if this is what you put together on short notice then I'm very excited to see the full thing! As a preview it had me hooked for whatever story this is leading to. Aesthetic and animation is fantastic. Does seem to be a bit buggy in the graveyard scene- most of the graves weren't interactable until I walked back and forth to them repeatedly.
Haven't been able to finish yet as it's unexpectedly punishing, so my comment should be taken accordingly:
Gameplay: I love a good complex mechanic system, so I love what you have going on here. Really, the only issues I'd raise are: 1. The game isn't super upfront about its mechanics (knowing that it's based on F&H doesn't help if I haven't played that, and while there is a very well-written tutorial in your items, the game does not tell you that you have that item so you might easily not notice- I died twice before I realized I had started with a key item from the get go and that it contained a tutorial; I wouldn't want a forced tutorial but a clearer indication that you have the book and/or some early NPC/item inspection hints warning you that soul and curse matter as much as flesh would help
2. The balance on how fast you lose soul vs the actual availability of soul restoration items might need some tweaking, it feels a little too easy to run out of soul too soon right now, which wouldn't be as big a deal if not for:
3. Lack of save availability. I assume it exists later in the game based on the "continue" option, but unless I missed something right now it's quite possible to die and lose a decent amount of progress without ever getting to save.
Don't mistake the length of that critique for thinking I felt negatively about gameplay overall, I like what you're doing here overall!
Story: Can't say as much here since I didn't meet many NPCs or other story sources thus far. Your lore seems quite interesting, but it might help to have just a little more context (even if it's just on how much context the protagonist doesn't have, if that makes sense- what does she understand of the situation, is more what i mean) in the intro scene. On a related note, being able to skip the intro would be nice in case of death before saving- was that possible? I didn't notice if so.
Presentation: the uncanniness of the 3D-ish models moving in such a rigid 2D way calls to mind stop motion, and I think it just adds to the unsettling atmosphere. Great example of turning limitations into features, I'd say. Love it.
Enjoyed it enough that I'll be back and possibly revise my comments once I get further!
Hi! Thanks for the review! Tried to reply yesterday but itch was acting up.
Regarding the prop room, it's likely the problem is the way I set it up is communicated extremely poorly, which I've realized a little late- right now, any items you trade are automatically equipped / unequipped as gear. That's on me- I put no clear message to let the player know what has happened nor to explain what each item does, and it's understandable that a player might not check their gear to see something has auto-equipped. It's pretty badly explained in hindsight and I'll have to fix it. That said, if you aren't receiving the props even as equipment, then that's a bug that I'll need to investigate separately as that did not occur during playtests at all.
Outside that, thank you for the kind words and well-thought criticisms! I'm really glad the story is working for people, and I'll keep in mind how battles affect pacing if I get around to the larger project I hope to make from this.
Thanks! I would have done away with all default assets if I had more time and ability, definitely will bring in a more GBC-esque font if I follow through on the larger version of this I want to make later. Glad you enjoyed though, I was especially nervous about how the writing would be received.
I'm gonna be going through everyone else's submissions in the next few days, excited to dive into yours!
Hi! I'm not aware of any reason it would be too late for you to join us unless I've misunderstood. Regardless, I friended and messaged you on Discord. Let's chat!
Hi! I am definitely interested, I only recently picked game dev back up after years and am new to jams but I am planning on making something for this one for sure. Programming and writing are pretty much what I can do so I will definitely need help with art, and your work looks awesome- happy to chat more to see if it could work out!
