @peacesign live laugh love yatta yatta but it's just too obvious, the game is always short of screaming you in the face with the fact everybody's cuckoo and needs to get their shit together, that is until it actually just screams it at you in the end.
I get where the story is going and what it's pointing towards, what the characters are supposed to be, but that -- in a narratively focused and driven game -- is not enough.
The game never says why Alex is such a bitch and how she hasn't noticed or why Rin is so cowardly or what lead Sally to be so clingy.
I mean it genuinely when I say that I want to like these characters, for RPGmaker games they are good characters with good story beats but I can't because I don't know them, relate to them.
I also don't need the game to scream it at me in the ending or the start, I need to know them through bits, and get an idea even if general of what they specifically are like, I shouldn't be able to summarize the characters into 1 or 2 words, I have to be evoked into detailing them and I just can't do that with these characters.
The puzzles...oh the puzzles...these alone triple the playtime and have been the bane of my existence for the last 3 days, oh my god these are probably the most outlandish or excruciatingly confusing puzzles I've ever played and I hate them, all of them with no exception.
And yet, the art is good and conveys the characters well, the setting is, though extreme, very lovely and (really can't say this about most stories, especially rpgmakers) I love the moral.
I'll give you the most solid piece of advice, get someone brutally honest you know, have them play the game, and wait for 10 minutes before giving any hints on any puzzles.
If I had to rate it to the dystopian objective star rating that itch uses, it's a fair 4.2/5, and a redux with the above problems solved would get anywhere from a 4.7-5/5 depending on execution.
But since I'm not fuckin' lame I have my own, genuine rating for this game.
A Selly stuck on screen/10
that's not exactly a good thing to happen, but who's to say really?
Hello! It is me, Jazzy. First off, could you be more specific on what Selly stuck on screen out of ten means??? i just want to know if thats a "bad" or "good" review [because 4 stars is quite nice but that selly part is a bit odd.] now to get into an actual response
of course, thank you for playing! im very glad you left a review. i do have random explanations for each point you made but they might just be more of excuses so ill get into the general wrap-up and add some more valid points: yea it is a bit messy. I had made it originally for fun 'n whatnot, though my cousin said itd be a good idea to upload it and i thought "sure why not? just for fun!" sadly, i couldnt have anyone playtest past the doll sector as everyone i knew was rather busy. I understand i couldve done somethings better and i will try to strive for better in the future. i am just some teen making games by myself for fun so naturally i have alot to improve
and about the "overly preachy;" I mainly did that for reasons i will keep personal, but its just so it doesnt seem like im victimizing one too much or vice versa. although about alexandria being "a bitch," that was on purpose. i wanted there to be no reason besides "shes popular so no one holds her accountable." i will try to flesh out my characters more in the future though!
lastly, about your "get some brutally honest" advice, i may sound a bit sensitive for this but brutal honesty has never been a thing that helps me, it just makes me feel really bad, ya know? to quote - "the same water that boils an egg softens a potato." making games is just a hobby for me, so i dont think id need any bootcamp-esque criticism over it. Im sorry for the lengthy reply, i will fix some bugs when i have the time. thank you for your advice! i will be sure to learn from it. - Dollycheesecakes/Jazzy :)