The Key

Foreword

I'm genuinely finding it hard to review "The Key". This is because of a combination of factors. For starters this is a first time project and I really don't want to rip a young developer a new butt hole over a bad game. To make matters worse the game is blindingly short at around five minutes in length. And while short games like "Punch Bears" can just be full of meaning if you look underneath the underneath. This really isn't the case with "The Key". As such your left with a brief experience where little happens. As such, I really can only cover the things the game lacks.

Introduction

"The Key" is another entry from the Rainbow of Positivity event and was created by first time developer NovemberJoy. In fact, NovemberJoy apparently jumped into this project rather feet first considering they had just recently gotten through the tutorial for their software when they agreed to partake in the event. And I can really get behind that sort of go getter attitude. After all, there is something admirable about a person willing to make their very first project an entry in an event with a strict time limit. On the other hand, I can't deny that NovemberJoy's project is highly lacking in a lot of critical areas.

Story

On the story side things the game is pretty simple with you walking from the entrance of a cave to the very back in order to receive a message you were told about in a mysterious text message. I really question the intelligence of Jack, the protagonist, since this game starts out with a plot more akin to something you'd see in a bad b movie. The kind where a mad scientist tricks a hapless idiot into an obvious trap. In fact, I think the only way Jack could come across as any more gullible is if he decided to eat a floating pumpkin pasty in the middle of an empty hallway.

Of course, this being an entry in the Rainbow of Positivity event means we don't have to worry about bad horror cliches here. Instead were left starving for a more substantial plot. After all, the game can basically be beaten in five minutes and leaves you wishing the game was a bit more introspective or followed Jack and Phil's budding romance for a bit longer.

Sadly the lack of a longer plot largely came down to time restraints. Of course, this doesn't mean NovemberJoy couldn't expand upon the game in the future. After all, as far as I'm aware unity still has plans to expand upon "Date Knights" at some point. And that game was developed for this event as well.

Graphics & Music

Sadly, "The Key" fares far worse in the graphical and musical departments in my opinion. This is because the graphical look of the game while custom looks a lot like something put together in paint in a hurry. As such, the game is really lacking in terms of details and tends to come across as rather bland in my opinion. To make matters worse the main character lacks an animated walk cycle. So it just looks like your character is hovering through the cave. In a way it reminds me of traveling on maps in "Well of Souls". And to add to my pain the game is entirely devoid of background music and sound effects. Thankfully NovemberJoy did offer me an explanation for why the game is so lacking in these areas.

author=NovemberJoy
To put things into perspective, I didn't want to use any resources I didn't create, so no music, and I didn't know how to animate a sprite when I made this either.

As you can see NovemeberJoy is a rather ambitious developer. And while I can appreciate the desire to make your games entirely your own. The lack of any sort of background music or sound effects just makes it look like the developer is letting his ambition get in the way of good game design.

Conclusion

"The Key" is a rather short game that won't take a lot out of your day to complete. After all, you can knock this game out in five minutes. On the other hand, this game really doesn't seem worthy of the five minutes it would take to complete. As it stands, I'd say this game is something worth passing over in favor of playing the "Vindicators 2". Though to end on a more positive note I hope NovemberJoy continues to put new games out there. After all, it's always nice to see a new face in this community.