Thanks for critique, and ouch, there's a lot!
Looking back on my original idea it's quite standard, and if anything, I'll just have to chalk up this IGMC as a learning experience and goal for next year. You've given me a lot to think about, but know that I'm not out yet.
Again, thanks for taking the time to play my game, I'll just use what I've learned and return stronger next year!
I must've missed changing that. I meant to reduce MP costs, gains, and maximum down to Final Fantasy 1, but I guess I missed everyone. It was a last-minute change.
I'm changing quite a few parts of my demo, actually. Even if I don't win I'm motivated to expand this into a larger game.
Were there any other problems which affected your gameplay?
"Exploration is certainly key; and safe until you are hungry.
But fret not, hold control; make space and extol,
'till your clip runs out; find there's no healing about,
And run 'till you've reached your goal."
Pros:
*Like the BGM; very nice.
*Enemies stayed dead. (Except I think I killed that one near the gate in the town twice.)
*No healing or saves. (I had to really keep an eye on my resources.)
*Great movie reveal moment.
*Enemies stayed dead.
*Possible speedrunning game?
*All assets seemed quite in place.
*Bullets have no wall collision.
Cons:
*Had to face the direction to move.
*Needless backtracking.
Minor Nitpicking.
*Had to be in certain positions to pick up ammo, but doors and the like are quite generous.
*A small tutorial for shooting would have been nice.
*Health not displayed, had to keep checking menu.
I finished the game, er, demo, I guess? The boss fight felt lacking. Just more health, spellcasting, and so on. Also, it wasn't all that difficult of a challenge. Maybe the boss has certain moves which seal your actions for a few turns? Have "Cough Medicine" to regain the ability to do spells? The first few fights were difficult because I was managing my resources and using Guard to regain my few precious hitpoints. Replicate THAT feel throughout the game. I also enjoyed the limited fights, and the reward for searching, though sometimes when given a choice (like after I've approached the stalagmite) the following choice was irrelevant. Give me a choice to use an expendable item to "scare" (or something) the threat away, or go straight into the fight after I've approached the stalagmite.
The last sequence played out like a movie. Now, I've no idea how to do this, but, here's maybe an idea for "quick-time" events. (If you even want these in.) When the player searched, at some point a text box would show up. Perhaps, have a text box show up with scrambled (if that's even possible) choices, and give the player like 2-3 seconds to select a choice. I know there's code out there on how to construct a choice box outside of what's in the Events : Contents : Event Commands options.
Also, I feel like it needs puzzles, of what type, I'm not sure. The basic one would be a stone door which requires some type of password. Perhaps, have hidden "letters" throughout the room, Though, since I've never done a text-based game, I'm not sure what to suggest beyond that.
The minor status afflictions by the creatures, especially bleed, kept me on my toes each fight even when they couldn't deal damage to me any other way. And the horde of enemies did stop me from rampaging through battles. The spells might need balancing (fire worked better than poison, and seemed to deal a lot more damage and last more turns even though it cost less.)
You have exploration down pretty good, and I do admire the descriptions. These are just minor ideas, and I don't want to overburden you. Initially, I was "great, a text-based game. They must've thought it would have been easy to do." But, I will wholeheartedly admit, I was sorely wrong. The first hook was the battles. The little descriptions of the creatures, and even the tutorial to "use my imagination" seemed to fit the atmosphere you had started building.
Ah, environmental hazards. Mushrooms which cause "confusion" or the like. Maybe they change the available options? I liked that I could buy rope, a consumable, story-necessary item, and that it competed with healing items. Although, the potion gave me a Chekhov's gun by stating "it could heal someone" and I thought I needed it to heal my friend to get the "good ending."
Sorry, I've suggested a lot. I'm an idea-generator without an off switch except when sleep summons me.
(If I need to summarize anything I will. And good luck!)
I am an avid D&D DM and sometimes player, and this game was apparently right up my alley. Of course, I had to make things harder on myself by not just getting the gems and finding the merchant first. But, oh well. I enjoyed the level of combat strategy there appeared to be. The main attack had a somewhat high chance to miss, but my kick nor fireball did not. Each had a small chance to inflict a status ailment, but kick seemed to have a higher chance than attack to stun. Also, guard is a percentage heal. And heal out of combat!
Anyways, besides the grammatical errors, I almost paid most of them no mind and found an hour had passed by! I never liked text-based games before. But, this one, so far, is pretty satisfying to learn.
Finished the game. And, I agree with nalurose, the story seems difficult to understand. I notice its in the "playing God" category of another contest, so I doubt I'll be spoiling anything related to that concept. I just feel like there needed to be a little more text describing the bad ending; or pictures. It seems your guide only benefits from the good ending; at least, that's what I semi-figured out. I wanted to try to get the hinted at "3rd Gate". But, alas, I wanted the good ending. Also, it doesn't seem like the choice at the very end has any real meaning. There's no "New Game+" that I'm aware to take advantage on your decision to the final choice. However; the Good Ending final pictures did help to answer a lot of questions though not all of them, which is still quite intriguing.
If this game does get picked, I am curious as to how it will be fleshed out into a full game for the IGMC 2018 contest. I'll leave my actual review on the download page.
FROM Review:
[Praise]
The monochrome color scheme is quite easy on the eyes. I see realistic drawings as well as plaid (mostly on the trees.)
Character Portraits. They fit so well! I really enjoy them.
Tileset. I love how the buildings look. There is quite a bit of detail in the walls and metallic parts.
Storywise. It feels very whimsical and full of odd-fantasy. And none of that is bad.
[Caveat]
Minor. Moving around the edge while not facing that direction gets you teleported. Perhaps forcibly move the player forward, or have an if-statement for their facing direction.
Minor. The area with the big lake has an invisible wall. Perhaps fill that area in with trees. Same area, black space. Fill in with something impassable and natural.
Minor. The girl randomly follows you and is considered a solid when not in your party; which, she blocked me in at the edge twice so I had to move aside and get teleported to the previous map.
Minor. (Overlap) In the town with the library, I can clip through the large tree and walk up the 1st building's bottom-most wall.
Minor. There is a knife in the girl's hideout, but I cannot pick it up. I had put the fishes in the lake thus far. Not sure if I needed to progress further in the story first.
Minor. (Map) Before the infinite map, perhaps provide a warning? I thought I would only teleport to that map by moving straight forward. So when I went left, I assumed I would go to the small village. An indication to only head south from the prior map would have been quite beneficial.
Potential(?). There was such beautiful music during the intro. And yet, during the first few minutes of gameplay there is silence. Whether that is to reflect the nature of the game or there was some type of error I'm not sure of. Yet, it felt as if it were missing at least soft music playing in the background.
**Rant**
Overall, "From" feels like a relaxing puzzle-exploration game with a deeper story buried beneath its cute art. A few times I got lost during exploration, and as of now I am stuck. Though I know you applied a guide, perhaps in-game hints would also be beneficial. "A door has unlocked somewhere" is a powerful phrase.
I'm going to try to complete the game on my own again later before resorting to the guide.
