This was a really fun experience! The characters are all great, the story isn't afraid to play it goofy, and the writing is competent enough to juggle multiple threads at a time without it being overwhelming. I think the variety of the humour adds a lot, too, having both great visual and dialogue aspects that just hook me right into the silliness of it all. The art direction, much like the story, isn't afraid to let loose and just have fun. I can tell some of these songs are gonna get lodged in my brain whether I want them to or not.
For development's sake, here are a few things that I think the team could focus on that aren't directly related to adding new content:
- There are a few grammatical errors and context slip-ups throughout the game (such as objects being described differently at different points in time—e.g. the flashlight the player gets at the beginning of Chapter 0) that can easily be fixed up with a bit of proofreading.
- I think the way in which the battle mechanics are described could be a little more user-friendly. I, unfortunately, have a slow brain, and I wasn't able to absorb all the battle system's info on a single read-through. Maybe you could allow the player to more easily revisit the explanations in some way as they play? Or, if there is a way to revisit this info, maybe it could be more apparent where to find that info?
- Personally, I found that the beginning of Chapter 0 was pretty jarring to be dropped into. This is a personal thing, but I think adding maybe just a teeny bit more to Chapter 0—whether that be extra time devoted to explaining the setting, the characters, what have you—could go a long way in making the beginning of the story more approachable. Chapters 1 and 2 don't have this issue for me.
- The dice stuff is still a work-in-progress, so I don't expect that aspect of the battle system to be perfect yet. However, I think an extra line or two explaining to the player what the extra dice are, why they should consider using them, etc., would make that feature of the game feel more natural. As it is now, I swapped my dice once and never thought about it again (I was on the regular difficulty).
These are all more nitpicks than anything, but I figured it might help guide the development of the game! I'm definitely excited to see where this game goes in the future! You all have something really special here, and from what I've seen of the writing, the art, and, really, everything, this project is in good hands.
(god I need to learn how to properly end reviews without filling them with sap)