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Very Stylish!
PentagonBuddy- 05/29/2017 06:01 PM
- 1234 views
_fade is a surreal exploration game in the vein of Yume Nikki, but it's one that is friendlier to the player and has some truly sweet tunes to go along with it. Even when I was utterly lost, it wasn't really frustrating because it just meant getting to listen to the music some more. I played for a little over an hour, then stopped to write this review as I'd become stuck. There's supposed to be an ending sequence in this prototype, but I haven't found it... yet. I was interested enough that I'll probably take another stab at it some time in the future.
You play as a shadow in a world with other shadows. One of the game's advertised features is that the levels change as you interact with them, which yeah, they do! I thought that was a nice touch and it helped freshen things up even a little bit as I wandered. I don't play too many games in the Yume Nikki style, but this is something I'd love to see more of. Beyond that, the story is a mystery, though there's of course some Symbolism™ you're free to interpret.
As best I can tell, you're trying to banish these forces of darkness -- if only because they keep blocking passages! Very rude.
Each of the three areas you can visit have a distinct style and sound. I unfortunately wasn't able to get past the first two screens in the north area, but I made what felt like significant progress in the east and west zones. What stopped me were these eggs:
Each can cycle through many different colors, making brute forcing impossible… which is fair!
The kindness comes from your generous walking speed and small things like a teleport maze offering to return you to the beginning once you’ve “solved” it. I say “solved” since… I must have missed something. It feels like there’s even more secrets just waiting to be uncovered, which is a great feeling for this type of game to have. I found some items, too, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them if anything. One of the biggest differences between this and something that’s directly a Yume Nikki fangame is the lack of effects, but I didn’t mind that.
What does it all mean? Will this ever be finished? Who knows, but if it is I’d love to see it. Even in this unfinished state, I recommend checking out _fade. It has a good style about it and a good air of mystery.
You play as a shadow in a world with other shadows. One of the game's advertised features is that the levels change as you interact with them, which yeah, they do! I thought that was a nice touch and it helped freshen things up even a little bit as I wandered. I don't play too many games in the Yume Nikki style, but this is something I'd love to see more of. Beyond that, the story is a mystery, though there's of course some Symbolism™ you're free to interpret.
As best I can tell, you're trying to banish these forces of darkness -- if only because they keep blocking passages! Very rude.
Each of the three areas you can visit have a distinct style and sound. I unfortunately wasn't able to get past the first two screens in the north area, but I made what felt like significant progress in the east and west zones. What stopped me were these eggs:
Each can cycle through many different colors, making brute forcing impossible… which is fair!
The kindness comes from your generous walking speed and small things like a teleport maze offering to return you to the beginning once you’ve “solved” it. I say “solved” since… I must have missed something. It feels like there’s even more secrets just waiting to be uncovered, which is a great feeling for this type of game to have. I found some items, too, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them if anything. One of the biggest differences between this and something that’s directly a Yume Nikki fangame is the lack of effects, but I didn’t mind that.
What does it all mean? Will this ever be finished? Who knows, but if it is I’d love to see it. Even in this unfinished state, I recommend checking out _fade. It has a good style about it and a good air of mystery.
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ForgottenDawn
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CloseThank you for dropping a review! :D
This version of _fade was my de facto first game ever made on RPG Maker. I've been thinking of this version as a mere prototype for what's to come, in that the whole _fade concept might be completely revamped in the future featuring new, updated graphics, new engine, new maps and what-not. In fact, the areas seen in this "demo" of sorts represent about 15-20% of the entire concept, so there's really a lot of content I am planning to expand and develop when the time will be.
Even in this state, there are still quite a handful of secrets lurking around. You may either try to backtrack "solved" areas to notice some changes or, I guess, "cheat" your way via hacking the source files. ;D But yeah, each area has something that needs to be solved. Feel free to get in touch if I can help you with that in someway.
It's honestly easy to link this game to the likes of Yume Nikki since it has been a huge and possibly obvious inspiration since day one. I personally love exploration games and I love the idea of an environmental narrative as a vehicle of suggestion rather than explication. I took the liberty of putting some sparse text as a way to convey a sense of mystery and implement a bit of a learning curve for newcomers. I think the few key differences from YN, aside the use of text and lack of collectibles, was that I basically built the game around the music. I first made the tunes and ambiances, then I slowly designed the levels. Furthermore, another key difference is that "solving" an area will trigger a change in it.
It's a starting point. I'm definitely learning as I chug along and it's great to get some feedback every once in a while, even when this prototype is technically "finished". :D
This version of _fade was my de facto first game ever made on RPG Maker. I've been thinking of this version as a mere prototype for what's to come, in that the whole _fade concept might be completely revamped in the future featuring new, updated graphics, new engine, new maps and what-not. In fact, the areas seen in this "demo" of sorts represent about 15-20% of the entire concept, so there's really a lot of content I am planning to expand and develop when the time will be.
Even in this state, there are still quite a handful of secrets lurking around. You may either try to backtrack "solved" areas to notice some changes or, I guess, "cheat" your way via hacking the source files. ;D But yeah, each area has something that needs to be solved. Feel free to get in touch if I can help you with that in someway.
It's honestly easy to link this game to the likes of Yume Nikki since it has been a huge and possibly obvious inspiration since day one. I personally love exploration games and I love the idea of an environmental narrative as a vehicle of suggestion rather than explication. I took the liberty of putting some sparse text as a way to convey a sense of mystery and implement a bit of a learning curve for newcomers. I think the few key differences from YN, aside the use of text and lack of collectibles, was that I basically built the game around the music. I first made the tunes and ambiances, then I slowly designed the levels. Furthermore, another key difference is that "solving" an area will trigger a change in it.
It's a starting point. I'm definitely learning as I chug along and it's great to get some feedback every once in a while, even when this prototype is technically "finished". :D
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