Alright... Gave the original a quick playthrough, then gave the demo a quick playthrough. I will analyze them both together as if they are one entity.
The current situation (as explained by the writer) is that the game's original artist ghosted them and left them out to dry. This was a very shitty thing for that artist to do. The writer has my sympathy here. This is one of the risks one takes when working on a collaboration. They were unlucky.
I'm probably in the minority here thinking the new renders are an improvement. The renders are fine either way, doesn't really change much. The new artist seems to animate better for sure on the animations, although the previous model had its own appeal. It looks different for sure. I'm apathetic about this art change and don't care too much either way. I guess the new artist is better because they haven't ghosted and actually made a webm animation.
Here is where I think the game has gone wrong:
The game is broken down into 2 chapters each of which has 12-15 episodes. 24 to 30 episodes is a big difference there. Considering a 45-day release per episode we are talking a possible 9-month fluctuation. With the maximum stated time, it will be completed in 1,350 days. Minimum 1080 days. So at least 3 years we are looking at this. I found it off-putting to put the numbers out like that. If you don't have accurate numbers then it's best not to give an estimate about these things. It's the equivalent of going to a movie that is either 90 minutes or 2 hours long, or buying a burger for either 6 or 8 dollars... It's like your boss tells you your paycheck will be either 500 or 600 dollars. Don't show indecisiveness like this! It's just wasting time with almost useless information. This message is also explained by the characters. That is a big no-no breaking the fourth wall like that. They already established a narrator. Let the narrator do its job so characters do not break the fourth like that without justification.
This is the absolute ONLY game (abandoned version) I have ever seen where each and every render has a watermark of the patreon on it. You can't click through the game without seeing that watermark. Yes, we all get it you would like your game to make some money. You do NOT need to repeat that on every image I mean what the actual fuck? If I were the new artist I would definitely not do that this time around because it's off-putting... Not only that the watermark jumps from the left to the right various times to make it more difficult to ignore. With such an annoying distraction it is difficult to actually focus on the story. I find myself playing the "Will the watermark be on the left or right next click" game... If I were the writer I would blame that on the previous artist and stop doing it! Patreon link at start of game, and end of chapters, on the menu everywhere. It's over-saturated. If people really want to support the game just a single mention is more than enough.
The abandoned game that had a total of the 3 episodes... I found it very lacking for choices. There was a total of 3 choices in the game not counting the "are you 18?" choice. This reduces the overall level of immersion into the game.
When the artist ran for the hills the creator was left with 4 choices.
1) Do as they have done now, and reboot the game with a new artist.
2) Abandon creating and close shop.
3) Push through it and push through hard. Continue on to episode 4, but at the same time slowly re image episode 1 through 3 over an extended period of time.
4) Abandon this project, but take on a new one with the new artist.
I would have selected choice 4 there, although their choice is reasonable if they change the story. That's their choice to make not going to knock it.
Anyhow, good luck with your restart.
