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dk12.png
Took me a moment to figure this out; the RTP pseudo-sideview doesn't mesh well with the top-down perspective you seem to be going for here. That having been said, kudos; I wish I saw more games utilize this perspective.
Circuitry - Mini Demo
I can't judge whether this is a good game or not, but this is a pretty lousy demo. Remember how fast Undertale gets you into the actual gameplay? There's no frontloaded wall of text; Flowey makes a few remarks—skipable, plot-forwarding remarks—and then you're thrown into the first battle sequence.
Speaking of which, the two battles played almost identically to each other. TarZ mixes it up with a fourth attack type, but otherwise, it's fire, dodge, fire, dodge, repeat with two different graphics sets. And I guess the scan feature is an alternative win condition taking the place of the vast, handcrafted variety of noncombat interactions found in Undertale, but I didn't get to see the point in the demo. I consider any combat system in which the player does not make meaningful decisions most turns a fail, and neither holding down the spacebar while tracking an enemy or matching arrow keys to slew of attacks requires a meaningful decision.
The graphics are lovely, but the mechanics and narrative fail to be anything that Undertale hasn't already done better. (And switching monsters to robots doesn't make the plot original in itself.) You miss a great opportunity for in medias res mystery and wonder by having Cudzy dump so much info on the player.
I wish I could find something to genuinely praise in this demo besides the graphics, but I can't. The original graphics are great, but other than them, the demo lacks an original spark to set it apart from Undertale. Which is too bad, because the demo shows that a lot of time and effort has gone into it.
Speaking of which, the two battles played almost identically to each other. TarZ mixes it up with a fourth attack type, but otherwise, it's fire, dodge, fire, dodge, repeat with two different graphics sets. And I guess the scan feature is an alternative win condition taking the place of the vast, handcrafted variety of noncombat interactions found in Undertale, but I didn't get to see the point in the demo. I consider any combat system in which the player does not make meaningful decisions most turns a fail, and neither holding down the spacebar while tracking an enemy or matching arrow keys to slew of attacks requires a meaningful decision.
The graphics are lovely, but the mechanics and narrative fail to be anything that Undertale hasn't already done better. (And switching monsters to robots doesn't make the plot original in itself.) You miss a great opportunity for in medias res mystery and wonder by having Cudzy dump so much info on the player.
I wish I could find something to genuinely praise in this demo besides the graphics, but I can't. The original graphics are great, but other than them, the demo lacks an original spark to set it apart from Undertale. Which is too bad, because the demo shows that a lot of time and effort has gone into it.
Life is a Path
You have quite the interesting concept here. Just the flavortexts point to a clever story. But since the demo focused on combat, I'll do the same. Personally, I can't get enough negative feedback, so I'm purposely harsh when critiquing. You've been warned.
Overpowered:
Underpowered:
Other Thoughts:
All things considered, though, your demo's better than many completed games on this site. I enjoyed it, and I look forward to a release with storyline included. Good luck!
Overpowered:
- Slayer is probably the best class in terms of sheer damage output. Not strictly broken, but felt better than other party members. Limited especially by MP. Not that I specifically want to see Slayer nerfed, just an observation.
- Lingering Prayer. Cast it basically every battle. Saw little point in not casting it.
- Slimes. Immunity (near-immunity?) to normal attacks makes them more interesting to fight than the average meatsack, but when only 1 party member can use elemental attacks without having to charge FP, it's incredibly annoying. Especially when attached to an enemy which, according to RPG standards, should be the weakest of all enemies. If they were mixed with other enemies (perhaps enemies immune to elemental damage?), they be more fun to fight.
Underpowered:
- The Ranger. I could not find a good use for him. His damage output didn't strike me as terrific, and his skills were uninspiring. I'd have liked to have seen fun stuff like poison, multishot, or defense debuffs, but instead he's got two (basically) defensive skills, a heal spell, and...some kind of berserk mode with an unspecified drawback. Plus, clicking through menus for a normal attack got irksome while waiting for the FP to do something more interesting.
- Monster events. Skipped as many as I could get away with. You can do better by incorporating mapping to force battles. The graveyard in particular has more monsters than necessary; I skipped 90% of them and beat the boss without difficulty.
- Parry Skill. Actually, this might be the most broken skill in the game, and I would have no idea. In a complete playthrough, I never used it due to its high cost and vague description. Does it need to cost so much if it only lasts 1 turn? Or does it last for more, and if so, shouldn't you tell the player that?
Other Thoughts:
- You may wish to highlight the story a little more in the demo to garner more interest, even if it's just a single dialogue.
- I liked having a lot of skills to start, even if it was a little overwhelming. Could you maybe space out the characters with a battle between each? If you fixed the starting character and the order in which you unlock the rest, you could make each fight highlight that party member's abilities.
- What's the point of the orc shenanigans?
- The Slayer seemed out of place alongside the other, generic classes since it was so flavorful. I appreciate the Slayer's development, but it left the other classes feeling cheap and flat.
All things considered, though, your demo's better than many completed games on this site. I enjoyed it, and I look forward to a release with storyline included. Good luck!
Let's Play: over.
Hey, thanks for the let's play! I appreciate it. There were a couple of things you picked up on that I completely missed, most noteworthy of which is the pile of rubble just west of the start location. I'll probably put out another release at some point in the near future correcting it. Since I don't have resources to do serious playtesting, feedback like yours is great. Thank you!
Desolate Faith
Well, this game has an excellent description. It sounds like this game has an enthralling story and characters the player could easily relate to. However, the game itself wasn't especially great. I like the soundtrack button, but it generally seemed to go downhill from there.
The mapping needs work. The areas are huge and empty.
The music needs work. I expected a lot more of it to sound like the title track, quiet and dramatic, but I noticed a lot of tracks that didn't fit and generally weren't high quality.
I played until I stepped on a red button and fought a troop of three bats four times.
I think you could tell an incredible story with this game, but the gameplay just isn't there.
The mapping needs work. The areas are huge and empty.
The music needs work. I expected a lot more of it to sound like the title track, quiet and dramatic, but I noticed a lot of tracks that didn't fit and generally weren't high quality.
I played until I stepped on a red button and fought a troop of three bats four times.
I think you could tell an incredible story with this game, but the gameplay just isn't there.
Lacrimosa
Well, now, a first-person RPG Maker Game. I never thought I'd see that. I don't speak a word of Portuguese so it took me a little while to figure everything out. (It is Portuguese, right?) The combat system seemed kind of monotonous, but I can accept that in a dungeon crawl. It was difficult to figure out what exactly was going on with the gems, but it seems like a cool mechanic. Have you viewed your game over screen? I'm not sure why, but the width of the graphic did not match the width of the screen. Also, you're better off with one of the RTP game over MEs. The ME you chose doesn't sound right for a character's death. I liked the battler art. Overall, very cool.
over.
Hm. After dismissing the idea as beyond my capabilities, I cudgeled my brains for a method to dynamically determine the cone of vision, one which I felt quite proud of until I tried it out and the scorpion couldn't find anything to save its life. Due to the four-directional nature of RPG Maker VX Ace, a ninety degree turn almost always shifts the cone of vision away from the player. I'll keep tinkering with it. Thanks for the idea.
over.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the assault rifle and the game. Do you have any suggestions about the scorpions?
over.
Well, see, they're giant scorpions, and they have bad eyesight, and this is special radioactive video game grass that projects a psychic perception field...which is to say that I thought it would be fun to introduce an alternative to fighting the scorpions, namely, stealth. I was much more concerned with giving the player options than with being strictly realistic. The whole game is slightly abstract.
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