I actually found this game through its Tumblr, and was instantly drawn in by a game that claimed to be 'like Ib and The Witch's House'. Not too much about the game in terms of storyline or character (placeholder name Alice]) development is revealed to us yet, but since it's such a short demo, I can forgive that. However, Pocket Mirror's demo failed to shine as much as I'd hoped. Here's a breakdown of my takeaway from the game as it is shown in the current demo (version 1.1).

Visuals - 4.0
Most certainly the strongest and most impactful part of the game. It's become more and more apparent that visuals are highly prioritized in games these days, which is not a bad thing. Everything visual-wise is solid, from the custom tiles to the UI (which I fawned over for a fair amount of time). The character art is frankly gorgeous, however, I noticed a trend at the beginning that carries throughout the game. She looks waaay too much like Ib. Same color scheme, same apparent age, and same rose theme. It's a dangerous risk to imitate such a beloved and recognizable character, especially when the devs mention it in the description of the game, and I couldn't help feeling a little off-put by it. That lack of originality is the main reason the game did not score a 5 in visuals for me. The only other two problems I had were the out-of-place fog in the castle room (how does fog get into a castle with painted shut windows?) and the fact that her animation ascending the stairs looks unnatural. Everything else was truly beautiful. 4 points overall.

Soundtrack - 3.0
My immediate respect goes to the devs for wisely choosing to use custom sounds and music instead of stock RTP audio. The sound effects were all pleasing and not intrusive, and although "Alice" did scream a lot, I definitely prefer the voice to nothing. In terms of the music, it was well executed, but no part of it left a lasting impression on me. I could tell that it was trying to emulate the sounds of Ib and The Witch's House (perhaps Mad Father, another popular title, as well). It sounded pretty during the game, but it wasn't something that I stopped playing to listen to or would choose to listen to on my own time. The biggest weakness I felt the music and soundscape had was a pointed lack of emotional atmosphere, which is critical to a horror game. Thus, I give the soundtrack an overall 3 points.

Gameplay - 1.5
The demo really suffers here. The gameplay is shockingly linear from what players are given, with every door but the one we need to open being locked, and every 'puzzle' aspect being extremely obvious. We're corralled from one step to the next, and no sense of accomplishment arose for me from completing the marble 'puzzle'. The poem near the end felt like a red herring, and asking players to remember random, poetic text is never a good idea. If it's really important to the plot or puzzle, the character should write it down in some way. Or, at least, they should be prompted to recall it near the time which it becomes important. To emphasize my point, I played the demo through twice (since I died at the end due to not having taken my pocket mirror with me, which I also had no reason to believe would kill me), and I could not tell you what the poem was, except that I could only vaguely guess it was asking the player to look for the last marble in the window... which I would have done anyway, since it was the only place left that I had not found a marble in. Gameplay barely scrapes by with a 1.5.

Writing - 2.0
I'll be blunt; I'm constantly saddened by RPG Maker games that don't care enough about their writing. It doesn't have any glaring flaws like poor spelling or grammar, but it feels like paper stuffing. Everything is too ambiguous for me to get invested, and "Alice" has no personality other than being a cookie-cutter scared little girl in a horror game. Building emotional attachment and intrigue in a horror game is so important, and Pocket Mirror's writing just really fails to do it at all. Even with the short length of the demo, it's not acceptable. I didn't care when it said I 'killed her', and I didn't understand why or how I did. Most importantly, I am really wondering why, as such a scared little girl, she wasn't more freaked out about being alone in a desolate castle in the middle of nowhere in the first place. It's very unfortunate that I have to rate the writing at a 2.


Overall - 2.5
Pocket Mirror really has the potential to shine, but it's kneecapping itself by trying way too hard to be a mix of Ib and The Witch's House. The puzzles need a lot more thought into them, and the writing needs love and care to flourish. The music tries too hard to blend with the game; it could afford to take more risks and be more dynamic. The art shines brightly among the rest of the assets, but it loses my respect for copying another game's character so closely. Overall, I will still be watching Pocket Mirror with high hopes, and I will be ecstatic if the team manages to polish and revise the lacking areas of their game to create a spectacular title.