HOUSEKEEPING'S PROFILE

I actually don't like plot twists! I know that might seem weird, but I find that fiction centered around twists is either too easy to predict or is too jarring. With Mint, I wanted the player to know she's going to die from as early as the first scene, and I wanted to reinforce that throughout the early game so that the player knows it's inevitable but it still (hopefully) is emotionally resonant. With Raccoon, I wanted his turn to stem naturally from his character (though this is probably my twistiest moment), and, I mean, Oliver's eyes are a dead giveaway. To me, the character development is what's more important than plot twists, so I prefer lots of foreshadowing. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, though, but that's my perspective.

-Yeah, I composed the music, so I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've gotten a few tepid responses to it lately, and I've been like, what the hell does it take to please you people?! That was one of the goals with the battle theme, by the way--I tried to use softer instrumentation and I used the same chord progression from the title theme while keeping it kinetic with the rhythm section. I've been writing fiction and composing music for a while now, so those are the things I tend to be most proud of in my work.

-Man, the battles have really been a mixed bag. I'm glad you recognize the thought behind them, but, yeah, the difficulty has been a major turnoff for a lot of players. Hopefully this won't come to bite me in the ass come judging time, but, thanks, I am proud of how they turned out. They're a bit like coffee: it takes a second to get a taste for them, but then you kind of get an appreciation for how they burn your tongue in just the right way--or you spit them out immediately.

-I get the Crow thing. I tried to do a flip ending with him, but I think what was missing was a scene with him where it shows that he needs Mara. I could have fit that in after the Scrum fight since I don't have a flashback there. I think I was probably too focused on the Bud/Mara character arc. Originally, Mara was going to be the one to make the flowers grow at the end, but I realized that Crow didn't have much of a character arc, and it seemed like it would be a good turn there at the end. Again, though, yeah: I think one extra scene of exposition for him would have been smart.

-I actually didn't draw the character portraits; that was my roommate, Jason. Basically, I had all the sprites drawn and I was up against the wall in the last couple of weeks because another friend who was supposed to be doing the character portraits wasn't going to have the time to make them emote, which was the major reason I needed them. I'll pass on the compliment to him, though! The battler graphics, by the way, were all me if you want to know the colorful eyesores I can create.