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Erichermit
Member
Hello! Well I'm back and I simply can't wait to progress more in Quintessence!
I'm going to download the new stuff right now and play it, I'm certain I will love it!
P.S: Get on MSN!
I'm going to download the new stuff right now and play it, I'm certain I will love it!
P.S: Get on MSN!
bradleydfc
Member
Suddenly my day got better. ANOTHER VIKON STORY! :D
release date? D:
release date? D:
@Jirby's edit:
Aye, I did feel that the electric guitar in the second verse of the main theme was a bit out of place too, but I haven't been able to get a hold of Arcanum for a while, and it's grown on me. c: I think in the future revamps, I will try to accommodate it with something more fitting. And oh shoot, thanks for the controlling glitch report.
As for the "album arts", do you mean the ones posted on a few posts above? If so, they're just screenshots taken during their playing - the scenes all exist, the only thing that doesn't is the text on the wings pic, as the text actually shows up later in the actual vid.
@Eric:
Heya, welcome back. Thanks, and hope to see your lengthy project completed in the near future! c:
@bradley:
Not exactly set yet; I am not completely certain on at which point I will end it at the moment. Perhaps a month or so? :smile:
Aye, I did feel that the electric guitar in the second verse of the main theme was a bit out of place too, but I haven't been able to get a hold of Arcanum for a while, and it's grown on me. c: I think in the future revamps, I will try to accommodate it with something more fitting. And oh shoot, thanks for the controlling glitch report.
As for the "album arts", do you mean the ones posted on a few posts above? If so, they're just screenshots taken during their playing - the scenes all exist, the only thing that doesn't is the text on the wings pic, as the text actually shows up later in the actual vid.
@Eric:
Heya, welcome back. Thanks, and hope to see your lengthy project completed in the near future! c:
@bradley:
Not exactly set yet; I am not completely certain on at which point I will end it at the moment. Perhaps a month or so? :smile:
Erichermit
Member
I'm completely stumped in the wilderness. I have the black wolf hair but I can't find out where to go. The frog place seems suspicious but theres nothing for me to do there.
I think after you fight the two wolves and get one of them's hair (you can get the other by finding it at the wolf den to the north if you want to "catch 'em all", but that's optional), and been to the frog place, an alert should make you hear some foot steps East of it when you go back to the large area north of the frog's place. When that happens, head east back to the starting area and go back to the wagon.
all right bro. i was without internet for a few weeks and after beating motw arc4 I really had a craving for more good rpgmaker games. i still had quintessence on my computer so i decided to give it another go.
i started from the beginning again because lets face it -- last time I only played it for like five minutes. this time I really didnt put too much more time into it either, but it was something. i wanted to give you something a little more, because i like you a lot as a member and shit even if i dont really like your game all too much. you deserved something more.
but like i said i didnt get too much farther than i did the first time before i got bored.
from the beginning, since i replayed the little bit that i played last time. a lot of this i've probably said before and you've responded to before, but i just type my thoughts as i play the game. i was planning on playing for even longer but didn't get around to it, sorry bro. i did save my game so i might be able to pick it up some time in the future. since i did write the notes though i might as well paste them for you. i don't know if you'll get anything from them but whatever.
---
quintessence 1-6 (well 1 and a little bit of 2)
horrible cluttered mapping. very beautiful yes, but this is a game that i'm trying to play, not a screenshot gallery.
lol OBJECTIVES
very babying (ARROWS THAT SAY GO HERE). useful for teleports since you choose not to border your maps properly, but it's pretty lame when used in other places
I can't equip the dull blade after the dude gives it to me?
forest area, after leaving the dude's house with the two guys: everything is very dark, and pointlessly so. isn't this supposed to take place in the early morning? especially when it makes those little red arrows harder to see.
you can't tell the shadowy overlays from the trees when they're all black. that, coupled with the extreme clutter in the mapping, makes it VERY DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE
then when you follow serai (what is with serai(song) btw i dont get the purpose of (SONG)): "I THINK SHE WENT WEST OF HERE" well obviously, since we just fucking saw her. DO NOT TREAT YOUR PLAYERS LIKE FUCKING IDIOTS. And do i REALLY NEED him to have a little flashback and tell me that she's at the cliff again. It happened just a couple of minutes ago. This is an insult to your players.
Wait... so chapter one ended... and nothing really happened? More like prologue, I'd think.
What the fuck is up with Kaire's sprite? From the front and back it's clearly a wheelchair, yet from the sides it looks like a FLOATING HEAD ON TOP OF A GIANT BLURRY-AS-FUCK CIRCLE. you REAAAALLLYYY need a spriter for this shit man.
You're a bit too fond of the blown-up and blurry facemaker face effect. fancy, yes, but it does look like crap and actually detracts from the scene. It makes the evens harder to see and does nothing but obscure shit. at least try to get some vectorized versions or something with smoother lines. this effect dominates your screenshots too
The grammar's off in multiple places, almost comically so. "You let your guards down." I don't see any guards.
The emotion bubbles are annoying as hell. Not in their existence (I think you overuse them a bit, but it's not bad it's a style choice), but the actual animation. Mostly the "?" one and the way it spins like that- it is distracting as hell. the sound effects TOTALLY break the mood of the scene too. I know that stuff like this is nitpicky as hell, but it's these little details that really hold a game together.
Got bored somewhere in Alden's flashbacks wandering around the castle. It's farther than I got last time, hey!
i started from the beginning again because lets face it -- last time I only played it for like five minutes. this time I really didnt put too much more time into it either, but it was something. i wanted to give you something a little more, because i like you a lot as a member and shit even if i dont really like your game all too much. you deserved something more.
but like i said i didnt get too much farther than i did the first time before i got bored.
from the beginning, since i replayed the little bit that i played last time. a lot of this i've probably said before and you've responded to before, but i just type my thoughts as i play the game. i was planning on playing for even longer but didn't get around to it, sorry bro. i did save my game so i might be able to pick it up some time in the future. since i did write the notes though i might as well paste them for you. i don't know if you'll get anything from them but whatever.
---
quintessence 1-6 (well 1 and a little bit of 2)
horrible cluttered mapping. very beautiful yes, but this is a game that i'm trying to play, not a screenshot gallery.
lol OBJECTIVES
very babying (ARROWS THAT SAY GO HERE). useful for teleports since you choose not to border your maps properly, but it's pretty lame when used in other places
I can't equip the dull blade after the dude gives it to me?
forest area, after leaving the dude's house with the two guys: everything is very dark, and pointlessly so. isn't this supposed to take place in the early morning? especially when it makes those little red arrows harder to see.
you can't tell the shadowy overlays from the trees when they're all black. that, coupled with the extreme clutter in the mapping, makes it VERY DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE
then when you follow serai (what is with serai(song) btw i dont get the purpose of (SONG)): "I THINK SHE WENT WEST OF HERE" well obviously, since we just fucking saw her. DO NOT TREAT YOUR PLAYERS LIKE FUCKING IDIOTS. And do i REALLY NEED him to have a little flashback and tell me that she's at the cliff again. It happened just a couple of minutes ago. This is an insult to your players.
Wait... so chapter one ended... and nothing really happened? More like prologue, I'd think.
What the fuck is up with Kaire's sprite? From the front and back it's clearly a wheelchair, yet from the sides it looks like a FLOATING HEAD ON TOP OF A GIANT BLURRY-AS-FUCK CIRCLE. you REAAAALLLYYY need a spriter for this shit man.
You're a bit too fond of the blown-up and blurry facemaker face effect. fancy, yes, but it does look like crap and actually detracts from the scene. It makes the evens harder to see and does nothing but obscure shit. at least try to get some vectorized versions or something with smoother lines. this effect dominates your screenshots too
The grammar's off in multiple places, almost comically so. "You let your guards down." I don't see any guards.
The emotion bubbles are annoying as hell. Not in their existence (I think you overuse them a bit, but it's not bad it's a style choice), but the actual animation. Mostly the "?" one and the way it spins like that- it is distracting as hell. the sound effects TOTALLY break the mood of the scene too. I know that stuff like this is nitpicky as hell, but it's these little details that really hold a game together.
Got bored somewhere in Alden's flashbacks wandering around the castle. It's farther than I got last time, hey!
Erichermit
Member
Hm, I'm in the Carnival now, and now have tiger hair, but no longer sure what to do.
By the way, awesome creepy cave!
By the way, awesome creepy cave!
@Des:
Oh hey, thanks for the detailed report! That's just a bit farther than I anticipated, and while I do wish that you could've went on some more to cover the rest of the earlier chapters, it's still a good compilation to work with so far. I've read through it, and I am in agreements with most of the points.
Oh, speaking of which, I did try to revamp some aspects of the first chapter with your last feedback (haven't gotten to adding game-play yet still, though), by the way - albeit not nearly as much as I hoped due to time constraints. Includes some mapping and dialogue stuff, and some additions to the intro. I'm looking to squeeze in some time again before the next release to do some more revamp to the earlier chapters, and this surely helps.
(Hahah, speaking of which, there were also some really silly things that I found while revamping them last time, e.g. touching the fire - Didn't know how much cheese I had to make that. I'm pretty sure those are still in the version with 1-6.)
@Eric:
Hm, if I remember right, you need:
-------------
Some good progress on chapter 9 today. Here's another prevy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/ss-9.jpg[/img]
And just a reminder, new intro & ending package is now available - follow the link posted at the top of first page. c: Cha~
Oh hey, thanks for the detailed report! That's just a bit farther than I anticipated, and while I do wish that you could've went on some more to cover the rest of the earlier chapters, it's still a good compilation to work with so far. I've read through it, and I am in agreements with most of the points.
Oh, speaking of which, I did try to revamp some aspects of the first chapter with your last feedback (haven't gotten to adding game-play yet still, though), by the way - albeit not nearly as much as I hoped due to time constraints. Includes some mapping and dialogue stuff, and some additions to the intro. I'm looking to squeeze in some time again before the next release to do some more revamp to the earlier chapters, and this surely helps.
(Hahah, speaking of which, there were also some really silly things that I found while revamping them last time, e.g. touching the fire - Didn't know how much cheese I had to make that. I'm pretty sure those are still in the version with 1-6.)
@Eric:
Hm, if I remember right, you need:
1. 70%+ at least once on the hammer-time mini-game
2. shot the archery mini-game once
3. been to the cave
4. got tiger hair
5. bought Kaire a teddy
2. shot the archery mini-game once
3. been to the cave
4. got tiger hair
5. bought Kaire a teddy
-------------
Some good progress on chapter 9 today. Here's another prevy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/ss-9.jpg[/img]
And just a reminder, new intro & ending package is now available - follow the link posted at the top of first page. c: Cha~
@Vikon talking screen:
@Album art mention:
View the themes in Winamp or iTunes. Better yet view the zip file and see the "AlbumArt" files.
Actually... this is what is attached:
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2721/wtftm2.jpg[/img]
Doesn't look like it belongs to the game to me. o_O
@missingno
I wouldn't say the players are being reminded through flashbacks. Think of it more like a movie. Reivier (oh god I probably misspelt that) is remembering what happened earlier. It's directed to the characters rather than the player.
But I do agree sound effects on the emotion bubbles could be... altered. Especially the "..." emote. Maybe quieten down and muffle the clicks it makes?
Lunair is going off to lay eggs. Oh the biological implications of an alternate form carrying a child but your human/normal form not. :3
@Album art mention:
View the themes in Winamp or iTunes. Better yet view the zip file and see the "AlbumArt" files.
Actually... this is what is attached:
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2721/wtftm2.jpg[/img]
Doesn't look like it belongs to the game to me. o_O
@missingno
I wouldn't say the players are being reminded through flashbacks. Think of it more like a movie. Reivier (oh god I probably misspelt that) is remembering what happened earlier. It's directed to the characters rather than the player.
But I do agree sound effects on the emotion bubbles could be... altered. Especially the "..." emote. Maybe quieten down and muffle the clicks it makes?
Rofl, brings its use to a whole new level.
And for that fetched album art - iTune (and WMP for me) just searches an album with the same name, which I named as Quintessence (notice how that track's name is Quintessence as well). I've actually been wanting to check out that album just for the hell of it, but never got to it yet, heheh.
And oh, that's one of the things that I believe I will keep (flash back), for points mentioned. I can see how that would be annoy to some though; after all, the fact that this (especially chap 1-2 / 3-4) is certainly not something the typical "gamer" would be looking for. Slowly closing the gap on that. c: Muffling the "..." emote is probably a good call, I'll try it out.
------------------------------------
Edit: First post on new page! You know what it's time for!
Earlier update reposted for positioning:
------------------------------
This post contains the newly improved version of the intro & ending video uses the new version of To Realize and Drift, performed by Adam Mussell and Laura Shigihara respectfully (many thanks to them!).
[Click on any of the three screenshots to download.]
15MB
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/Intr1.jpg[/img]
There has been some changes and improvements from the past, but far from the originally planned complete revamp. None the less, seeing the (improved) video with the performed versions of the songs should provide a much better experience than the older versions - so give it a watch! http://www.quintessence-tbv.com/forum/S ... t/wink.gif[/img]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/Intr2.jpg[/img]
16mb or so; my apologies that I didn't minimize the size to the smallest possible amount, as it would involve sorting through tons of files, heheh.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/EMVC.jpg[/img]
http://www.quintessence-tbv.com/Quintessence_Intro&Ending_Demo.zip
Enjoy! c: Feedback and suggestions on how to improve for future revamps are always welcomed. Full-blown picture pseudo-animation revamps is still expected in the future, although no words on how far.
------------------------------
Edit2:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/9000.jpg[/img]
^
_______________________________________ [Fill in the blank.]
And for that fetched album art - iTune (and WMP for me) just searches an album with the same name, which I named as Quintessence (notice how that track's name is Quintessence as well). I've actually been wanting to check out that album just for the hell of it, but never got to it yet, heheh.
And oh, that's one of the things that I believe I will keep (flash back), for points mentioned. I can see how that would be annoy to some though; after all, the fact that this (especially chap 1-2 / 3-4) is certainly not something the typical "gamer" would be looking for. Slowly closing the gap on that. c: Muffling the "..." emote is probably a good call, I'll try it out.
------------------------------------
Edit: First post on new page! You know what it's time for!
Earlier update reposted for positioning:
------------------------------
This post contains the newly improved version of the intro & ending video uses the new version of To Realize and Drift, performed by Adam Mussell and Laura Shigihara respectfully (many thanks to them!).
[Click on any of the three screenshots to download.]
15MB
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/Intr1.jpg[/img]
There has been some changes and improvements from the past, but far from the originally planned complete revamp. None the less, seeing the (improved) video with the performed versions of the songs should provide a much better experience than the older versions - so give it a watch! http://www.quintessence-tbv.com/forum/S ... t/wink.gif[/img]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/Intr2.jpg[/img]
16mb or so; my apologies that I didn't minimize the size to the smallest possible amount, as it would involve sorting through tons of files, heheh.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/EMVC.jpg[/img]
http://www.quintessence-tbv.com/Quintessence_Intro&Ending_Demo.zip
Enjoy! c: Feedback and suggestions on how to improve for future revamps are always welcomed. Full-blown picture pseudo-animation revamps is still expected in the future, although no words on how far.
------------------------------
Edit2:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v385/Reivier/9000.jpg[/img]
^
_______________________________________ [Fill in the blank.]
It wasn't long enough for a flashback though, even with that explanation. A flashback is a VERY TRICKY literary device and tend to be seriously overused. Don't underestimate the player's ability to understand the characters. It's clear that Reivier was remembering that even without the flashback, because it had happened -- in game time -- only about three minutes ago, and was fresh in the player's (of veiwer's, or reader's) mind.
Oh, to me that was just kind of a mental imagery kind of thing. Just a visual representation instead of saying, or giving it to the player to interpret. It was just a couple of seconds if I remember right; I see what you mean, though, and I do have a tendency to spoonfeed in this - But this case I will probably take the emo-hair route and stick with that specific aspect, heheh. Thanks for the notice either way.
Edit:
By the way, Eric, did you encounter any glitches involving transforming/flying around in hawk form right before the carnival? I think I fixed most of them, although there might still be some left-offs. If so, let me know. c:
Edit:
By the way, Eric, did you encounter any glitches involving transforming/flying around in hawk form right before the carnival? I think I fixed most of them, although there might still be some left-offs. If so, let me know. c:
Erichermit
Member
I have to start by telling you I hate you.
Now that your attention is probably piqued, seriously, how could you leave us on such a cliffhanger? It's so cruel! D:
All in all, great game, I'd say chapter 7 and 8 weren't as good as chapter 6 (my favorite so far), but that's still saying a lot. The time spent playing the game was very enjoyable! I can't wait to tiger up some monsters. Though, I did find it humorous that there is a "Siberian Tiger" in a world where there is no Siberia.
On the whole flashback debate, I think they're a good touch, and I'm glad theyre not too long. I think it shows the memory better than simply assuming the character is remembering, as missingno stated. If they were too long, it would be boring and repetitive, but it was short enough to get the point across.
I did not encounter any such bugs while flying around. I think I may of encountered a small one, perhaps. I flew to one side of the map and wasn't teleported to the next until I took a step to the side, but this may be intentional.
If you're using teleport events while in bird form, I'd recommend you instead use variables "if players X value = 0" etc. However, you may already be using this.
Over 9000 posts! (I got it!)
Now that your attention is probably piqued, seriously, how could you leave us on such a cliffhanger? It's so cruel! D:
All in all, great game, I'd say chapter 7 and 8 weren't as good as chapter 6 (my favorite so far), but that's still saying a lot. The time spent playing the game was very enjoyable! I can't wait to tiger up some monsters. Though, I did find it humorous that there is a "Siberian Tiger" in a world where there is no Siberia.
On the whole flashback debate, I think they're a good touch, and I'm glad theyre not too long. I think it shows the memory better than simply assuming the character is remembering, as missingno stated. If they were too long, it would be boring and repetitive, but it was short enough to get the point across.
I did not encounter any such bugs while flying around. I think I may of encountered a small one, perhaps. I flew to one side of the map and wasn't teleported to the next until I took a step to the side, but this may be intentional.
If you're using teleport events while in bird form, I'd recommend you instead use variables "if players X value = 0" etc. However, you may already be using this.
Over 9000 posts! (I got it!)
Aye, I think I myself feel that overall, chapter 6 is better than 7 and 8. I did get the chance to do some special scenes in 7 and 8, though; but the two are mainly peaceful chapters for the most part, as opposed to 6. And hah, thanks for noting the tiger name; I should probably change that.
I have been using the x==0 etc. checker when flying; they activate from the normal direction arrow transporting events when the Lunair==Bird condition is on. I think the cause of that situation was that it's in one of the places where I only allowed transporting to the other map when x=some number & y is within a certain range, since some maps are very vertical and to the side are some very vertically short horizontal maps. I did get lazy at parts and took some short cuts, though. :p
Thanks for the feedback!
------------
Chapter 9 is still progressing decently. On a side note, however:
I was recently reminded of these design screenshots that were posted a long while back:
-Truth is that I have forgotten about that mini "project" in the midst of other things. But as it was brought back to my attention, I have been planning that I might try to get it done, at least partially, after Chapter 9. It will be in the form of a separate project, with both characters from Quintessence and other games.
It will basically be a promotional-ish game for the battle system, and a good chance to allow me to do some improvement/redesigning on the battle system as a whole. :smile:
I have been using the x==0 etc. checker when flying; they activate from the normal direction arrow transporting events when the Lunair==Bird condition is on. I think the cause of that situation was that it's in one of the places where I only allowed transporting to the other map when x=some number & y is within a certain range, since some maps are very vertical and to the side are some very vertically short horizontal maps. I did get lazy at parts and took some short cuts, though. :p
Thanks for the feedback!
------------
Chapter 9 is still progressing decently. On a side note, however:
I was recently reminded of these design screenshots that were posted a long while back:
-Truth is that I have forgotten about that mini "project" in the midst of other things. But as it was brought back to my attention, I have been planning that I might try to get it done, at least partially, after Chapter 9. It will be in the form of a separate project, with both characters from Quintessence and other games.
It will basically be a promotional-ish game for the battle system, and a good chance to allow me to do some improvement/redesigning on the battle system as a whole. :smile:
Erichermit
Member
Wow, that looks hilarious... Like.. a super smash brothers game but instead... It's Quintessence!
Please make it multiplayer?
Please make it multiplayer?
John McEvan
Member
I played the first chapter and I didn't quite get something... They sit at the kids table to eat, but then they are all married and they have wives??!!!! And one of the couples: they are married too but she constantly kicks her husband's ass, are they married by obligation or what?
@Eric:
I doubt it'd be multiplayer, too much work and too little keys without external programming. D:
Speaking of which, excuse the messy layout in those old screenshots; I should be able to clean them up when I code it in the future.
@John:
Not exactly the kids' table, but there is somewhat of a generational difference, which in this case just happened to be a table apart. :p The marriages are arranged, albeit I don't think it was brought up in-game.
I doubt it'd be multiplayer, too much work and too little keys without external programming. D:
Speaking of which, excuse the messy layout in those old screenshots; I should be able to clean them up when I code it in the future.
@John:
Not exactly the kids' table, but there is somewhat of a generational difference, which in this case just happened to be a table apart. :p The marriages are arranged, albeit I don't think it was brought up in-game.
I think I've left you hanging long enough. I've gotten through Chapters 1-4 and I'm itching to give you my reactions/thoughts. I'll try to continue on once Arc V is all done.
Chapter One: I’m enjoying all the cinematic flourishes here. The intro, however, is a bit of a mess. I realize we’re not supposed to understand what’s happening here, but it still seems a bit slapdash. Dialogue seems extremely perfunctory, hopefully this will improve as the game goes on, but it’s really crucial in early scenes to nail the tone of the story. I can’t really get a sense of it here.
The music is wonderful. And all original? Badass.
Characterization seems a bit basic so far, but I noticed the general story was at least involving enough to take my mind off the intro, which is a good thing. Vikon’s narration of the guard encounter is gold…more scenes like that would be great, scenes that really use dialogue to show character rather than just move the story along. I’m not a huge fan of the dynamic with his wife though…it’s a bit too blatant anime. The guy can’t say anything without getting hit or at least the threat of violence…am I watching "Love Hina" again? On that note, I do like how the characters are married. You don’t see that too often.
Chapter Two: Oh boy, we got some problems here. This is positively languid. In my view, the time is simply not right for such an extended series of flashbacks. It’s very hard for players to care about the past history of a character if they are not yet invested in the story. You really need to make the characters compelling in their present environments before we go here, or else players wind up waiting for it to be over. If you do this too early, it seems like you’re forcing things on players that they have not yet asked for.
Chapter Three: Probably the strongest chapter I've yet played. Dungeon was a bit of a trudge-fest up until the floating puzzle, that was very well done. Not sure how I feel about the battling in the game. Interesting enough system, but how valuable is it in a game that's so cinematic? Should I bother leveling up when there's so few fully playable segments? The last handful of scenes in this chapter are very strong, and I'm loving the mists as the seaport. Still, at some point you probably want to go through all of this and correct some spelling/grammar mistakes. The plural of scum is just "scum" for example. "Scums" isn't a word. And "fighting for independency" doesn't really roll off the tongue. Just little things like that.
Chapter Four: Oh my god, that cat with the nodding head is ridiculously cute. This was a pretty good time, but it seems like the dialogue between Reiver and Lunair needs a change of pace. Every exchange is roughly the same. He says something earnest, she replies with something bitchy. Gotta mix it up here and explore different situations. The flashback here is much better. I love how as soon as she meets the little boy, you just know something's going to go terribly wrong. However...there is some narrative cheating here. I don't see how you can have scenes of characters meeting behind closed doors and plotting Lunair's future, when it's her memories we're exploring. How can someone remember something that was going on behind her back?
Alright, that's enough from me. There's definitely a lot to admire about this project, visually it's outstanding and the music is such an awesome element. I actually recognize the various themes used throughout, which is an accomplishment for any composer. The storytelling is effective, but only in a fairly superficial way. It gets the job done, but I'm not seeing much "soul" here. Redoubling your efforts on dialogue may help with that.
I realize there are still several chapters I've yet to play, so I'll have to see if my criticisms have already been addressed. Keep up the good work.
Chapter One: I’m enjoying all the cinematic flourishes here. The intro, however, is a bit of a mess. I realize we’re not supposed to understand what’s happening here, but it still seems a bit slapdash. Dialogue seems extremely perfunctory, hopefully this will improve as the game goes on, but it’s really crucial in early scenes to nail the tone of the story. I can’t really get a sense of it here.
The music is wonderful. And all original? Badass.
Characterization seems a bit basic so far, but I noticed the general story was at least involving enough to take my mind off the intro, which is a good thing. Vikon’s narration of the guard encounter is gold…more scenes like that would be great, scenes that really use dialogue to show character rather than just move the story along. I’m not a huge fan of the dynamic with his wife though…it’s a bit too blatant anime. The guy can’t say anything without getting hit or at least the threat of violence…am I watching "Love Hina" again? On that note, I do like how the characters are married. You don’t see that too often.
Chapter Two: Oh boy, we got some problems here. This is positively languid. In my view, the time is simply not right for such an extended series of flashbacks. It’s very hard for players to care about the past history of a character if they are not yet invested in the story. You really need to make the characters compelling in their present environments before we go here, or else players wind up waiting for it to be over. If you do this too early, it seems like you’re forcing things on players that they have not yet asked for.
Chapter Three: Probably the strongest chapter I've yet played. Dungeon was a bit of a trudge-fest up until the floating puzzle, that was very well done. Not sure how I feel about the battling in the game. Interesting enough system, but how valuable is it in a game that's so cinematic? Should I bother leveling up when there's so few fully playable segments? The last handful of scenes in this chapter are very strong, and I'm loving the mists as the seaport. Still, at some point you probably want to go through all of this and correct some spelling/grammar mistakes. The plural of scum is just "scum" for example. "Scums" isn't a word. And "fighting for independency" doesn't really roll off the tongue. Just little things like that.
Chapter Four: Oh my god, that cat with the nodding head is ridiculously cute. This was a pretty good time, but it seems like the dialogue between Reiver and Lunair needs a change of pace. Every exchange is roughly the same. He says something earnest, she replies with something bitchy. Gotta mix it up here and explore different situations. The flashback here is much better. I love how as soon as she meets the little boy, you just know something's going to go terribly wrong. However...there is some narrative cheating here. I don't see how you can have scenes of characters meeting behind closed doors and plotting Lunair's future, when it's her memories we're exploring. How can someone remember something that was going on behind her back?
Alright, that's enough from me. There's definitely a lot to admire about this project, visually it's outstanding and the music is such an awesome element. I actually recognize the various themes used throughout, which is an accomplishment for any composer. The storytelling is effective, but only in a fairly superficial way. It gets the job done, but I'm not seeing much "soul" here. Redoubling your efforts on dialogue may help with that.
I realize there are still several chapters I've yet to play, so I'll have to see if my criticisms have already been addressed. Keep up the good work.