My Little League Team was Abducted By Aliens

Title: My Little League Team was Abducted By Aliens
Author: pianotm
Play Time: 25mins or so (very short)

My Little League Team was...

X-Files font ftw! I really like the custom title screen btw

Well, this is my first review! So stepping into this with a short, light, fun little game in where some youths while playing a makeshift game of baseball fall into an alien plot of biblical proportions! And guess what? It's up to you to foil their schemes through a bit of nosing around after attempting to retrieve a lost baseball.

This game goes for the feel of 60s/70s cheesy sci-fi flicks and it really does this well as it feels like you're playing an episode of The Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. It definitely has that B-movie vibe, both in writing and production values.

STORY/WRITING:
I've already touched on the story in that you play as a teenage girl and her friends who during a baseball game homerun the ball into a supposedly abandoned house window. All save one friend, Nick, while the others run off like chickens away from the scene of the crime, leaving just the two of you.
So, of course you decide to enter the house to retrieve your ball and possibly leave a note and do the honest thing. Being responsible, I like that message. But ho boy does that land you in a heap of trouble!
I won't spoil much after that, as the creepy factor starts as soon as you enter the house.
The writing is basic but well done. It flows well and has a realistic feeling or at the very least something out of a chessy 70s sci-fi flick. No qualms here besides maybe the fact that text/dialogue is cut off in the message box, but you can generally guess what it says, you won't be missing much and pianotm is aware of these errors.
This game actually does have a pretty dark plot considering how cartoony and sometimes silly as it is. There's aspects of the game that are genuinely creepy to me and I like that. Had this game had higher production values it could easily be labeled something of a horror game in a sense.
(Also, references of great works and sci-fi films, you know how to tickle my pickle, sir!)

GRAPHICS:
The character sprites and the baddies are all custom graphics from pianotm, as well as their corresponding facesets. And they work, I like them as they are something different from your average art style in RM games.
They are cartoonish but again, they work for the purpose of this game and I give kudos to pianotm for going with larger custom sprites for this game.
Buut, there is a bit of clash in graphical assets in this game. And while it's obvious and wish the developer would possibly one day go back and make the tilesets used all custom work that fit the sprites, it's not a huge deal on the game itself.
The tiles used work for the game but there is a definite clash.
I feel that this game visually would be great all around if it were all custom work. But I understand, it's not the easiest thing to do and ultimately up to the developer pianotm to decide. (But I recommend it if you're serious about this project)
It doesn't hurt the story, obviously. Because it works for its intended purpose but I like the character/enemy sprites so much that it hurts to see the tiles used.


So, let's move on to mapping. The mapping here is simple and I think this game doesn't require super great mapping, it can be finished really quickly and some of the chases are probably best when there isn't too much clutter around the maps.
That isn't to say the mapping is awful, it's just very plain and empty most of the time. And there is mapping errors.
Lots and lots of mapping errors, but I hope pianotm is aware of the majority of them by now and it's up to him to fix them.
Nothing game breaking that I encountered. I didn't get stuck or anything but there's a ton of mapping errors, and this is partly due to the size of the sprites.
I've already suggested to pianotm to just have most of the tiles impassable, because this game doesn't need dynamic Above Hero trees or furniture tiles.
Overall, I'm not going to judge the game on its mapping, but it could use some work in areas and I've again already commented on this things with the developer.


Sorry, pianotm! Not trying to be a dick here but there's a lot of them!

MUSIC:
I liked the music, it was fitting for the scenes and environments. I believe I saw they were from a Horror Music Pack(correct me if I'm wrong here)
So, it was basically all new music for me and it fit well. It worked, no more, no less.
There's nice little ques/strings for events which is a nice touch, as well as sound effects for just about everything.

GAMEPLAY:
I'll keep this short because there isn't any battles, only enemies chasing you with a death on contact. So BE WARNED to run like hell with that shift key when anything comes at you! Avoid the enemies and use the furniture/objects in the rooms to get away from the enemy if they are on top of you.
There's also collecting key items to progress and some memory exercises as to where to find stuff, but if you forget or skip text just look around the house and you'll find what you're looking for eventually. (there's also a help file included in case you're stuck!)
The gameplay is simple, yet fun. Nothing crazy but that's a good thing and works for this short game.


I like this. RMN shoutout! He knows what's up. 8)
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Overall, a very fun experience but it could definitely use some polish and work if it's to ever really get out there and get the audience it deserves.
I'm a big oldies 30s/40s/50s/60s/70s etc. sci-fi movie guy and if you're like me you will enjoy this fun little romp. While it's already completed it has a lot of promise to be a good oldschool NES/SNES type game if the graphics were consistent, the mapping improved in areas and fixing some of the message box errors.
It's a classic to me, it flowed well and had some scary moments which was unexpected! I didn't want to spoil anything to keep it fresh for new players, but I think you'll like this game from pianotm. He has excellent direction and some nice writing.
I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys cheesy sci-fi alien goodness or anyone looking for a short, fun RM game to pass some time!
Just be warned, there is mapping errors :P

As my score will reflect this game is average, and could possibly raise in score if some of the things are addressed and it gets a makeover, because I really did enjoy myself! And I kind of consider myself a stickler when it comes to liking RM games. But this is a fresh take on something that's sorta unique to this site and that's semi-horror sci-fi creepy alien goodness!

(hopefully I covered key points for my first review and it comes off good! :D)