npckc 2023-10-02 23:37
loved the whole atmosphere of this... i stayed underground with the rats...
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD54 → STOP BURYING ME ALIVE, BEAUTIFUL!
By angela-he, robobarbie, Destini and Allie Vera
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 49 | 4.23 | 44 | |
| Fun | 536 | 3.48 | 42 | |
| Innovation | 311 | 3.66 | 42 | |
| Theme | 211 | 4.15 | 44 | |
| Graphics | 3 | 4.79 | 45 | |
| Audio | 46 | 4.18 | 42 | |
| Humor | 229 | 3.62 | 41 | |
| Mood | 5 | 4.58 | 44 |
loved the whole atmosphere of this... i stayed underground with the rats...
This was beyond phenomenal. It's so gorgeous and moody and I really enjoyed it. I do wish there was strategy to the card game and I couldn't figure out how to get an ending with Karina where I don't just get killed but the whole thing was lovely.
oh this is a lovely game! the art is absolutely stunning, and the gameplay of flipping back and forth while managing the rats was fun! the writing was great as well, i really enjoyed learning more about the characters and their relationships over the course of the game. i got karina's good ending (i assume) on my first run, and it was very sweet... i'm excited to check out remie's ending next :) great job!!
Beautiful game.
Soothing to find a peaceful cave to play puerile card games after being buried "alive".
Such a cool game. Love the atmosphere, art is beautiful. Fantastic work on this! Definitely going to keep this one saved for another playthrough in the future.
I was left to die in the hole... :/ !>Guessing I was grasping at any straws i could find to survive. Was playing both sides not in my favor?
At first i felt like I was a hostage trying to convince one of my perpetrators to let me live and manipulate other to save me. But after a while i felt like I was in a dating simulator trying to attract anyone who would save me. Great entry, enthralling story and beautiful art!
Wow, and I mean wow, this is really something special to see in a 72 hour game jam!! :O The graphics are gorgeous and the music ties it together with great ambiance. The writing and switching between Karina and Remmie had me hooked. If only those pesky rats would stop nibbling me >.>
Amazing music, art, and mood!
Really enjoyed your game, the art is incredible and the writing is very well done !
Here me out, this is my in-depth analysis and feedback : W O W That's all, thanks and congrats for this amazing game
I love the art, the story,... I love the game. I really wanted to have more story! That was a incredible work for a 72h jam.
Very solid game. Loved the mood.
The art style and overall atmosphere were gorgeous! I had to play a few times to see if I could get all the endings (I think I did).
This game is so beautiful! I think both endings had some merit to them, and I appreciate that there wasn't some clear "right choice" that you gave players
I can't even believe that this game was made for jam! A little more work and there will be a full release on Steam)
Every second of this game, every dialogue option felt meaningful, important. Such a beautiful story, both thematically and psychologically. Well, art style is also gorgeous. Might even be the best visual novel I've seen.
THIS IS A FUCKING GAME JAM GAME??? HELLO??? THIS IS FUCKING MENTAL
I loved the story and artwork so much, this is so good what the hell
This. Is. ART!!!! How can something so beautiful and so creepy at the same time be made in a 3 day jam!!! It's genius!
I know you know but - the art is incredible!
I've loved it ! Love the art, the audio, the story !!
Astonishing artstyle!
This is beyond belief, it's incredible. Having trouble comprehending how it's possible to create such a gem in a short time.
Astonishing work!
Obviously the art is incredible! Very efficient use of only a few very high-quality frames. I found that the gameplay of switching to the middle screen to click on the rats detracted from the conversation parts a bit. I felt I had to rush through the conversations so I could go click on the rats and didn't really read them as closely as I might have.
The ART!- The girls a beautifully drawn of course, and the rats are adorable. I loved the detailing on the speech panels and the card designs particularly! Just all the detail!
Conversations-- I need to go through again a few more times to fully explore both sides but I loved the conversations weaving a back and forth. (First pass I got the ending with Karina welcoming me back. I wish I could have said goodbye to Remie though XD)
Gameplay-- Punching rats was a bit distracting but I liked the idea of bouncing between different conversations with the distraction of the rats. I'm not sure how much the rats affected health (or at least the blood drops on the side is what I assumed it would affect but it never went down even when I ignored them). They definitely contributed to the time pressure of rushing through the conversation (I feel like Remie had some reactivity to if I left mid-conversation to punch a rat but my friend playing at the same time with me felt like the conversation jumped directly back into wherever it was, so am not sure.)
I feel like the card game is, narratively, not meant to be understood XD I got as far as understanding we want to match on either suit, art, or number, but was not sure how to predict the next card (or if we were supposed to be able to) and was not sure if it affected anything.
Finally, I initially thought there was going to be a reference to Bury Me, My Love (the game) or to one of the many songs called Bury Me Alive XD Not needed of course, and if there was, I missed it anyways XD
Also like so many people have mentioned, I'm absolutely floored you made this as a game jam game. A hearty congratulations blessed by the faerie Rat Queen for you all! :mouse: <3
The game looks really really really really good. I also didn't succeed to finish with Karina :(. I'll try to live with the rats then...
Good job !
The graphic is outstanding, and the same with a plot. But too much distractions with rats who tries to bite you. Don`t know about other people but i really couldn`t stand because of their amount. It distract you when you try to speak with the girls( Maybe it`s just for me. p.s. gave you the highest score, good luck and thank you!
I'm incredibly impressed this was done in three days. It's a game I'd be glad to buy with a bit more polish (like saving) and content. Oh hell, considering the trash on Steam I'd be glad to buy it as it currently is. The art is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm not just talking about the two beautiful women. ;) The music suits the game very well and feels relaxing. Kinda weird to have relaxing background music while being buried alive. The sound effects were good, and I just loved the squeak the rats make when you click them!
Speaking of the rats, I've mostly ignored them during the conversations/card games and didn't experience any penalties. If there is a penalty for taking too many rat bites, it takes a while to incur it. I saw on the itch page there were different plans for the card game, but they weren't implemented before the jam deadline. Was the card game going to be a gauge on how well Remie favors you? Early in the game you two don't match often, but as the game progresses you match more often if you're on track for her ending. If so, that would've been cool. If not, what was the plan for the card game?
I don't see anyone else mentioning this, so I guess either incredibly obvious or I'm way off track: I see this as an allegory for a relationship on the rocks. Karina being convinced you're dead is her giving up on it, and the burial is her deciding how to end things. Remie is someone you're having an emotional affair with, with the card game representing spending quality time with her and (if I'm correct about the original function of the card game) connecting with her in a way you can't with Karina. And the rats represent, uh, I don't know. Work/responsibilities? Okay, my interpretation might be falling apart here. But I feel like this game is you deciding whether to save your failing relationship or to just start a new one.
This is easily my favorite game I've played so far this Ludum Dare. I'm definitely following on itch. And I'm not even into visual novels.
I've been following (at least some of) your team so I knew I'd be in for a treat.
I do think that after attaining an ending with one of the girls it would be neat if you could skip the card game/mice, as the prospect of redoing the gameplay bits not related to the dialogue prevented me from seeking out Karina's ending.
The production value for something made as a jam game is just so high it's mind-blowing. Will definitely be returning if just to look at the beautiful art.
I've wanted to try this one for a while. I kept seeing it on the itch.io Popular list. And I can see why. This shows the quality level that can be achieved with a talented team. My only feedback would be that I don't get why the rat pops up every now and then and takes a life point away. My guess is it's a timer and there's no way to counter it.
@killerb thanks for the lengthy comment! a lot of the things you mentioned like operable card game are in the “Latest” (not “Game Jam”) version. I think you’re the first to intepret the story like that so 🏅I liked your interpretation a lot!
Really haunting and beautiful. Loved the visuals and how expressive the character art is with just a few effectively-chosen CGs -- whenever Remie leaned in close I would get a bit freaked out. I do like the mechanic of moving up/down to swap between scenes/characters as well since it's a nice way to transition that also ties in w/ being buried.
I was confused by the rats in the middle --I did always click them to ward them away since the animation and squeak was funny, but I didn't actually realize I was intended to ward them off that way. Also, is the sparkly winged rat the Rat God? If so, I remember getting dialogue along the lines of "The Rat God is real after all" with Remie prior to seeing that rat.
omg this was so good. When I saw a new Angela He game I knew I had to try it, and I am not disapointed. This might even be one of the best ones. Thanks a lot for this and huge congrats to the team 💖
I'm surprised to find such a perfect game. The story is well written, the graphics are amazing and the gameplay is simple but effective. I loved playing this game!
Really cool game! The visuals were great, the sounds fit really well, and the story was interesting, but kind of confusing to me, I probably should have read the about first >_< I think I got a good ending though. I couldn't tell if there was a trick to the card game or if it was more or less random, but the interactions were cute none the less.
Decided not to play&rate it because of the trigger warning, but wanted to leave a comment about the graphics - from the screenshots they look crazy beautiful, and your game cover is fantastic as well!!
The art and atmosphere are so beautiful! I really liked the transitions between the scenes and the story is nicely written!
Finally played this one - I had seen a glimpse of it on someone's stream a while ago, it seemed so intriguing and beautiful that I stopped watching and saved it on a browser tab to check it later...
As I had thought, the art itself is beautiful; the story was also great, but the card game felt like just a cute random pastime. Now I'm downloading the latest version because I want to replay it to see the other endings, and to see what changes were made to the card game :)