Thanks for this new game! I just gave it a try until I reached the end of the current version.
Brief summary: very nice user interface, interesting story and world building, but so far it is only a linear visual novel, not really a game. Still, I am impressed by the amount of content for a first release.
Before going into details, I should describe the way I usually test new Twine/Sugarcube games: I start the game, go through the intro very quickly, use the Back button when I see that I should have read some text that is needed later, and then I start paying attention when I reach a point in the game in which my choices start to matter. Basically, I want to reach the main game loop quickly so that I can see what kind of game this is and what are the main game mechanics: Do I need to build up some stats? How do I interact with other characters? Is there an antagonist? Are there quests, mini-games, fights or other challenges? How much grind is there? I want to experience how the main loop of the game feels like before deciding if it is likely that I will enjoy the game, or if I should download the next game instead of wasting my time on a game that is not worth it.
With "Shape of You", I was immediately thrown off-track: no Back button! From my point of view, the Back button is the single most important feature of Twine/Sugarcube games because it allows me to go through the game quickly and then go back whenever I think that I missed something important. And after playing for two hours, I still had not reached a point at which I could make any real choices. So it was obvious that my usual evaluation method would not apply here. Still, I continued because it was also obvious that a lot of work and a lot of attention to detail went into this first release.
The quiz took me by surprise. This was the first time I had to make some choices, and there was no Back button. I passed the test easily (yes, I was paying attention when I read the story) so I was happy with that... but then I reached the end of the game. Okay, so... time for some feedback.
As I wrote above, in its current state, "Shape of You" feels more like a linear visual novel than a real game. There is a nice amount of world building and character building, but it is difficult to know where the game is heading. The game is tagged "RPG" but it seems to be more of a CYOA game because so far there is no main game loop, no inventory, and no visible stats for the MC or any NPC. If it will eventually evolve into a real RPG or sandbox game, then the intro is unfortunately much too long. It should not take two hours of reading before one can start playing. For testing, I restarted a game and counted the number of clicks needed to progress the story without making any mistakes. From the start until the first visit to "Shape of You", it takes 102 clicks. It takes a total of 158 clicks to experience the first transfer. Then 2 more clicks to start the quiz, then 16 clicks later this is the end of the current game. If this is intended to be a visual novel, then this may be fine. But if this is intended to be a game (CYOA, sandbox, or full RPG) then it should not take more than 160 clicks to reach the first choices that matter.
I spotted several typos in the story and in the game UI (e.g., "Aprtment" -> "Apartment", "Cubical" -> "Cubicle"), but otherwise the story is well written. The side characters are a bit too witty, though: I can understand that the MC and his girlfriend are the kind of people who are smart at verbal matches, but it feels strange that all other characters are also like that. It is fun to see some employees of a grocery store or sex shop who master verbal humour, but this is rather unusual.
I also noticed something odd in the Tier 0 training: the story explains that there are "a dozen other candidates" attending the training. Yet the MC is the only one asking questions and talking to Marcus. Even if the other candidates are throwaway NPCs and even if their portraits/avatars are irrelevant, it would make more sense if at least half of the questions were asked by other characters, not always by the MC. If you do not want to give them names that the players would waste time trying to remember, then they can be named "Candidate 1", "Candidate 2", etc. but at last this should not give the impression that the MC and Marcus are alone in the room.
Regarding the images in the game, it is obvious that they have been created by AI. The 4th screenshot shows a hand with 6 fingers, and the 6th screenshot shows a foot with 6 toes and a hand attached to the back of the shoulder. This should be fixed by inpainting or by manually fixing the obvious mistakes (with GIMP, Photoshop, etc.). Switching to a better AI model can also help: one can do amazing things for free with ComfyUI and the latest Qwen image model, for example.
It is too early to say if I will really like this game or not, but this looks like a good start. Thanks again!
