Maybe I'm just a little bit dense, but I found it somewhat difficult to piece together my appearance using the hints provided by the characters (aside from the group of kids), so I just gave what I thought might've been the correct answers and wound up with the good ending. That may have been the whole point, that we redefine ourselves every day and aren't bound to our pasts or others' perceptions of us, and if that's the case, I really do appreciate the message (having read a couple of other takes on the game, though, I have a feeling I might've missed the mark). Even so, I think it could've been reinforced a little more (but then you run the risk of beating the player over the head with your message, so...touché). That said, I really enjoy the concept here - talking to people to find out who you were, and your impressions come true whether you like it or not - there's something that feels truthful and honest about this premise, even if I can't pin down exactly what.
Creative take on the prompt, Gen! I think the way you've structured the game is very cool, the illustrations are neat, the sounds are calming, and the dialogue is intriguing! Something I think would be interesting is different lines of dialogue for each playthrough, so that way if I want to restart, I have to talk to everyone again instead of rushing to the portal to pick the correct answers on that playthrough. This is a very strange and minor thing, but when the witch is talking, she's talking on a plain background, I would like to see something there, like a drawing, a picture, or even the trippy backgrounds that the Mother games use when fighting enemies. Other than that, solid work!
I think this idea is super cool, Gen! Taking the theme of "Non-Human POV" and making the goal of this game be to find out what you really are is a super clever way of flipping the theme upside down! I enjoyed playing through this game a lot, and I was very glad to get the good ending on my first try :)
These might be very minor things, but in terms of critiques, I think the controls feel a bit slippery (?) because I notice that letting go of a WASD button after walking makes me slide to a stop rather than stopping right away. Perhaps this was intentional, but I personally think a hard stop would make things feel a bit nicer overall. I also personally think the mouse controls are a little too sensitive, but that is just my personal preference anyway.
Lastly, I think some sound effects would have been nice, but I am unsure if you meant for there to be no sound since you credit the NYU Game Center's Audio Library as a source for sound effects in your description. Regardless, I think some nice music definitely would've fit the style of this game very much!
I don't think there's much else I want to say though! I liked the art you drew (and the fact that they stand around Paper Mario style) and the fact that the point of this game is to just walk around and talk to people in order to discover your identity. The act of going around and talking to people is very chill (even though the story can sometimes shift to be more dramatic), and the whole idea of this game could lowkey be symbolism for real life--sometimes you need to go out there, meet and talk to a bunch of people, and do some self-reflecting to find out who you really are! Wonderful job, though, Gen! I always look forward to playing your games!
Gen!! I love this idea! not knowing what you are and having to piece together your identity from what others see in you is a super cool game. I had tons of fun running through different endings just to see what would happen! I think one minor thing i would improve is the end being more of a portal you walk though vs a clickable object. Overall loved the game!
Great job Gen! As always, love your artstyle, but I think the concept of the game is what really shines here. I love the idea of exploring your past and putting together memories, with the cherry on top being the nessescity for the player to remember key pieces of dialogue. I think there is so much here to potentially expand on and turn into a full game, so I really hope someone picks it up (I will def advocate for it if we aren't in the same group).
I think the one thing that feels off to me is the lack of clicking sounds when progressing through the visual novel portions. It feels a bit weird without that audio feedback and it just leaves it feeling a bit empty.
Still, thats a pretty minor blip in an otherwise fantastic game, great job Gen!
I like this! The characters have a great artstyle that gives them a lot of personality, and the idea of figuring out who you are is pretty well executed through the dialogue. A couple of bugs: The character at the end appearing in front of the text was a huge problem as others have mentioned. You should lock the cursor in the screen so it can't go to other windows and everything. Otherwise it's a bit awkward to move. But, this is a 1 week project so the technical shortcomings are understandable.
Stylistically, I wish the text boxes and font matched the art style. Same with the trees and bushes.
Overall, if the bugs could be fixed, this could be an awesome game!
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Maybe I'm just a little bit dense, but I found it somewhat difficult to piece together my appearance using the hints provided by the characters (aside from the group of kids), so I just gave what I thought might've been the correct answers and wound up with the good ending. That may have been the whole point, that we redefine ourselves every day and aren't bound to our pasts or others' perceptions of us, and if that's the case, I really do appreciate the message (having read a couple of other takes on the game, though, I have a feeling I might've missed the mark). Even so, I think it could've been reinforced a little more (but then you run the risk of beating the player over the head with your message, so...touché). That said, I really enjoy the concept here - talking to people to find out who you were, and your impressions come true whether you like it or not - there's something that feels truthful and honest about this premise, even if I can't pin down exactly what.
Creative take on the prompt, Gen! I think the way you've structured the game is very cool, the illustrations are neat, the sounds are calming, and the dialogue is intriguing! Something I think would be interesting is different lines of dialogue for each playthrough, so that way if I want to restart, I have to talk to everyone again instead of rushing to the portal to pick the correct answers on that playthrough. This is a very strange and minor thing, but when the witch is talking, she's talking on a plain background, I would like to see something there, like a drawing, a picture, or even the trippy backgrounds that the Mother games use when fighting enemies. Other than that, solid work!
I think this idea is super cool, Gen! Taking the theme of "Non-Human POV" and making the goal of this game be to find out what you really are is a super clever way of flipping the theme upside down! I enjoyed playing through this game a lot, and I was very glad to get the good ending on my first try :)
These might be very minor things, but in terms of critiques, I think the controls feel a bit slippery (?) because I notice that letting go of a WASD button after walking makes me slide to a stop rather than stopping right away. Perhaps this was intentional, but I personally think a hard stop would make things feel a bit nicer overall. I also personally think the mouse controls are a little too sensitive, but that is just my personal preference anyway.
Lastly, I think some sound effects would have been nice, but I am unsure if you meant for there to be no sound since you credit the NYU Game Center's Audio Library as a source for sound effects in your description. Regardless, I think some nice music definitely would've fit the style of this game very much!
I don't think there's much else I want to say though! I liked the art you drew (and the fact that they stand around Paper Mario style) and the fact that the point of this game is to just walk around and talk to people in order to discover your identity. The act of going around and talking to people is very chill (even though the story can sometimes shift to be more dramatic), and the whole idea of this game could lowkey be symbolism for real life--sometimes you need to go out there, meet and talk to a bunch of people, and do some self-reflecting to find out who you really are! Wonderful job, though, Gen! I always look forward to playing your games!
Gen!! I love this idea! not knowing what you are and having to piece together your identity from what others see in you is a super cool game. I had tons of fun running through different endings just to see what would happen! I think one minor thing i would improve is the end being more of a portal you walk though vs a clickable object. Overall loved the game!
Great job Gen! As always, love your artstyle, but I think the concept of the game is what really shines here. I love the idea of exploring your past and putting together memories, with the cherry on top being the nessescity for the player to remember key pieces of dialogue. I think there is so much here to potentially expand on and turn into a full game, so I really hope someone picks it up (I will def advocate for it if we aren't in the same group).
I think the one thing that feels off to me is the lack of clicking sounds when progressing through the visual novel portions. It feels a bit weird without that audio feedback and it just leaves it feeling a bit empty.
Still, thats a pretty minor blip in an otherwise fantastic game, great job Gen!
I like this! The characters have a great artstyle that gives them a lot of personality, and the idea of figuring out who you are is pretty well executed through the dialogue. A couple of bugs: The character at the end appearing in front of the text was a huge problem as others have mentioned. You should lock the cursor in the screen so it can't go to other windows and everything. Otherwise it's a bit awkward to move. But, this is a 1 week project so the technical shortcomings are understandable.
Stylistically, I wish the text boxes and font matched the art style. Same with the trees and bushes.
Overall, if the bugs could be fixed, this could be an awesome game!
I ran into a bug where the narrator picture is covering up all the visual-novel choices at the end.
I enjoyed walking around the diorama and interviewing folks to figure out my identity.
Sorry about that! It looks like I uploaded the wrong file, but that issue is solved now.