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Random-storykeeper

Feedback comments for LD47

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		Random-storykeeper's comment
Oct 7 01:32:12		Coalescence: Battle System Prototype	♥ 1	The look of the prototype is cute and appealing. I wish the UI also matched up to the charm of the graphics in a way that wasn't difficult to read. The text was a little on the small side and it seemed as though it could have been a lot larger. The battle system also was pretty straightforward for me to understand, although most of it seemed to be just me button mashing the three buttons, then fiddling around with clicking on the player characters to have them gang up on remaining enemies. As much as I enjoyed the look and description of the characters, I didn't feel as though what character I selected had an impact on the outcome of each round. Going into each round, I wish I knew which enemies I was fighting against and their stats, since I picked each character based entirely on looks 😏. In regards to the music, the battle music seemed like a good fit. The titlescreen music, while also nice, didn't seem to fit as well. It was as if the music was going for two conflicting moods. Overall, I think the characters and battlefield look great, aesthetically. Best of luck fleshing this prototype out.
Oct 7 02:07:55	35m 43s	WORK ROUTINE	♥ 1	I like the way routineness is executed in this game. The graphics have this very "corporate" feeling to them - it reminds me a bit of video ads that are all like "we're all in this together :)", so to take that style and flip it into this pleasantly coloured dystopia really is effective at making this idea of the day looping very dissonant and all the more unsettling. The music is also well done; I love how machine-like one of the tracks feels. The music could have been louder, as it was pretty soft in comparison to the sound effects. Gameplay wise, I think the idea of going through the same motions over and over should lend itself to some form of progression to better indicate that the game ends after ten loops. If I didn't read so in the comments beforehand, I probably would have stopped at loop 4 or 5. Maybe something like the newspaper displaying some countdown text, so that the player picks up the hint that the game is supposed to go on for a certain amount of time. Then it can culminate to a certain "ending" or "conclusion", or just keep looping forever... 😛 The game's ability to be thought provoking is its greatest strength. I enjoy the way the scenario unfolded visually. It's simple and it packs a punch.
Oct 7 02:35:34	27m 39s	Stuck in Time	♥ 1	The concept itself is fun; at first I thought the clones spawned too quickly, but I was able to get past by hugging along the edges and taking frequent stops. I like how some tools had a one-way passage, challenging you to strategize your movements around it (hesitating in there could very likely result in death!). The more I became familiar with the area, the more I found myself enjoying the game. What initially frustrated me about this entry is that the movement is painfully slow and the boundaries are very unintuitive. I spent the first few attempts trying to get the battery in the lower area, but I felt like I kept getting stuck just before the lower passageway at the start. It just seems very picky about what position you have to be in sometimes and what areas are solid versus what you can walk on. I had to take extra time to figure out exactly where I could move around. It also wouldn't hurt to have arrow keys as controls, too. I appreciate the checklist and timer, and overall feel like the game worked best in concept, but the discovery of where I could move to, along with the sluggish movement, slightly detracted from that. Good job.
Oct 7 05:52:56	3h 17m	Stuck on the Train	♥ 1	I enjoyed this one; I like games that require some memorization. Towards the end, things started to get confusing and hectic while racing against the timer. I do second a previous comment that the text could be sharper, visually. The game is also so fast paced that sometimes, I barely keep track of what the dialogue is. Interacting with several characters in quick succession causes all their dialogue to overlap each other and while it goes away, it would have been more ideal to have only one character's dialogue display at a time. But I'm glad the important stuff stays and that I could go back and review the dialogue for hints regarding what to do. I was challenged, but not completely frustrated. The graphics in this game are nice, and I love the little bits of dialogue that I do catch along the way, along with the voices. This, along with the calm, happy music, created a pleasant experience ~~while imminent doom approaches~~. I like how the screen starts turning white as the timer reaches towards the end. The controls felt very fast paced and smooth, although my hands felt kind of squished having to press the E key so close to WASD. The presentation of the conclusion was also neat. Although I read some of the dialogue in reverse, I think. 🤔
Oct 7 18:32:54	12h 39m	LD47 game	♥ 1	When my timer hit 0:00 on my second attempt, I was about to jump over a short barrier. My car landed on the top of the barrier and twitched its way backwards. It was quite funny. 😂 The part of this game that stands out the most to me is the audio - well, both literally and figuratively. The music is great. It has a bit of a synth/8bit combination that works with the pixel-like 3D renditions of the cars and the overall colour scheme of the game. The part that stood out in a not-so-great way were the sound effects. They weren't bad; they were just EXTREMELY loud. Thankfully, there seemed to be only two sound effects that I heard throughout the entire game, but every time I got a speed powerup, it took me by surprise - even when I was expecting it! 🤣 There's also a bug where going to another tab after the round is over causes a super loud descending sq 25 jingle to play repeatedly when I go to another tab. Here's an example of what I hear: https://youtu.be/7XJ550sn2Kg The racing aspect did seem pretty unruly, but I think the fact that there were no outwardly frustrating penalties such as falling off the track (and into the beautiful purple grid void) put more emphasis on the challenge being to complete this looping race. It was a good thing too, because I definitely did feel the "ice" physics as mentioned in the previous comment. Thankfully, the course did not have too many sharp turns, and I never felt as though the ice-like physics hindered my progress, but I did find myself accelerating a lot right to the turn, then cranking it left or right. I also discovered, by accident(?), that you can shoot bullets by clicking on the screen? I didn't see any mention of this in the game or on the game page - maybe I missed it. Is there any purpose for shooting? I thought, at first, it could be used to destroy obstacles, but none of them seemed to be affected by my bullets. Overall, I enjoyed this as a relaxing, racing game. It feels chill, despite racing against the clock. The racecar track approach was a good basis for the theme, and I love the idea of the track adding obstacles gradually with each lap.
Oct 7 19:02:01	29m 07s	The Magic Hat	♥ 1	Very nice, charming entry - reminds me a lot of The Company of Myself if that were a metroidvania. I would say that the mechanic of piggybacking yourself to get a boost to higher places works a lot better than it does in that game, although in The Company of Myself, you were able to get past larger gaps by creating many clones of yourself. While it seems as though the clone resets its movements based on most recent moves, I also would have appreciated a true reset button to start clean from the current stage, particularly for the ones that don't have any hazards you can hit and run yourself into. Longer, taller levels could use a map of sorts so that a player can plan out their moves more efficiently instead of having to guess and check. That aside, I think the game itself plays fine - I like the setup and controls were smooth and fast paced. The music complemented the pixel art and character style well, although I think that the composition of the track was a little too sad for the bright blue setting? But I guess it's sad because you lost all your pets, haha. The jump sound effect is on the loud side - I would definitely compress or lower its volume next time. This idea was pretty cool and the overall execution of the game is good. Nice job.
Oct 12 02:23:42	103h 21m	Say When, an Unlimited Soup Experience	♥ 1	Mm Mm Mm I haven't felt this loved by Olive Garden since the Sonic movie. Overall, this was a quick and fun experience. In my very first attempt, I was able to leave right away. But in the subsequent attempts, I started walking all over the tables and throwing off bread sticks. The waiters must have been on me because I was catching them every single time I tried to walk to the door after that! 😂 The game sometimes does start with unfortunate positions where the waiters are already facing the player, thus they almost immediately lose whether hesitating or moving away from the table. Also, all of the waiters chiming in at once to get you soup gives a slightly unsettling feeling, like they're robots that work in unison. That one attempt after I knocked off lots of items off tables, I ended up leaving and getting caught at the same time, so the game respawned me at the start with the "Congratulations" text atop it, still allowing me to move. I thought that was pretty funny. I do wish that knocking off the items had more impact on the gameplay - I didn't see much effect if there was one - it could have added more to the humour. I like the choice of audio and sound effects overall, though I wish there were a few more prominent sound effects than just that one "hmm" sound when you get caught. Maybe some at different tones? (though that could remove the clone vibes... 🤔 )
Oct 21 09:39:16	223h 15m	Murder	♥ 2	This entry is like an abrupt horror-mystery. I enjoy the premise and I was curious how the looping mechanic would work in this Clue style sort of game. The music overall was more suited to conveying a horror mood, which complements the idea of the killer trying to kill you. I like the idea of using the arrows to quickly "flip" through different rooms. Unfortunately, I found the incorporation of the theme to be more irritating than engaging. Having to adhere to a strict time limit while also finding your way through the house and investigating just feels like so little time can be taken to get engrossed in the mystery and find the clues. I get that the time limit is part of the theme, but it feels like without the 60 second timer, the game would have been a lot more fun. That or the timer could have been longer, or pause whenever the player is looking at dialogue or investigating items. It also doesn't help that many of the game's keyboard controls are convoluted. The game feels like it could have functioned better as a point-and-click. It's weird having to move a character around to talk to individuals but also use the mouse to investigate. I dunno, to me, it felt like it should be either all mouse or only keyboard. The E to talk, B to go back also comes across as unnatural, considering how far that key is compared to the A, D and E keys (on a QWERTY at least...). In a game where the goal is to solve a mystery by investigating testimonials and items, I really wish it had like an in-game notebook or something similar to keep track of what clues I've collected and the accounts of all the suspects. Something that would show the evidence I currently have rather than just at the answer screen. Overall, I think this game could be quite interesting if it leaned more into the horror aspect, visually. Maybe subtle panned footsteps or shadows/silhouettes moving around in certain locations to give the sense that the player is being watched and is a prime target for being murdered. Having a loop mechanic in a mystery game is quite ambitious given that the leisure of time is what one can expect from those types of games. I just wonder if there's a way to make it so that the theme doesn't hinder the gameplay. But that asides, the mouse related controls are generally well implemented and the sound effect cues are good.
Oct 24 01:16:04	63h 36m	Springy's Adventure	♥ 2	Both the visuals and music pair well together to create a relaxing, pleasant mood - which is actually kind of dark, considering how this game ends. 🤔 But I enjoyed it overall - the soft green palette was very easy on the eyes and I really like the font choice for the buttons. I think this game could have used some sound effects to enhance not only the mood, but aspects of the gameplay. For instance, a sound effect for when the hawk approaches would help to serve as a little extra warning for players that the bird is approaching. A visual cue for the hawk that appears briefly would also have been helpful, although the hawk wasn't too difficult to avoid, up until the final stage. It just felt a little too sudden, even though the mood overall was too relaxing for me to be shocked. It also would have been nice to have a sound effect/jingle for when the player can move to the next area. Maybe a HUD as well to indicate when or how much the player has left to consume in order to proceed. I wasn't very clear as to how this was determined, so I was mostly just wandering around the area in a mostly vertical matter, then pressed my head against all sides of the screen until I suddenly went to the next stage. I thought it was really cool how the slime respawned by growing into a flower. I'm not sure if there was really any penalty to getting caught, since I never actually started at the beginning of any stage except for the last one. I love how the visuals were varied in the two stages, but still remained cohesive as a whole. There were some issues with text overlapping at the bottom of the screen when items were picked up in quick succession, and the game music stacks itself when replaying the game. These were two things I noticed, aside from the blank main character face. I'm not sure which version was the bug fixed one, but I just assumed it was the October 6 version. Additionally, I do feel like it was a missed opportunity to have the stage itself also loop horizontally - I was kind of surprised when it didn't. Still, that's more of a very small issue and I had a good time.
Oct 26 07:57:22	54h 41m	15 Seconds time cop	♥ 1	This entry put the theme to great use; I loved it. It took a bit of time to understand what to do, but once I got it, I found it quite fun. A game all about patience and observation really took advantage of the loop mechanic as a means to that end, and I like how the actions are subtle enough that I was engaged in trying to monitor the activities of the individuals on the screen. The mechanic of triggering certain objects in an effort to draw attention to the time traveler was also a neat idea, as a way of verifying your guess on who the time traveler is. The music was done well; I love how the beats match up to the timer. It had this slow, even and somber tone to it. The piano and strings fit with the concept of keeping to the time and having it loop over and over again. It's too bad the menu music doesn't loop, and also restarts every time you hit an option on the menu; I would have liked to hear that menu music loop continuously until the play option is selected. I think the graphics weren't quite displaying as they were intended (as others have mentioned), but the designs and colour scheme seemed fine. At first, I also thought that distinguishing the colour scheme of the characters could be helpful, but I think keeping some of them similar colours put more focus on observing their behaviour rather than doing the process of elimination by colour. Limiting the colour of the outfits to a few colours made it easier to focus on groups while still watching out for each individual's behaviour. Personally, this game is right up my alley. The gameplay and music are the outstanding aspects for me.
Oct 26 08:10:33	13m 11s	Chamber One	♥ 1	When I first started playing (the web build), I didn't even notice there was text at the top until a few levels through. 😂 But I think I get the overall gist of the narrative. The thing I really like about this game is the pacing. The transitions were very fluid and quick. I had this sense of being "looped" or warped around as I touched the coin. I love how the levels expand and eventually, the narrative determines the gameplay. It's cool when games do that sometimes. This one worked pretty well, especially given the "ending". I think the jump was a bit weird sometimes, particularly when it came to jumping onto platforms. It didn't give me too much trouble, but I did get stuck a bit on some parts that involved jumping out of a small valley nearby other platforms. It seems as though hitting the side of the platforms causes me to lose my jump entirely, yet clipping the corners will allow me to get an extra boost and land on the actual platform. It just seemed kind of weird, but the simplicity of the level design allowed me to focus on getting through with these interesting physics without being too unforgiving. The music was pretty good overall. I like that bell-like sound that goes low high, low high continuously. At first, I thought each level I passed added layers to the music, but partially through my second playthrough, that doesn't seem to be the case. The music does lend itself to that sort of player controlled aspect, so it would be pretty neat and perhaps a bit more rewarding to players who continue as their progress adds more to the music's texture.
Oct 26 08:23:18	12m 45s	Chew Choo! 🚅	♥ 0	> Start game > Instantly lose ☹️ Do you have to activate single player mode separately or does it automatically activate when no one is present in the arena? After several attempts, it seemed as though I was the only train left on the track, couldn't see anyone else for a minute or two. All questions aside, I find the concept of the gameplay itself fantastic - simple to learn, difficult to master. I think the core mechanics are there, and with a tutorial stage and a formal menu, I could really see this as being one of those .io games. As far as I could tell, I couldn't find a way to replay right from the menu, and having a designated single player stage could at least help those who don't know how to play get into the basics of the mechanics instead of being thrown into an already existing, multiplayer stage. Regardless, it would be interesting to see powerups or something that would affect the length of the train as well. Overall, it's a great and pretty well executed mechanic.
Oct 26 08:50:47	27m 29s	Once More, Through the Desert	♥ 2	While I do enjoy narration based games, I found this one difficult to get into. I think using the desert as a setting to evoke the feeling of desolate endlessness was perfectly chosen. I love the idea of having narration in between the gameplay aspects. The intertitles were generally well done and paced. I just didn't feel the gameplay was quite up to par with the narration, and sometimes made the story feel too tedious for me. There were aspects of the gameplay that worked well. I like the part where you get the companion, and the quickly scrolling sand was an effective way of adding the right amount of disorientation while not being completely overwhelming in the game. I was never sure if there were specific goals that had to be achieved or if I could just allow myself to be insta-killed by enemies every time. It was hard to tell with the narration, but mostly, I just moved left or right and shot enemies that got too close. The graphics and text are also way too tiny, so it was difficult to tell where the narrative was being directed when in the gameplay screen itself. I think that had an effect on my experience with the game because I didn't feel as close of a connection with the character on screen as the narrative portrayed the character to be. I guess keeping the sprites tiny does allow for the area to seem huge and desolate, but I think that could still be portrayed effectively even if the sprites and text were bigger. I also think the gameplay could have helped to guide the narrative to some extent, where the player completes a particular goal in order to reach the next part of the narration. It just felt like the game didn't even need to be played in order to experience the narration - perhaps this was part of the intention, but at the same time, it also feels less engaging as a game. Nonetheless, I think the narration carried the mood, and the little bit of ambient sounds helped as well. If the gameplay and narration were more closely intertwined, it would have allowed for a more personable gameplay experience.