Quick aside, I think it's ridiculous that this console port was released in such an unfinished and buggy state (all my save data corrupted...) Shame on the developers (or whoever was in charge of the timeline) for rushing this out and giving no warning in-game about the major, game-ruining issues at launch.
Now that that's out of the way... I did really enjoy seeing all the creativity and artistry on display in this one, even if not all the art present in the game is rendered with the same level of technical excellence at times (obviously understandable with a small production!) However, as much as I liked the art, tone, premise, etc. the gameplay itself doesn't feel quite as interesting or polished. There is a general sense of not quite reached potential throughout. Perhaps ambitions had to be tempered to meet deadlines, or creators grew too impatient with parts of the process along the way. This is felt especially in the clunky combat and lack of clear onboarding for players (despite some valiant attempts being made.)
In addition, the writing (obviously a pretty integral part of a game like this) is similarly stunted overall. It's certainly not bad persay, just relatively bland and unimaginative in comparison with the rich art style and (most) ideas presented in the storylines. It often feels as though the writer perhaps lacked the vocabulary tools necessary to properly convey their ideas the way they envisioned them. Plenty of attempts to include vivid descriptors and leverage strong, foreboding prose are made, to be sure, but most of it doesn't quite stick the landing- further contributing to the sense of a slight lack of polish overall.
It never feels good to point out things like this in passion projects made by small teams of dedicated artists, but these are important to call attention to nonetheless, so that we can continue to push each other to strive for excellence in the medium, and to perhaps encourage each of us to consider working with others who might bring strengths to the table that we ourselves might lack. A better writer would likely have gone a long way in helping to convey the unique, ambitious ideas on display here. As is, the overall experience is often an intriguing one, but one that never quite reaches the heights of greatness that it aims for.
I still enjoyed my time with it nonetheless!
Now that that's out of the way... I did really enjoy seeing all the creativity and artistry on display in this one, even if not all the art present in the game is rendered with the same level of technical excellence at times (obviously understandable with a small production!) However, as much as I liked the art, tone, premise, etc. the gameplay itself doesn't feel quite as interesting or polished. There is a general sense of not quite reached potential throughout. Perhaps ambitions had to be tempered to meet deadlines, or creators grew too impatient with parts of the process along the way. This is felt especially in the clunky combat and lack of clear onboarding for players (despite some valiant attempts being made.)
In addition, the writing (obviously a pretty integral part of a game like this) is similarly stunted overall. It's certainly not bad persay, just relatively bland and unimaginative in comparison with the rich art style and (most) ideas presented in the storylines. It often feels as though the writer perhaps lacked the vocabulary tools necessary to properly convey their ideas the way they envisioned them. Plenty of attempts to include vivid descriptors and leverage strong, foreboding prose are made, to be sure, but most of it doesn't quite stick the landing- further contributing to the sense of a slight lack of polish overall.
It never feels good to point out things like this in passion projects made by small teams of dedicated artists, but these are important to call attention to nonetheless, so that we can continue to push each other to strive for excellence in the medium, and to perhaps encourage each of us to consider working with others who might bring strengths to the table that we ourselves might lack. A better writer would likely have gone a long way in helping to convey the unique, ambitious ideas on display here. As is, the overall experience is often an intriguing one, but one that never quite reaches the heights of greatness that it aims for.
I still enjoyed my time with it nonetheless!