Congrats on releasing the completed game! I saw the news a few day later, but I was unable to play it, until like a week passed. But I couldn't play it for long so I hold it off with finishing it until like another week or two passed. Then I was able to finish it. I wanted to write a review right after or as soon as possible, but didn't had the time until recently, which I went back and forth on it whenever I had the chance. I did made several notes about the game as I played it, but details are sort of murky. Anyways I will try my best to adequately express most of my thoughts about the game, in order to help you guys. Plus I really do think all the hard work you guys put into this, deserve as much feedback as possible.
Like I had mentioned in my other previous posts, the sprites are nice and the guys' teddy bear forms are cute. Younger versions of the characters would be fun to see but I understand that would take time and more work to do those. I like the variety of expressions and some are amusing. I do have to admit at one point, I did thought Lillie's and Gold's eyes felt kinda odd because of the size in relation with the way they were angle. I felt the movements of the sprites were good, not wonky like in some other visual novels and thought some of them were a cute touch. I noticed little touches of effort to push the presentation of the game;
such as the eye catch cards (those transition images),how the light for the mansion turned on in the beginning when I notice some other games wouldn't have shown any visual changes, the zooming out from the first appearance of the mansion, when there is a brief pause as Aura admits that she's lost, shaking of the screen to convey annoyance and such, and I think Aura's dialogue was rushed then cut off when she was afraid of Miss.Maria, etc. I also thought the changes to main menu when you finish each guys' routes was a great idea, very satisfying to see. I like that it shows their personality very well.(btw i notice for the demo version....the main menu also changed the guys back to their human forms. I was pretty surprise!)
I like those touches of detail and I feel if you guys had more time, there would be more of them which can help if you want to make a commercial game, or make the game more polish looking than other visual novels. Makes the game feel less static too.
I liked some of the CGs, some were cute and funny such as
Lillie's imagination and Aura trying to sew Royal up.
Some were pretty to look, I particularly like
the CG of Deon playing the piano. Also...yay for the kissing CGs! When I played Sol route, I got the normal ending at first and it took a few times to get the best ending, so I didn't get the wedding dress CG for awhile. I kept waiting for something like that, then I was like yay when I finally I got it!
I think it was good idea that all three guys had equal amounts of CGs. Also the CGs showed almost all the important scenes I wanted to see. I have to admit a few need a bit of polishing in terms of the drawing, but I still feel you can see the effort and good quality of these CGs. Overall, a pretty CG gallery though, made me pretty happy when I got all of them.
I found the story enjoyable. Overall story was quite simple but that suited the length of the game, it didn't get convoluted or confusing in attempt to have a complicated plot. Some parts felt kinda a bit rushed (understandable because of the game length and the time needed in order to flesh the story out) and I personally sort of wanted more romance development for Sol and Royal? Also I think it's a good idea to expand and talk more
about Aura's feelings on being alone after she lost her family and about finally finding her place, especially since some endings (two?? I feel that there was more than one that mention it... sorry, been a few weeks since I last finished the game. ^^;;) kinda of concluded/ wrapped up on this theme.
Only in Deon's route,
do you find out anything about Aura's father (which is important part of Aura's feelings of loneliness), and I thought it was kinda abrupt and fast in the way the game told the player about what had happen to him. Personally for me, my reaction was like what?! oh no! then I didn't have much feeling about it afterwards? And I have to admit, after the issue with music was resolved, I felt that the whole thing (the issue with music) felt kinda rushed.
But I still felt the story for Deon's route was more fulfilling and a bit more interesting. I don't know, but I just feel that I like the unique interactions from all the characters in his route, even if isn't much. Well, Royal
had an important presence in the route and I very much enjoyed Royal interaction with Deon.
Miss Maria and Lillie didn't say much, but I still thought what they said, wasn't just random filler and they gave an idea of what the personality of the characters were like. I could only remember what unique dialogue that Miss. Maria had in Deon's route, awhile in the others' routes I am unable to. lol... I could say more and also include a bit more specifically why his route feels more fulfilling, but that would probably make this post much longer and take much longer for me to be able to express them into words plus go through the game a few times. ^^;; Hmm... I guess personally for me, his route just feels more 'complete' than the others somehow?
(well...Deon is the oldest among the guys and was originally the heir so he knows the secrets but I feel it's a little more than that...)
And well, his route was fun to read especially when he was a bear. lol.
I think Sol's route was my least favorite but it doesn't mean I didn't like it, I thought it had some nice funny and cute moments. I felt bad for him and right away understood
his hidden desire to keep the cursed barrier intact. Plus I was interested when I saw a different side to him, the one who isn't all cheerful and 'prince-like'.
Royal's route was decent for me and I admit it took me a bit to be like,
okay so there is romance between Aura and Royal, but it made sense to me when I thought about it (I'm guessing part of it is because his love turned into strong feelings of guilt for Gold?) and also sometimes such romances like theirs is best to enjoy without much thought (bickering couples like them could be pretty fun). I did went like oh no when he got singed by the barrier
and there were moments that amused me, so his route wasn't boring.
I thought the writing at times was very good, other times a few wording were kinda odd, but that didn't happen much. There was also a few writing errors but I understood what was being said and I personally didn't felt really bother by it. And the writing didn't have this much, but I recall something like a few slight error in story constancy? I could be wrong and would have to relocate those to be more specific. But still, I wasn't actually confuse and again, didn't really felt bother by them. For example, I'm not sure but one very minor error was Aura and another character was mention leaving a room, when they actually were at the hallways in the first place.
And in Sol's route, Deon wasn't aware that their father wanted to marry off Gold, but in his own route, Deon knew about it.
Maybe I'm overthinking it and for other players, they don't care about this. If so, just ignore what I just said.. ;; Overall it was still good writing and it showed Aura's attentive nature, hinting to the player that something is more than what it first appears, which can be helpful.
I got both Deon's endings on the first try. Royal's endings didn't take long to get. But Sol's best ending.... the only choice that prevented me from getting the best ending was
that one part where you could either try to talk to Gold or leave. I don't quite understand why leaving the room is the best choice. Personally, although I understand the skepticism in a way, but if this part was much earlier, it would make more sense? But also choosing that choice doesn't help Sol or anyone, make him like you more, bring him closer to you, or like have any more importance compare to the other choice? Nor did it end up in a different result with any important plot difference. Overall, I'm not sure how it brings the player closer to the best ending. If it was one of those kind of choices where you can pick either one and it won't change what ending you get, I would be fine with that sort of thing. Or just leave out the choice path at that part or make something else a choice path. I guess this just a nitpicking thing to talk about, and I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way (like I said, I understand in a way why Aura felt skeptical),
so I wasn't sure if I wanted to mention this, but decided I might as well say it since it did slightly bother me right after I finally got his best ending. (which took many tries to get....@_@) If no one else feels this way, then you can just ignore the nitpicking. Plus I think it might not be uncommon in other visual novels, where players disagree about what should be consider best choice. ^^; Other than that, I think which choice for the best ending for the other choice paths, was pretty easy to figure out once you give some thoughts to it, which is a good thing. It isn't flat out easy obvious but it isn't difficult after some thinking. Also, I think there were a good amount of moments where you get presented with choices, which is of course very nice.
Okay, I guess I will add in some random comments as I wrap this up....
I recommend a history and a back button especially if you want to make a commercial game?
At one point, Aura's name disappear from top of the textbox when having a conversation with Royal. Extremely minor but I guess I will mention it anyways? lol..
I thought the mention of
humanity being taken away when they become toys,
was an interesting idea.
I like the music for the main menu, sounds sweet and shoujo fairytale like? As for the other music, I did at one point felt it got sort of a bit repetitive (probably because of going over and over through the game for all the endings?), but they were still nice and sometimes soothing to listen to.
I think I pretty much answer all the questions expect for the last one. Sorry, but I don't see myself buying games as of now, so I feel that I can't set a good personal price that this game might deserve. Hmm....I think a price range of $6 to $9.99 is good? I'm basing this on a
quick look through visual novels on Steam, since I think that's the place where most people including ones who don't really play visual novels, will buy their VNs. I don't know many of the VNs there or have very vague knowledge about a few them, so yea... the price range is a rough estimate on where I think your VN fit in compare to other VNs and what it deserve compare to those (well, ones that I have vague knowledge of anyways...) plus the popularity of those VNs (vague idea of how many people had brought them from what I have seen and had enjoy them.). But all these factors can sort of clash with each other...like there are very popular games that I feel is priced much higher than what it deserves and comparing to cheaper games that are much better quality....So please kind in mind that the price range I just gave, isn't really reliable or should be taken seriously.... Sorry can't really help on this area... You can check that place out if you haven't already, and other places that sell VNs plus find out what people are saying and their opinions on the prices. On side note, if you are interested in mobile versions of VN, the pricing will be completely different. But um....yea, I'm not knowledgeable about pricing visual novels and such..... ;;
I also want to say that it isn't necessary to make long games or a game longer than this, for a story to be well told. It depends on the story and what you want to tell/give to the players/readers. I notice the manga,anime,stories,etc that I like, are short. It might be harder if you want to make a short otome game with a well told, completely flesh out story that isn't rush at all, but it's possible? Anyways, again it depends so if you think your new story will benefit from being told in a longer length, then go for it. But I guess I should also add that I often see many people tend to want long games if they are going to pay for them (price in relation to the gameplay time), despite how everything might be high quality including a great story being told magnificently, which is understandable.... but yea I will leave it on that, since this post is already too long and I'm not knowledgeable on this. ^^;;
There are a couple of more stuff that I noted, but this is pretty much most of what I wanted to say...(this post pretty much became a long rant...lol...) Thank you guys for trying so hard and releasing this game even though you guys wanted to add more to it. And bonus, it's free! This is very good for a first game! Good luck on future projects! Hope this long post helps. ^^;
