Where do I even start?! Not only is that the theme of the review but its also the theme of this game. After the short prologue you are left in the top left of a bland uninspired RPG maker map. With "cheat" portals to different locations. I know what you and everyone are/were thinking the moment you see that screen turn from black... "now what?"
And that seems to be the name of the game... "Now what". Staring at the screen confused you start the normal RPG / WTF am I doing list:
-Search the map? Wrong! All the paths on the first map simply don't have a connecting map...
-Look in houses? Wrong! everything locked up with the same generic reason. (with the exception of one)
-Go through the RPG key item menu thinking you missed something? Wrong!
At this point a reasonable person probably looks at the game version... Version 49.5...? That sounds like it's had a ton of polish and effort put into it? The game has been on F95zone for FIVE years??? Surely you must have downloaded the wrong file? Wrong! That's just the game... a mess of half finished ideas...
Or better yet it might be more apt to say for every hour spent on writing this game 1 minute was spent on actually making the game. This is reflected in everything from:
-Map tile sets look awful, there's no inspiration in any of them at all, the Bar bedroom literally has one bed and one drawer in the whole room, the plains has grass and a flower every now and then, the town is a cross with square houses. The deep woods map doesn't even use the same assets, instead it's using weird blown out lower pixilation assets?
-The sex scenes, 1/10 have a picture or two associated with it so that's underwhelming , but even then the art is wildly inconsistent.
-The Skill tree, despite being something different and clearly thought out, looks like it was made in Paint and looks like someone spent 4 minutes slapping it together.
-Even when the Dev added the script to the game the lack of care was noticeable! White text is internal thoughts / narration and coloured represents a character speaking... Sometimes?!?! It's insanely inconstant and annoying to read.
But that said there's some really good writing in here! But the engine choice spoils it further, RPGM is not and never will be a great way to offer a text based adventure.
The Dev has never in 5 years decided to fix the literal first thing new players get to interact with? You have to use a couple "cheat" portals to go anywhere in the game? Because again the maps don't connect to each other?
Which leads me to this weird almost lack of understanding feeling. Why put so much effort and love into a game but also at the exact same time put an equal amount of blatant disregard for the thing you are creating? I simply can't square this box, or wrap my head around what I'm playing. It's truly the epitome of "Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face". The updates are massive! But what new players will ever see them if the game play has the same impact as a wet fart in a wave pool.
There's a weird scenes of melancholy or guilt reviewing this game and giving it such a low score. The writing, although often very long-winded, has a lot of personality in it! You can see the fun and passion the Dev has for the characters. I just wish the Dev took their writing talents to a game like CoC or TiTs, where they can really run with what they are great at, and leave the "game" side to someone who wants to make a functioning game.
And that seems to be the name of the game... "Now what". Staring at the screen confused you start the normal RPG / WTF am I doing list:
-Search the map? Wrong! All the paths on the first map simply don't have a connecting map...
-Look in houses? Wrong! everything locked up with the same generic reason. (with the exception of one)
-Go through the RPG key item menu thinking you missed something? Wrong!
At this point a reasonable person probably looks at the game version... Version 49.5...? That sounds like it's had a ton of polish and effort put into it? The game has been on F95zone for FIVE years??? Surely you must have downloaded the wrong file? Wrong! That's just the game... a mess of half finished ideas...
Or better yet it might be more apt to say for every hour spent on writing this game 1 minute was spent on actually making the game. This is reflected in everything from:
-Map tile sets look awful, there's no inspiration in any of them at all, the Bar bedroom literally has one bed and one drawer in the whole room, the plains has grass and a flower every now and then, the town is a cross with square houses. The deep woods map doesn't even use the same assets, instead it's using weird blown out lower pixilation assets?
-The sex scenes, 1/10 have a picture or two associated with it so that's underwhelming , but even then the art is wildly inconsistent.
-The Skill tree, despite being something different and clearly thought out, looks like it was made in Paint and looks like someone spent 4 minutes slapping it together.
-Even when the Dev added the script to the game the lack of care was noticeable! White text is internal thoughts / narration and coloured represents a character speaking... Sometimes?!?! It's insanely inconstant and annoying to read.
But that said there's some really good writing in here! But the engine choice spoils it further, RPGM is not and never will be a great way to offer a text based adventure.
The Dev has never in 5 years decided to fix the literal first thing new players get to interact with? You have to use a couple "cheat" portals to go anywhere in the game? Because again the maps don't connect to each other?
Which leads me to this weird almost lack of understanding feeling. Why put so much effort and love into a game but also at the exact same time put an equal amount of blatant disregard for the thing you are creating? I simply can't square this box, or wrap my head around what I'm playing. It's truly the epitome of "Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face". The updates are massive! But what new players will ever see them if the game play has the same impact as a wet fart in a wave pool.
There's a weird scenes of melancholy or guilt reviewing this game and giving it such a low score. The writing, although often very long-winded, has a lot of personality in it! You can see the fun and passion the Dev has for the characters. I just wish the Dev took their writing talents to a game like CoC or TiTs, where they can really run with what they are great at, and leave the "game" side to someone who wants to make a functioning game.