the height of storytelling is to be deeply, lusciously grounded in a crazy person's perspective and to experience some strange or dramatic events with them. so i think this is just about as good as it gets. loved the music direction too
knowing you're even considering finishing it is the best news i've heard all day. ultimately i am rooting for you to do what is best for you and you'll have my support and understanding either way.. but if the game does come out i will be pretty fuckin excited lol
joyous micro-rpg experience, the kind that leaves you excited to run out and make one of your own. what makes this one stand out for me is jumping (i was a wizard, so i got to enjoy the extra huge jump), which made getting around really fun and memorable and fit with the breezy pace and challenge level of the game. constantly it made me feel like i was getting away with something - soaring to the tops of buildings, across barriers, out of bounds. combined with the delicious fruits of my gargoyle temple arc i had an immaculate evil wizard experience
god this looks great! really exciting to see new rpg stuff from you :3 it'll be a little while before i can get to it, but i'm looking very forward......
incredible vision, what a fantastic little snippet of rpg storytelling. love the art, the pacing, the gumption... can't wait to dig into the rest of the starmage corpus. thanks for the great time
very clever! perfectly escalating series of demands, really pushed me to think about the geometry of the level (and my avatar) and had just the right length and pacing for my taste
beautiful little puzzle adventure. these kinds of simple outdoor grass-and-rock-and-water environments always make me happy, but it's rare that i get to engage so closely with them and inhabit them so fully. brought me a lot of joy
this was super cool! i've always liked rpg scenarios where you can survive while underleveled through clever exploitation of your tools, so i was naturally stoked to play a game that makes those tricky strats your bread and butter. i was really pleased with how seriously combat made me engage with the robust arsenal of consumable items and how i was never allowed to forget about milly's fragility. it's an excellent candidate for a follow up imo, as the game introduces a lot of interesting ideas about 'door openers' and what it means to be one (both mechanically and thematically) but ends before it can develop them as far as i, in all my excitement, dared to hope. that's a critique, but one of the ones i'm happiest to give, 'cause it means the game makes a really strong case for its vision.. the copper palette was gorgeous and very potent, too, excellent use of an underappreciated slice of the color wheel.. terrific experience, my kudos to the whole team
absolutely. i think if a game really wants you to be "in" it, it has to make you slow down and take what you're doing seriously.. the stakes and pacing and precarity of these old rpgs.. are not perfect, but they're really good at *that*. also your avatar is cute :3
i loved the physicality of riding the toys/weiners, the way your movement would slow down to work past the thicker parts of each shape.. super hot concept and brain genius execution
super cool game! i thought it captured some of my favorite things about dragon quest while having a strong, unique character of its own. first, i loved the spritework and especially the environment design, nes dq opened my eyes how gorgeous 8-bit tiles can be but the spaces in this game take it even farther, some of my favorite village building interiors in any game and some really fabulous looking dungeons two. second, the world map had this great lonely vibe, especially in the quiet corners of continents or along the seacoast, i found really evocative and wonder-inducing (shoutout to the bgm here, too). that feeling that there could be anything lying across the ocean - it could even be go on forever... it worked well on me. one thing i enjoyed that was a bit newer to me was the brisk clip of the game and its dungeons, i was really impressed by how many diverse locations and how robust and complete a full-scale rpg experience it offered in just 8 hours. at the same time i wish i had gotten to spend a bit more time inhabiting these places, which often vanished into the rear view before i could really savor their beauty and their atmosphere. they're fantastic spaces, but i found the concise, streamlined experiences i had with them a bit at odds with my personal desire to inhabit them and breathe them in. still, this is one small personal gripe in an overall very satisfying package, and i'm coming away from exony delighted with the time i spent with it. i look forward to checking out monochrome kingdom (long overdue) and pandemony (my friend says good things) soon! thanks for putting exony out into the world and best of luck with whatever comes next!
whoops, good catch! not sure how that one happened - i'll fix it right away. thanks for letting us know! ps, i'm touched you to see the ending enough to edit your way in there : )
i'd agree with narf's assessment. i would say there are definitely parts that are tense, creepy, or uncomfortable, but nothing that's explicitly intended to cause fear or shock you while you're feeling vulnerable. i suspect it'll be okay, but without knowing you i can't make any guarantees, so exercise a little caution
hard as fuck, combat took some patience and some trial and error but ultimately i really liked how much sense and understanding they demanded of me. good use of enemies attacking in patterns, something i can find unpleasantly artificial in some games was used to great effect here, making me feel like a consummate professional killer whenever i managed to get through a hard battle. of course, everything else about the game made me feel like that was kind of a nauseating thing to be... excellent style, atmosphere, sounds, plenty of confidence and vision, great stuff all around!
very cool rpg!! my read: deliberately balanced in and out of battle to evoke a very specific mood. dungeon crawling is messy, brutal work, none of us are here because we want to be. but by being diligent and methodical, we can constrain the danger, the unpredictability, the gloomy quiet of the dungeon to something manageable. take it one room at a time, walk back to camp and rest when you need to, don't count on things getting much easier, make sure you've brought what you need, make every drop of mana count, make sure to save up money and supplies for future catastrophes. despite the weight of the job there was a lot of warmth in the experience - it felt like the game was generally on my side, rewarded my patience and curiosity and showed no interest in punishing me unduly. the dungeon isn't cruel or indifferent, just demanding. navigating it felt like three people putting their heads down and getting to work on a long, messy job, doing what they need to do. professionals
i appreciate sealed fortress for having a unique and specific vision and realizing it robustly across all elements of its design: combat, exploration, presentation, narrative and all. i'm on board! curious to see how it develops from here, thanks for the memorable experience
very cool, tons of fun, generously illustrated and tightly designed little exploration of a mechanic set with a lot of possibilities. super satisfying once i got the hang of it. thanks for making it!
