Really promising stuff here. Didn't enjoy ero part of the game, but i don't think the game is exactly about that. What's really interesting about it, it's the story, and while I could see the breaking point from a mile away ("travelers" were too suspicious to not see it coming), and the pacing could be slowed down significantly (with some added characterization), this kind of dark turn isn't really common among games like this, which is what made me interested enough to write a review. Based on the tone of the main menu, and the end of the alpha build, this will be a serious story with serious drama, tragedy, and death. Considering the beautiful art style and the whole tone of the game, I think this can become a masterpiece of storytelling, but there are still some things that can be done to ensure that the foundation for this story is frim and properly constructed. Here what i think can be done:
1) Slow down the pacing and let us get more acquainted with the people of this town, or, hell, at least the family of main character. Maybe add some simple quests to get player to like mother and father or something.
2)Maybe tone down the unlikability of other people in the town. Half of them are perverts, and the other half doesn't get two lines of dialogue before everything goes down. Adding a bit more humor in interactions between them and main character would do the job, I think.
3)Increase the amount of setup that is done during the prologue. For now, it seems, that the only things that will get brought up later in the story are - the cult, main character’s friend and her crazy boyfriend, and maybe horse people or something. I think even in this 10-minute prologue you can put in so much more. For example: One of the npc mentioning a character that will appear later; A visitor in the inn, who comes before the travelers, who will appear later; Some characters in the village, who might survive the attack but run away when main character looks for them, etc. This prologue kinda sets up how much you can pay off in the ending, so i think putting in as much as you can without losing focus is something that should be done.
4) Turning down the villainousness of the "travelers" would, I think, benefit the story. Now, when the player sees them, they instantly know what is about to happen. I think, if these guys were much more like normal people, and talk more friendly or something, it would be much more surprising to see them destroy the village. Maybe adding some guy that looks and acts as if he can be main character’s love interest, but later he becomes some crazy murderer.
5) In this kind of beginning the most important thing is contrast. Contrast between the happy life before, and miserable horrors after. Add more abstract noise music, maybe some more shocking scene like one of the cultists eating a person alive (maybe it is the same cultist that main character talked to and who seemed to her like a cool guy, who I talked about in a previous point). General rule: "More contrast --> bigger emotional impact on the player. "
6) Removing the voice sound effects would be for the better – they don't sound good AT ALL. Instead of them i would consider putting the pixel voice sfx (like in undertale, the most well known example i know of). It always works well and doesn't require that much work.
7) Expanding the library of poses of main character’s sprite, I think, would enhance the experience. Now she feels a little stiff.
8) Add a xylophone music track, if you want an emotional moment. It ALWAYS works.
Other than that, I think that with enough care put into storytelling, this game can become as good as some more prominent and famous indie-games. Really hoping this thing has a big future. (version 0.0.5)