Version: Celina’s Calling v2.1 Act 2
Second Review
This RPGMaker game is developing quickly and clearly seems to resonate with its audience. I have to admit - the images, and especially the animations, are outstanding. The developer does a great job feeding the AI with prompts and refining the results. The visuals are a genuine feast for the eyes.
That said, AI always has two sides. On one hand, it produces breathtakingly beautiful images; on the other, it occasionally delivers “overcreative results.” For example, a discarded skirt lying on a table suddenly morphs into a melon-hat. Inconsistencies still show up as well: Celina’s clothes change from picture to picture, her face appears in different variations, the innkeeper suddenly looks completely different, and in one dream sequence Celina even has a troll-like left hand positioned on her stomach. These AI quirks are tolerable, but they do highlight the current limits of AI-generated art. Still, I’m curious to see how far the technology will go in future updates.
There are still no branching decision paths, though I hope the developer introduces them in later versions.
As for the story, not much has changed since the last release. It has been expanded a bit and feels AI-generated or at least AI-assisted - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if done well. But the depth and finesse of a professional writer are still missing. There’s plenty of room for improvement. The free-roam moments also feel unnecessary at this stage, as they don’t add much real value to the VN. Perhaps the developer has something interesting in store for them later. We’ll see.
Ratings
- Image/Video Quality: 5/5
- Image/Video Consistency: 3/5
- Story: 3/5 (I’m still unsure whether this will grow into a truly engaging narrative or focus more on showing off AI visuals.)
- Storytelling: 3/5 (The story still hasn’t really hooked me.)
- Music: 4/5 (The RPGMaker sounds and effects are grating and should really be replaced altogether.)
Average: 3.6 → Rounded up to 4