itch.io

This game is making me hungry.

The scenes are somber and thought-provoking without being cynical, and the puzzles have some clever moments (though it's hard to say why without spoilers).  The main idea behind this game is one of those things I don't understand how people come up with.

Holy moly, I don't even want to imagine how much work went into writing all the endings! :O Especially since so many were clever in some way and not just phoned in.  I explored several dozen endings (anything that seemed noteworthy) in game, and then read through the ending event in RPG Maker to experience the rest without needing to bust out a spreadsheet of my own.

GRGHHL can play a piano like nobody else!

As somebody who loves a good little text adventure, that part made my day! :)

This game contains all the essential parts of an RPG and therefore cannot be criticized by anyone.

I feel like there are a lot of in-jokes I'm not getting. XD Thanks for making!

Oh, I learned as I went, I mostly just meant that I don't have any background in it.  There are probably a bunch of tricks and strategies that I'm not aware of that a good Minesweeper player would know, but it is doable to complete this game coming in from scratch.

Great custom art, especially the in-battle sprites.  Orange Soda is a friendly slime! :)

Wow, amazing that you were able to dig up this nugget of gaming history!  I never realized that they had plans for a 7th Saga prequel! :O

I've never learned how to play Minesweeper, but I managed to get to the end after a while.  This is a neat technical achievement, and surprisingly addicting!

This is just so ridiculous (in a good way).  I haven't watched any Star Trek, but I have just enough familiarity to enjoy some of the references.

Also, I now declare this game canon.

Va glcvpny ECT snfuvba, lbh fgneg bhg xvyyvat Tbq naq raq hc xvyyvat ubhfr pngf.  Jnvg, fbzrguvat frrzf bss gurer... 

Guvf ragel vf njrfbzr!  Gur vqrn bs gheavat gur Cbvfba fgnghf sebz n zvabe ahvfnapr vagb gur pber tnzr zrpunavp vf pyrire naq harkcrpgrq.  Gheavat gvzr vgfrys vagb n erfbhepr zrnaf gung lbh arrq gb rkcyber lbhe bcgvbaf naq qrpvqr ubj gb hfr lbhe gvzr zbfg rssvpvragyl.  Va beqre gb znkvzvmr lbhe erfbheprf, lbh nyzbfg arrq gb guvax nobhg gur tnzr nf vs lbh'er gelvat gb "purng" engure guna cynlvat snve.  V nccerpvngr jura lbh pna ernyyl tb "nyy bhg" ba bcgvzvmvat guvatf naq abg srry yvxr lbh'ir olcnffrq gur punyyratr.  Gurer'f bayl bar gevpx V nibvqrq nohfvat: ol hfvat Freranqr, lbh pna qrsrng Snvevrf snfg rabhtu gb snez gur Snvel vgrz vasvavgryl fvapr rnpu Snvel vgrz urnyf zber UC naq ZC guna lbh'er hfvat gb jva naq zbir orgjrra gur svtugf.  Vg jbhyq or n ovg grqvbhf gubhtu.

Guvf tnzr fgevxrf n terng onynapr orgjrra nfxvat lbh gb rkcyber naq svaq frpergf, ohg nyfb znxvat vg qbnoyr jvgubhg svaqvat nofbyhgryl rirelguvat.  Gur znva (naq qhzorfg) guvat V "zvffrq" jnf pbzcyrgryl sbetrggvat gb tb onpx naq ohl vgrzf sebz gur fubc.  V qrpvqrq gb tb gb gur sberfg svefg fb gung V pbhyq pbzzvg gb ohlvat vgrzf jura V unq gur znkvzhz nzbhag bs vasbezngvba, ohg gura V raqrq hc pbzzvggvat gb nofbyhgryl abguvat. yby V nyfb qvqa'g gel cvpxvat hc gur sybjref va gur sberfg, juvpu jnf nyfb n ovg fvyyl va uvaqfvtug orpnhfr gurl pyrneyl nera'g va gur bevtvany irefvba bs Wbuajbeyq.  Bar bs gur zbfg erprag ragevrf V cynlrq jnf gur Pbeevf bar, fb V thrff V tbg qrfrafvgvmrq gb znc punatrf. :C

V nyfb zvffrq gur Qentba'f Oyrffvat naq gur frperg gbjre ragenapr.  V qvqa'g pngpu gung bar orpnhfr V qvqa'g guvax rabhtu nobhg ubj gur sberfg oneevre jbhyq npghnyyl or vzcyrzragrq, ohg V guvax vg'f gbgnyyl snve rira gubhtu V'z abg xvpxvat zlfrys sbe zvffvat gung bar.  Zvtug unir qbar zr fbzr tbbq, ubarfgyl.  Jvgubhg xabjvat ubj gur grpuavpny qrgnvyf bs ubj gur Dhvpx fgnghf jrnef bss, V ubarfgyl guvax orvat noyr gb frr gur fgnghf vf zber inyhnoyr guna ZC Ertra qrfcvgr ubj zhpu bs n tnzr punatre ZC Ertra vf jura erfbheprf ner fb pbafgenvarq.  Naq gur jnyx hc gur Gbjre bayl pbfgf n Pneebg be gjb, fb gung jnfa'g n ovt qrny rvgure.

V nccerpvngr gur yvggyr qrgnvyf gbb, yvxr ubj lbh sberfunqbjrq gung gur furrc jnf gur Qnex Ehyre ol cynpvat gurz va gur bayl ybpngvba bhgfvqr gur gbjre jurer lbh jnyx ba gur abeznyyl vzcnffnoyr greenva.  Orvat noyr gb crrx vagb gur jvaqbjf jnf arng gbb.  V jnf cerffvat N nyzbfg rireljurer va gur gbja orpnhfr V xarj gurer jrer n gba bs frpergf nebhaq, ohg gung bar qrsvavgryl fhecevfrq zr.  Naq fyvtugyl gheavat hc gur grzcb bs gur zhfvp qbrf n terng wbo bs tvivat gur tnzr n senagvp srry, rira va nernf yvxr gur gbja gung ner abeznyyl pnyz.

Svanyyl, gur onggyr flfgrz.  Gur jnl Fxl naq Syner pna bayl urny/ohss rnpu bgure jvgu gurve fxvyyf vf n pbby gjvfg.  Sebz n aneengvir crefcrpgvir, vg rzcunfvmrf gur grnzjbex orgjrra gur gjb.  Ohg vg nyfb zrnaf gung lbh arrq gb unir gjb tnzrcynaf sbe fheiviny/erpbirel, bar sbe rnpu punenpgre.  Gur ynpx bs syrkvovyvgl zrnaf gung lbh arrq gb punatr lbhe tnzrcynaf qrcraqvat ba jub trgf nggnpxrq, znxvat svtugf qlanzvp naq ratntvat.  Gurer'f nyfb n pregnva grafvba orgjrra jnagvat gb nggnpx naq urny ng nal tvira zbzrag.  Gur erfbhepr pehapu naq gur nyyher bs gur Freranqr fxvyy chfu lbh gbjneqf jnagvat gb or ntterffvir.  Ohg va gehgu, gur xrl vf bsgra erpbtavmvat gung lbh jnag gb cynl qrsrafvir naq gehfg gur ynj bs nirentrf gb riraghnyyl jbex va lbhe snibhe.  Ohg fbzrgvzrf orvat ntterffvir ernyyl vf gur nafjre!  Vg'f avpr onynapr.

V tnir gjb bs gur Zvenpyr Sehvgf gb rnpu punenpgre fvapr Fxl naq Syner ner fb pb-qrcraqnag gung V'q unir n tnc va lbhe qrsrafrf vs V qvqa'g.  Gur Nccyrf nyy jrag gb Syner orpnhfr V birerfgvzngrq ubj vzcbegnag vg jbhyq or gb pbafreir UC orgjrra shyy urnyf ba gur birejbeyq, ohg jvgu cresrpg xabjyrqtr V'q unir tvira Fxl bar be gjb sbe gur svany obff.  Gur Crnef nyfb jrag gb Syner orpnhfr V jnagrq gb uvg gur 22 ZC guerfubyq gb hfr Freranqr gjvpr naq fgvyy pnfg fbzrguvat ryfr sbe rkgen syrkvovyvgl.

Nyfb, V fnirq gur ynfg hfr bs gur grqql, fb Syner qbrfa'g unir gb or fnq. :)

This might be the most realistic depiction of a job that I've ever seen.

As somebody who's extremely uncomfortable with NSFW-ish stuff, I was very close to quitting twice (once after opening the Equipment menu for the first time and once at the tail end of the second beach cutscene), but I'm glad I pushed through since the good parts generally outweighed the discomfort.

This is the first entry I've seen that really made use of John's "You can cheat and mess with the map tiles if you want" clause, and the execution there is basically perfect.  It keeps the spirit (and the most important parts of the walking path) of every map intact while making them look better and providing variety.

The ways you reused the maps were clever too.  It might feel like padding if it wasn't for the conceit of the jam, but in this context it's a clever way to give the game some meat on its bones.  And the way the time travel was used was fun in general, with lots of play between the two eras.

A lot of people have already mentioned the word "atmosphere", but I still can't help but want to mention it as well.  When John was making the maps, I somehow doubt he thought "Yeah, CaveBack and Well are enough to make a game out of", but here we are. XD

I, too, push every lawyer I see down a well.

This is an ambitious entry, and easily the meatiest I've played so far.  Although clearly unfinished, the foundations are strong because the class system makes for a variety of compelling choices.  Here's hoping that you're able to finish this one off and clean up some of the bugs! :)

I just realized that you aren't on the Discord, so I'll post my playthrough details here in ROT13:

V raqrq hc cynlvat guebhtu guerr gvzrf gb rkcrevrapr ubj guvatf punatrq (naq orpnhfr V jnf whfg rawblvat vg, yby).

Svefg cynlguebhtu: Gur gbja V fgnegrq arkg gb jnf gur Dhrrafoynqr ebbz, fb Xneva unq ure hygvzngr jrncba evtug bss gur ong.  V ragrerq gbja, sbhaq gur Pnir onpxebbz jvgu Preorehf va vg, naq oneryl qrsrngrq vg va n grafr svtug.  Gura V obhtug fbzr fghss va gur fubc, sbhaq gur qentba, naq gubhtug "Uhu, V'yy fpbhg bhg guvf svtug fb gung V xabj jung gb rkcrpg yngre".  Naq gura... Xneva whfg orpnzr n pevggvat znpuvar naq V nppvqragnyyl jba gur tnzr. KQ

Frpbaq cynlguebhtu: Guvf jnf n oebxra frrq, hasbeghangryl, fb V fbsgybpxrq orsber trggvat gbb sne.

Guveq cynlguebhtu: Guvf jnf n zber "genqvgvbany" cynlguebhtu.  Vg jnf fngvfslvat gb anivtngr zl jnl bhg bs gur rneyl-tnzr erfbhepr pehapu naq svaq zber naq zber gbbyf gb gnpxyr gur ynetre nernf.  Guvf gvzr nebhaq V obhtug Eharf (juvpu V jnf vzcerffrq jvgu) naq yrag ba Prqne zber fvapr V sbhaq n orggre jrncba sbe uvz rneyl.

Huge fan of this.  Not only is it a great technical achievement, but the game is balanced in a way that gives you different tools to work with on each run.  The characters work well together, and there are multiple ways to solve every problem or use your resources, which is important to make the multiple playthrough aspect work.

Now I'm curious how a community race of this game would go (using a premade save file as a "seed").  Though it would need to be prescreened somehow to make sure that it isn't one of the broken seeds (I got one of those too, unfortunately).

Thanks for letting me seek the dragon! :P

Well, you certainly leave the audience wanting more. :P All of these concepts were great, and I can see the roots of a good game in each of them.  Here's hoping that some of these are finished off someday (maybe for another jam?).

Truly epic combat.

*Whack* *Whack* *Whack*

The writing in this game is top-notch!  You did a great job tying together all the different themes, and I'm always a sucker for a time loop (or time-loop adjacent) story.  The story is well-paced, particularly the mysteries surrounding what is going on and the way everything gradually gets revealed.  And I like the messaging about making choices as well.  Everything just comes together to make this an awesome entry! :)

Amusing to play this one directly after Project: Grey.  Straight from minimum walking speed to maximum walking speed. XD

The atmosphere in this one is fantastic, though I do wish that the walking speed was one notch higher.  I get what you're going for, but I think it goes a bit far on that front. Maybe I'm just impatient though, IDK. :P

This one's wild, hard to know what'll be around the next corner.  It's a fun game to turn your brain off and just explore.

Did you make the music yourself?  I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the RTP songs, but I don't recall hearing any of these tracks before, and they add a lot to the atmosphere of each room.

I'd say that this is the most polished entry I've played so far.  Every part of the game feels finished, and there's a high attention to detail.

The combat is consistently great in this one.  Even though I've never played your other works, the variety of inspirations are carried into an RPG format in creative ways that give the combat a ton of flavour while also being amusing.

Each character has a strong voice that presumably reflects the tone of their game, though I can imagine that I didn't get the full effect since I'm not familiar with their games.  The fact that you have five characters and only allow me to use four makes me want to revisit this one after trying some of the others.  But not until after playing the rest of the Game Jam games, there's already enough on my plate. hehe

The non-fictional meta-story is insightful.  As somebody who's on the other side of the gamedev fence, having made exactly one game for this jam, hearing the thoughts and feelings of someone who has spent longer in this space will shape how I think about it going forwards.

Rest assured that all avatars are treated with dignity and kindness.  The positive review is appreciated though!

--Craise

Thanks peb!  With respect to Zack, my original plan was to use the RPG Maker defaults for as much as possible, but I drifted away from that more when I felt they didn't meet my needs.  Using Zack as the main character (including the original name and starting stats) was a holdover from that design choice, as he was the default main character.

But yeah, he isn't avoiding the "protagonist hairstyle" allegations. haha

Thanks a lot! :) I'm glad to hear that the game was impactful.  My biggest worry going into this project was that I wouldn't be able to generate any emotion with the writing, so I'm glad to hear that it's hitting home with people.

I like how a certain character's motivations feel a bit like an onion.  You just keep peeling back layers until you reach the center. lol

This game feels like a bizarre dream in all the best ways. XD I had no idea what was going on half the time, but I had a smile on my face regardless.  And with all the silly going on, the handful of more serious bits have more impact since they get past your guard, in a sense.  This game kinda feels like the afterparty that happens after a wacky world-saving RPG adventure.

But seriously, what kind of weirdo has a number in their name?

I'm glad to play as such an upstanding gentleman.  He cares about the hobbies of the commonfolk, he hopes for their good health, and he notices their absence when they're gone.  More than anyone deserves from their gracious ruler!

This game is an excellent baseline for the jam, and it has a little bit of everything.  Overall, more than any of the other entries, I've played, Demon's Keep gives the vibe of "a normal RPG, but scaled down".  The story doesn't do anything fancy, but the execution is solid and it manages to get more than you'd expect out of the short runtime.  There's a nice flow to the combat, with every mechanic having a purpose.  The penultimate boss fight especially is surprisingly tactical despite its apparent simplicity.

Just finished this one and had a blast!  It's a tight resource optimization puzzle, and it can only be solved by learning the mechanics and understanding what a "good" result for each fight looks like.  The resting mechanic rewards you for balancing risk and reward, routing the fights in an optimal order, and understanding which characters are needed for which fights.  That last one requires more thought than in many RPGs since this very much isn't a rock-paper-scissors battle system, so there are genuine trade-offs with every decision that are more than "use character X to beat Y".  Every mechanic has a purpose, and the best way through each battle isn't always the most obvious one.  The end result is that you really need to understand the game to do well; a fight that "seemed okay" might not be good enough in the long run.  New mechanics are introduced over time so that you're constantly introduced to something new before the old mechanics start to get anywhere near being repetitive (despite each fight being relatively long in itself).

While there's enough leeway that you don't need good RNG, you absolutely can run out of resources if you let mistakes stack up over time.  It's worth taking the time to redo fights that went poorly and fix any mistakes.

We are glad that you enjoyed our Game.  As an aside, we would like to assure all readers that our adventures are complete and highly polished.

--Craise

We are glad that you enjoyed the experience, and we hope that you will choose us again in the future.

--Craise

I don't always like these sorts of quizzes, but I thought this quiz looked fun.  The Fairy - Fairy/Dragon result was the top result, and the Water - Psychic/Water is what I resonate most with from the available options.

Interestingly, my percentages for these types were really low. It looks like I don't correspond that well with any particular type. Somehow it feels like I got Fairy for my secondary type just by being picking responses that were moderately assertive.

I find it bizarre that my Speed (prioritizing efficiency) is lower than my Defense (physical resiliency) or my Attack (which includes a physical competence component).

If I designed my own stat spread based on the listed criteria, it would be the following:

• HP: 80
• Attack: 50
• Defense: 30
• Sp. Attack: 110
• Sp. Defense: 90
• Speed: 90

Managed to get a win on the first try.  My build was an uncreative "hit stuff with a stick and chug food" build, but it worked.  Don't mind the pointless mana; I replaced the ring of Fury it was attached to with the candle.