squidgod 2023-05-02 00:16
The scenery is really beautiful and atmospheric, and I love the day and night cycle. Was the music made during the jam? Sounds great. Felt really peaceful while playing through this - nice work!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD53 → The Souls Express
By antvelm, Ruslana, IlyaEfimenko, sabron and Antoine Aubert
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 124 | 4.09 | 66 | |
| Fun | 843 | 3.14 | 64 | |
| Innovation | 356 | 3.61 | 66 | |
| Theme | 412 | 4.08 | 65 | |
| Graphics | 42 | 4.60 | 67 | |
| Audio | 33 | 4.37 | 65 | |
| Humor | 738 | 2.83 | 56 | |
| Mood | 11 | 4.51 | 64 |
The scenery is really beautiful and atmospheric, and I love the day and night cycle. Was the music made during the jam? Sounds great. Felt really peaceful while playing through this - nice work!
I love this take on the theme. The scenes are a little cluttered with stuff but it definitely strikes the Ghibli train note in a way I like a lot. The settings are super pretty and I'd love to see it polished and expanded upon.
WOW ! i really loved everthing about it ! had a really great chilling time here
The graphics were just wonderful, the mood was excellent. Things seem a bit crowded though
so beautiful! it felt melancholic and peaceful, loved the music.
At first it was hard for me to understand what i had to do, but then i read the description here, maybe add an interaction with a soul that tells you what you have to do as an intro?
nice job so cute<3
Best game I've played so far on this site. It's incredibly poetic and the artwork is amazing... Music fits perfectly with this chill traveling mood too.
Congrats, it's a game jam masterclass !
What a beautiful game! I loved the visuals and audio; it evokes such a calm and serene mood, perfect for the thematic elements in this.
The movement felt a bit slow, such that there was an element of tedium in walking back to see who wants to be at the current station. Also, on that, it feels like there's something missing in my interactions with the passengers. Most of them either tell me exactly where they want to be, or not at all, which meant I either knew immediately or had to just randomly select stations, rather than conversation with them leading to me figuring it out.
I also would have liked to have some choice; e.g. assigning each of them a station based on what I think they like, rather than just taking them there. That would add an element of solving a problem, rather than just clicking on the thing the passenger tells you to click on.
Overall, incredible atmosphere, stunning graphics, and amazing music. Well done!
Wonderful graphics, music, setting and mood. Occasionally felt a bit slow, and if you didn't fully understand the game you might have to visit the same station a few times, which was a bit tedious. It's easy to see that the team was inspired by the movie "Spirited Away" but did their own thing, and it worked out really well.
That definitely was a beautiful game, very atmospheric and relaxing. I had some slowdown along with input lag, and I even clipped out of the train, but I'm going to say that's because I'm on linux using wine, haha. I think having a bit more interactivity with the passengers would be cool, but this was a great weekend jam game!
What a beautiful game! I love the idea and you did an amazing job :)
Man, the idea is incredible. The art style is relaxing and in general nice. The audio sets a nice relaxing and chill mood environment. The game is incredible, surely one of the best I saw here around. Keep it up guys great work.
I'm absolutely stunned. How were you able to craft such a wonderful game in so little time? It's pure art how you managed to combine the themes of death and philosophy in such a great arrangement. Is this game inspired by the Spirited Away Train Scene? If so, I definitely felt remebered to it :) There are only few things that I could really critize because the game is allready in such a good state. Graphics are also pure eye candy, besides some minor graphical bugs ( smoke also in front of the train and rails switching colour when moving between stations). Also some minor spelling mistakes and some additional blanks in the texts. All in all nothing that breaks the immersion for myself.
Thank you for presenting us this emotional journey of a game. It was perfect to calm down after a demanding weekend of game making.
I really enjoyed playing :)
PS: I guess we will never find out what happened to mister Freeman. I feel you my fellow LOTR enjoyer(s)
Visually stunning, and I liked all the little details and animations
A work of art! Really impressive and such a good gameplay, I enjoyed playing your game a lot !
What a fantastic game, I made it to sanctuary :slight_smile: . To echo what some folks have said, the movement felt a bit too slow for me, and was at times tedious, especially when I wasnt sure what station I had left to go to, so I would just go to a random one, check on my passengers, then go back. I wonder if you even need the conductor, maybe just being able to pan the camera to see your passengers could work as well? That being said, thats a minor issue, the game felt relaxing and it was very enjoyable to drive around in the little world you made. Great job :slight_smile:
Wow, this is stunning! How were you able to pack in so many little details in such a short amount of time! I agree with the others that gameplay was a bit slow but I think the kind of introspective nature of the story suits that really well. A bit more agency in the gameplay instead of just getting told where to drop people off would've been nice but this is a really solid foundation for something really special.
Absolutely beautiful game. The music was soothing and very impactful. The art style is quite Ghibli feeling, especially when paired with the amazing skybox/background. This was a breath of fresh air to be sure!
I've only just started playing and rating games, so I'm surprised to discover such a shiny little gem so early. If there's one word to describe this project, it would be "atmospheric". Arguably, I'm a sucker for all things mystical, and this is such a fine mix of intriguing, weird, melancholic and beautiful it hits all the right spots.
The art style is amazing, and you know that, and everyone knows that, but the sound design was out of this world, too. It's something that often gets overlooked, but I honestly think it was the music and all those tiny ambient noises that made me really soak in the atmosphere of this game. A somber journey full of wonder still.
This reminds me of a few indie gems I have played like Rime. The music is great for this style. Well done.
My first 5 star in ld53 in Overall given to you.
Btw, All I need is holding shift to move faster. The smoke is weird when change station.
The mood of this game is so good ! Congrats for all the work here !
i didnt cry when Jack couldnt get on the door with Rose, but i cried at the end of this game. I recommend.
@squidgod and @roomy thanks for the very first feedback and playing the game asap :D
as for cluttered with stuff, it seems to me that there is some kind of bug or programmers after your comment deleted some objects. Anyway that was a good point!
@bezedh @beebster-games thanks and yes, it is a bit crowded ^_^ didn't notice it while moving objects around
@elisagonda yes, it is a good point. Guess we didn't really worry about it as thought description is enough, so we don't have to spend time for making a tutorial or an intro speech. It falls apart without this page a bit
@baghz, @shiiigear, @ironcutter, @space-games, @patrick-abernathy, @shiiigear Thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked it!
@jaco-van-hemert thanks for the feedback! Movement is a bit slow, but it was decided not to change it because we scared the game will get too short. That's an interesting idea of letting players choose destinations!
@felin yes it's a bit slow, let's say we forced calmness with this one :D
@tim-sims interesting bug, I have no idea if the game has to run on linux well. That's good you managed to play it anyway
@cloistered that's a big honor! Thanks!
@patrick-abernathy thank you!
@shess that's great you like this game so much! We were really lucky to quickly find an amazing musician when the jam had already started. he really did catch the mood :)
@arnenia thank you! We did get the greatest inspiration from Spirited Away, glad we managed to deliver a bit of that Ghibly feeling!
@dgo, @trezark that's amazing that you've finished the game :D Thanks!
@vhalenn thanks for playing and the feedback!
@amunonra thank you! Yes, it is inspired by Spirited Away train scene! You're right about the bugs, actually I'm amazed there so few :D from what I know, sadly the smoke can't be fixed without remaking the core mechanics of the train
This is so amazing, I love the vibe. This game feels like cozying up with a good book on a rainy day. The art, the sound and the gameplay make it so peaceful. Incredible job!
The game is a masterpiece of visual art and ambiance. I am still baffled. Only thing if I may say, smoke glitches when entering a station. Otherwise perfect scenery. Amazing. Epoustouflant
Absolutely love that this is inspired by Spirited Away. Top to bottom I can tell this team knew what they were doing. You nailed the execution of this idea from top to bottom.
Beautiful game! It really surprised me, incredible what they achieved in such a short time O.O. The models, the animations, the backgrounds, the lights, the general atmosphere, the style inspired by Studio Ghibli are really great. Visually the only thing that bothers me is the name of each station (maybe the name could fade once the destination is reached?). The music and effects are very consistent with the atmosphere of the game and make it more relaxing. Congratulations! Wonderful job! xD
Very beautiful and relaxing. I love the art style and music. The zoom of the screen is also great when I'm not doing any operations. The judgment of opening the dialog box is not very accurate, and it would be better if passengers had a more obvious distinction in appearance. I really enjoyed this game and was somehow moved when I saw 'I remember making a game in 3 days'.
WOOOW! I liked the game and its mood is very impressive. Good luck !
I`m obsessed with thus game. It`s beautiful, calm and relaxing. It`s obviously reminds me Miyazaki works, but also Barakamon. Love it
Wow, that was really a great time playing your game! The atmosphere was incredible (graphics and music) and the general mood (Ghibli) was super relaxing. The arrival at a station was always magnificent and I felt a great relief when I arrived at the sanctuary <3 I was only a little sad not to understand the symbol of the apples above the heads of my little souls, I hope they didn't get too hungry during the trip!
That was an awesome game. Love the *Spirited Away* vibes. Gorgeous music and graphics, surreal "landscape". Very well done!
I was kinda stuck with what to do but I really love the Spirited Away vibes and it was really calming, loved it sooo much <3
Absolutely beautiful game! Music is soothing and fits the atmosphere, the design on souls reminds of Ghibli animantion, and the assets in the game are all very pretty. Loved the line about making a game in 3 days from one of the souls! It took me some time to complete the game but the experience was very chill and relaxing. The only problem is that it was hard for my character to focus on souls sometimes, the interaction button would appear and disappear, and I would have to adjust myself in a specific way to talk to them, and if I moved too fast the interaction was skipped, and I also had some troubles walking into doors sometimes. But overall, a great experience, hard to believe it only took 3 days! (Also noticed some typos which is completely understandable but wanted to point it out so you can fix them later on ^^)
Hey guys, played your game and I do like how it feels. A little bit sad, a little big hopeful, visually beautiful and overall pretty neat execution. I'm impressed what you managed to deliver (lol) in scope of this limited amount of time.
Great work! :thumbsup:
P.S. Good luck with the main project as well, added it to steam wishlist and followed the studio in twitter :smirk:
What a lovely little game! A gorgeous Soular Express, so soothing. One minor peeve I had was that the movement speed started feeling a little slow as time went on, but amazing work, fantastic entry! I really wanted to give the dogs in the dog park a little soulful pet, haha. Loved how the souls would doze off at night, and their adorable emoticons.
The train drove beautifully across the sea, well done!2023-05-05 13_15_53-The Souls Express.pngEspecially at night!Great music too!
As many people said the graphics is just awesome! It is just pleasure to play the game just staring at pictures. Music suits the game very well and adds incredible immersive feelings
This is really relaxing game. So unfortunately I managed to collect only 20 tickets and couldn't see what happens when you activate that thingy in restaurant carriage.
Overall the game stands out of most games presented on Jam
Waw, you really overdone yourself for the graphics and mood, it's beautiful, especially the moment where there is a dezoom when you arrive at some place. (And i'm usually not really fond of 3D graphics games but yours is great). The music is also really chill and fits well with the game (although I started the game again with no sound and played "6th station" of Spirited Away in the background, it's fits even more perfectly haha. While also fitting well in the mood, the gameplay was not what I would have expected, I just wanted to drive my train and watch the landscape move and not especially talk to all the souls without knowing exactly what to do. Anyway, it's a really good entry, you'll perform well in the graphics and mood categories imho !
What a beautiful game! I really like visiting all the stations. The gameplay wasn't really for me, but I appreciate the artistry that went into this
super poetic --- I'd add a button to sprint or dash, for the impatient ones among us ^^# --- also it took me a while to figure out I'd get ahead by talking to the other ghosts - but I did find that eventually --- all the mise-en-scène and camera movements and all contribute to a thick atmosphere, pretty amazing --- great little experience, thanks for sharing :-) :sparkles:
I loved the atmosphere, the music, and the concept of the game!
Conceptually, it was exceptional and reminded me a lot of the train scene in Spirited Away movie.
I found the game to be a relaxing, peaceful, and interesting journey. The graphics were beautiful and the attention to detail really made the game stand out.
Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys these types of games and I am one of them.
Well done!
Such a treat for the eyes. What a beautiful world :) I hoped there would be some more interesting gameplay though, there didn't seem like there was much to do.
Beautiful game, the presentation is on point. The calm music drifting in the sea.. I wish there was a quest log or something, keeping record where the passengers want to go. This way you could double check your next destination at the engine room instead of walking back and forth. Also, I was left unsure what the apple icon meant. Was the passenger hungry, did I make progress in their goals? It felt like you only got the same dialogue anyway.
Good work, very relaxing indeed.
Absolutely beautiful vibes. I felt a bit lost on what to do until I went back and re-read this page. The scenery and characters look incredible, the inspiration for the scene coming through really well. The movement felt just a TAD too slow as I liked to wander back and forth on the train while waiting. A bit of randomisation and differing dialogue lines from the passengers may have felt nice but definitely doesn't detract. Again, absolutely gorgeous game, nice work!
wow！such a wonderful art！！！
The music, mood, and visuals are freaking awesome.
I wish the camera was placed a bit higher looking down for viewing my character's location relative to other models. Movement speed is a bit too slow to my liking, even though the music made this nitpick less irritating ♪♫♪♫. Indication of how to be able to get to another location would be appreciated within the UI via objectives or anything visual to represent any wall to progress.
This entry is a very impressive atmospheric experience that could be built into something more. :) 72 hours goes by too quickly! :) I imagine a fully developed version with voice acting for characters, more dialogue, creating even more immersion into the world you've created so far.
As soon as I've seen the cover I knew I had to play this one. Awesome atmosphere and art direction. The music suits perfectly as well. An improvement would have the dialogue displayed over the characters as a bubble because looking to the bottom to read back and forth few times kinda breaks a bit the immersion of the game. I found myself lost in trying to progress in the game, but still enjoyed the experience.
It's very beautiful, the game has an exceptional atmosphere and mood, the music brings a lot as well as the designs and the animations of the characters. (I have the impression of detecting an inspiration from the film "Spirited Away" which I really like)
When I was brain storming for ideas this LD, this was one of the ideas I had written down. But I knew I wouldn't be able to realize it even if it sounded really interesting. I am so, so, SO, happy to see someone else realize the idea (better then I ever could) it's a beautiful atmospheric experience! fantastic job!