Part I
tl;dr If you're into puzzle games, you should probably subscribe immediately. This game is bursting with potential, though, there are some design choices that are detrimental to the fun factor. These are largely remedied by referring to a Walkthrough (such as part II of this review) when stuck.
Part I of this review will be an overview that rates the game based on Story, Gameplay and Presentation. Part II consists of the notes I took while playing the game and is thus studded with spoilers.
STORY: This is fairly standard stuff, but, the telling of it is handled pretty well. There are a few moments that don't hit as hard as they should. Besides those, a great deal of information is relayed without using tons of text. Outside of the short, animated intro, there are no exposition dumps. Often, information is conveyed via character actions, reactions and interactions.
This is a pretty short game, though, so story doesn't weigh in as much as usual. It is possible to create a story-focused piece, but, this is definitely more of a short game than, say, a theatrical demo.
(15/20)
GAMEPLAY: This is the most exciting and most frustrating bit. The game takes place in one location and has one, long puzzle to work through. For the most part, it is wonderfully done; there was definitely no lack of effort on the developer's part. There are just a few chokepoints that make the puzzle jump from challenging to unfair.
The set-up is a two-character dungeon (with no random encounters!) in which the player can quickly switch between characters. If it's possible to reach an unwinnable state, I was unable to do it, so you probably won't run into that accidentally. There's some freedom in the order one does things and the linear bits don't feel like a drag, so it flows along rather nicely until...
The player hits a point where information is just not forthcoming. The tools to move on are there, but perhaps go unrecognized. In a bad way. As in, breaking the sacred rules of player trust without proper hints. There is one minor case and three major cases which are detailed in part II due to spoilers. One of them might be a minor bug, but, all of them need to be fixed to make this a purely enjoyable experience.
Also, combat has a bit of a puzzle feel to it. There are only a couple of battles, so the system never grows stale, and they do not interfere with the other game elements. All in all, it seems appropriate...and looks amazing due to a number of custom art animations. Your enemies recoil when hit, change position to attack or dodge and are just generally cool to look at.
I should note that the player is not allowed to save at will. This is perplexing as there doesn't seem to be any reason for it other than some arbitrary developer choice. It makes the puzzle thing too overbearing since it is not possible to take a break.
(15/40)
PRESENTATION: The art here works very well. In addition, it's rather nice to look at, even without allowing much grace for it being non-professional. In terms of character busts, they were a magnificent boon to the game and were used very well. Every now and then a bustless character would have a line marked only by their name. Since the busts would remain on the screen, this was momentarily confusing, but not major.
The mapping, overall, is good as well. The short beginning segment has some visual issues but nothing that affects gameplay. I doubt most players would notice without prompting.
I could rave more about the combat UI here, but, I'll spare you...
(38/40)
OVERALL: This is a good game that has a very small number of very potent problems. The concept is great and well-executed, but the developer would be doing everyone a favor if they took better care to respect player trust and brushed up on what kinds of puzzle elements are fair game and which just feel cheap.
Total Rating: 68/100
Part II
-I notice that about a quarter of the file size is dedicated to the intro movie. I prepare to be amazed.
-Unfortunately, I must install a font first, and the README file provided is not in any sort of text format.
-I figure out that I just open the TRUETYPE font file and hit install.
-The opening screen is...impressive. Simple enough not to be overwhelming but also professional. There's a bit of symbolism in the custom graphics and nice music to boot.
-I hit NEW STORY and am immediately launched into an animated opening movie. The art style seems a bit different...less serious. It's difficult to really take it seriously, in fact. The story itself is run-of-the-mill and gets a little hard to follow at the end, but then I see some text saying that it was all just a storybook so OK.
-I'm guessing english is a second-language here. It's understandable, but has that Flavorful Foreign Flair.
-Soon enough, I'm in my bedroom with the book. The mapping is extra tight, as in, I can't walk from one side of the room to the other without going out through the door and coming back in. The hallway is also a single square wide.
-Speaking of the hallway, it has bookshelves way high up on the walls. The tops of the books are even with the tops of the doors. There are also candles which appear to rise right on up into the ceiling.
-Since there's nothing interactive around, I move on, apparently headed to the LIVING ROOM.
-Unfortunately, I get a FATAL ERROR whilst headed to the next map.
-I RESTART and discover that the opening is unskippable, which is alright considering the length.
-It seems that this was in vain as there is no menu access and thus I cannot save my game.
-And back! With a new, fixed game.
-In the kitchen, the exit event is Under Characters. Thus, it looks like the character walks onto the wall before leaving the room.
-The main character, CHECILIA, has a habit of jumping up and down and rushing around. This is an EXCELLENT way of building her character.
-BAD STUFF happens. I'm asked to enter a password and told what it is, though given a limited time to act. I don't realize that the thing on the screen is what I need to type at first and thus almost run out of time. In fact, I had decided to hit random keys and just happened to hit the first letter of the code first, leading to my realization.
-ERIS takes LIA into a CAVE and I'm given a SAVE MENU.
-The MAIN BAD GUY attacks us and ERIS fights her. Apparently, the two of them were LOVERS at some point.
-The combat UI looks pretty cool. As for the actual system, I'm a little unsure. For instance, it seems like spamming counter is either going to be amazing or useless. But, I suppose I'll just try it out.
-The most interesting bit is that the battle is literally fight along one bar. Winning entails getting the bar totally to the enemy's side. As such, there can't be any close battles, but this has some SERIOUS POTENTIAL. Also, the custom art animations are BEAUTIFUL.
-The battle ENDS. I now have to get through a MAZE, though I still can't save.
-I find a GHOST that is probably giving me HINTS, but, I can't make any sense out of them.
-I also meet people who eat POOPLE. I'm not sure if that's POOP, PEOPLE or some unholy fusion of the two, but I FLEE.
-As LIA, I see some MONSTERS. I assault them with FIRE CRACKERS, which only makes them angry. I FLEE again.
-I switch to ERIS and find an APHRODISIAC MUSHROOM. Ooo la la~
-I find the STUFF that the HINTS were for. Suddenly, they make a lot more sense.
-I follow a RAILROAD TRACK, but there is some invisible barrier when it hits the DARKER FLOOR. I'm guessing it's supposed to be passable, but isn't due to said DARKER FLOOR not being passable.
-Turns out I had to pull some LEVER 3 or so times. That's always rather iffy...what is gained by making the player interact with it multiple times, especially when it's not clear that they must do so? If it's not clear, they feel stuck...if it is clear, it feels like I'm just being made to do extra work.
-And right back to being stuck. Still can't save, either.
-Fortunately, the ERROR FIX from last time also made the game OPEN SOURCE, so I open it. Turns out there's an event on the track named BLOCK. A literal INVISIBLE WALL.
-10 minutes later, I still have no clue how to make it work, though.
-I check the GAME PAGE and notice that the DEV has given a HINT that I should check the opened treasure chest again for more items. This is in definite violation of player trust...that's not a clever trick so much as mean prank. Having to interact with things repeatedly is bad enough, but when the thing has told you that it's interaction is finished (open chest graphic), it feels even worse.
-Doesn't help that I can't save and have to do everything over again.
-This time, I just spam STRIKE and WIN. This is ok since it's a TUT BATTLE.
-I'm guessing the BOX within a BOX thing is meant to suggest that there's more in the CHEST. It is not, however, worth the pain.
-The secondary SWITCHES that change where the COAL CART goes need to have some indication that they have something to do with the cart.
-The CANNIBAL FAMILY bit seems to try to handle a fairly high emotion topic...but the DAD being so flat out EVIL ruins it. It feels too fake to generate much of a response.
-Then the SAD GIRL DIES. Not sure why she walked into a room full of MONSTERS, but ok.
-Well...trying to figure out what to do now...I can open doors, but, can only reach one of them? At the very least, I edit the game so that save is enabled for the next run.
-Well...it looks like I have to hit a switch to go through a door, then hit the third switch, then hit the second switch, then go back through the door...but now it takes me to a different place than before. Suffice to say that such a thing is FOUL and should never be done.
-One item left to complete the PUZZLE. But, even after scouring the game files...I don't know how to get it. I know where it is, but a switch must be changed and I don't see how that's supposed to happen.
-True to form, I need to use the CART again. There's a SPARKLE to indicate where the item is, but it is for some reason not visible within the game.
-A GHOST named RANDOM? I don't get it? Then again, that seems to be the theme here.
-The FINALE actually plays its emotional content pretty well at first. The DEAD PARENT REVEAL is done very well, though the effect is diminished when the battle starts and ERIS says 'Go home LISA, you're drunk.'
-The ULTIMATE ATTACK isn't quite as ULTIMATE as just spamming STRIKE. Not sure why I would want to save up for it, really.
-Defending LISA's ULTIMATE gives full BREAK points though...doesn't make the system work, but it does provide a one-time situation where it's wise to use ERIS' ULTIMATE.
-LATER, I have to input A LOT of characters like the earlier password sequence. I was so FLABBERGASTED by the number of characters that I didn't even look at the time given to do it. I think the end effect there is good, probably.
-More STUFF happens. The STORY wraps up more or less neatly but with plenty of room for a SEQUEL. This is expected since this is a PREQUEL game. At any rate, it's OVER. Outside of the SHAMELESSLY UNFAIR puzzle parts, it was actually a pretty cool game. Unfortunately, the majority of the time I spent on it was being stumped by POOR DESIGN CHOICES. Too bad...I really did like that combat system...
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