Another spooky entry, I really liked it! I think I ended up getting confused about different characters' names, but that's just a me/memory thing @ _ @;
I was really surprised about the reveal! Felt like it was the last person you'd suspect, so I think this was written really well! I love the dynamic between Westwood and his partner, very funny and believable :>
I also really liked all the bleeps for swearing haha! Great job!! ^w^
omg i'm so glad you finally played it🥺 your opinion means a lot and i'm happy you liked it! i know some charactres need more than one appearance to be rememberered, but it was a jam game so i was limited on time:(( i'm especially happy that you you didint expect (you know who😉) being a villain, I really love that scene, it was so fun to write:) Since you played all important games of GANA series, i hope you won't be confused by future games😅 by the way, did you see both endings?
Aaa I'm sorry it took me a while to get to it ;w; Aw you're too kind! Also, I think for a jam game, to have as many characters referenced in this was pretty impressive! I'm just bad at remembering names haha;; And yes!! I got both endings, and I was pleasantly surprised at how different they both turned out to be!! I felt so bad for "you know who" in the one ending, but it also felt hopeful ; _ ; I really like Westwood's character, bc he jokes so often about being old and leaving things for the next generation..it feels like he's actually a really soft/sweet guy under that gruff exterior :3
you saw right through him - he's short-tempered and sometimes makes scary faces, but that kinda professional habit of playing "the bad cop" lol. (Also he's a cat person and loves sweets.) You probably the first who actually showed pity to you-know-who, it seems people dont like her... And i was even more shocked that everyone liked Ben Weeds😅
I really sympathize with people who are mentally ill, so maybe that's why I felt the way I did about that person. I liked how you handled the topic, especially how sensitive it can be- it felt realistic in a way, despite the supernatural parts- also, I love how Westwood has a kitty, and his banter with Rogers was cute and friendly, overall a nice experience! As for Ben, I was a bit disappointed he wasn't seen again, but may his cracked out/ drunk soul rest in peace 😔
i intended it to be more ambigous about youknowwho being mentally ill. You see, in that world spirits of the dead are a common thing, and people who can hear them(like Aurinko) are not called crazy, just perceptive and sensitive. But if you talk about seeing evil entities crawling dark streets... then welcome to the psychiatrist🙄. All we know that she was diagnosed with having hallucinations... And in our world people assume that diagnose = illness 100% of the time, which is kinda sad😥
also i wanted to show Ben more than one time (and Emily, and the mayor, and the captain), but the game was already big enough for the jam entry. If you're intrested, i posted in my progress thread some facts that werent mentioned in the game. I can copy them all and send to you in dms, if you want🙂
You did an incredible job with the dialogue, it was very entertaining and natural
Giving hints to the personal characters' lives using dialogue was done really well too, like how Westwood (Krumpl, heh) got married several times and all that
The story was really good too, the maps were done well, the dream sequence was great, and the puzzles? Excellent
genuinely had to take a day to process what happened, man that was heavy HAHA
in a good way ofc!
(SPOILERS)
i really, REALLY love the vibe here. everything made me feel so much like i was watching a noir movie about an elderly detective on the brink of retirement. the moody music, the interrogations, the chases... even the censor beeps (which were really funny btw) add to the vibes of watching an old investigations flick haha. this game absolutely NAILS feeling like a detective story, from the title screen to the very end. and that's also aided by the way the story progresses; it felt appropiately realistic when i got nothing from interrogating the apartment neighbors, or when i couldn't find the cultists in the graveyard and had to go home by bus, or in general when a day went by having found next to no new clues. it felt frustrating, but in a way that added to the tension and storytelling. obviously everything is unraveled by the end, but the path to get there is filled with confusing clues and dead ends that the characters have to try to get through. again, it's realistic, and probably how something like this would play out in real life. and then, the reveal of supernatural things possibly being at play is the cherry on top, and makes this game feel so unique compared to other detective stories. great job!
the visuals are really good too! default assets are used really effectively here; never once i doubted the places i walked through could exist in real life. and your character art is once again really nice, conveying personality and emotion with with drawings that feel both simple and stylized. the mist in the graveyard chase that makes it harder to know where you're going while you're trying to hurry? so cool. the ominous lighting during the dream sequence and the shadowy world in the bad ending? AMAZING. the loading screen being magnifying glasses? brilliant haha. so many little touches that add up and make the presentation really cool. and that's without mentioning the audio, which is also fantastic! the music that played through each scene was PERFECT for the atmosphere, love me some moody jazz lol. and i noticed you use a lot of creepy whispering in your games, right? it's really effective haha.
i gotta say, i think this might be my favorite game of yours writing-wise. for starters, the characters here are some of the best in this series; they're all so charismatic and memorable. westwood and rogers had a funny rivalry in their debut game, so it's awesome to see their friendship in a much deeper way. their bickering throughout was funny and felt natural, but it's still made very clear that they have a really deep-rooted relationship and would take a bullet for each other. overall their dynamic is great! and the other characters were great too; evaness walking a fine line respecting westwood and annoying the crap out of him was very amusing, and her villain persona is delightfully psychotic, even achieving the sweet tinge of making you feel a little bad for her; emily being a stickler for the rules contrasted by her hidden courage was really neat to see (that moment where she's shocked after killing evaness in the true ending was REALLY good); and even small characters like the mayor, his wife, the tree guard, the kid that runs from you, the apartment's neighbors or the absolute legend that is ben, have so much personality despite barely even speaking. it's a REALLY strong testament to the quality of your writing. one of my favorite aspects of character writing is just characters having little details or quirks. learning that westwood loves cats or that rogers is a plant nerd, even if those are really small things, endeared me to these characters even more :> and the actual plot is fantastic on all fronts. like in 'pieces', it was really intriguing trying to untangle this mystery clue by clue, step by step, feeling the same frustration as the main characters when nothing seemed to lead anywhere. as well as in that game, i think the plot can get a bit confusing with so many characters, names, and storylines crossing together, but i got the gist of everything by the end so it's fine. and even then, it's compensated by a LOT of standout moments: the creepy phone call in the middle of the night, the street lights breaking during that walk, the plants puzzle which is both challenging but not too complicated... and my favorite moment in the entire game, the dream sequence, which was just so so SO abstract and cool looking and excellently done!! legit made me feel like i was watching a hayao miyazaki film, walking among street lights, talking to sentient memories of people i knew... so so incredibly well done. i got both endings, and they were bittersweet in the best way possible. even if evaness gets stopped in both endings, it's clear they're not 100% happy and clean resolutions. at all. (that scene in the mental hospital is gonna stick with me... i wasn't kidding when i said i needed time to process the story HAHAHA abra you're amazing at breaking hearts and minds-)
there's honestly very little i want to complain about? the puzzle after the dream was pretty hard on my first try, had to repeat it to get it right (maybe i just have bad memory lol), i think having less items to keep track of would've been better. and there were some parts where the game explained an important event in text form instead of showing it, but i'm chalking that up to the jam's time limitations since the game is pretty long as it is. and yea that's all lol.
i was already curious about a westwood spinoff when you mentioned it some time ago, and this game honestly exceeded all my expectations. and i'll be thinking about the story for a while, no doubt haha.
amazing job!! <3
edit: I WROTE HIDEO MIYAZAKI GOD DAMN IT I'M A FAKE ANIMATION FAN AFEDEFVJFRFJOFIA
omg i was waiting for your review so much and so glad to see it😍 If i get it right, you mean you played it a day ago, but it was so much that you needed time to digest it???? If so i'm honored:> Being able to "break hearts and minds" is exactly what i'm striving for! I want my stories to be as dramatic as possible. In previous reviews people kinda split between those who noticed only comedy elements and thos who appreciated deep dialogs and story... You put it all in place, i guess both were right:> I must say i didnt have a certain plan when i started to make the game. I knew it would be a dark and gloomy story, with a lot of dark police humor of "i'm too old for this shit" style. But midway i suddenly wanted to add some tragedy. For me Eveness is a very tragic character, i broke my own heart by what i've done to her😭 She was supposed to be a cheerful young detective with a bright future.... and was sacrificed for the sake of drama:((( But it seems for everyone else she was simply a villain that you must hate😔 I'm glad you noticed that the story combines classic murder mistery and paranormal elements. (tho in that world spirits of dead people is a scientifical phenomena,as you know after playing "Pieces". But most people think they are just echoes and can't affect this world directly. That's why Evaness couldnt talk to anybody about what she saw...) I'd like to know what parts where the game explained an important event in text form instead of showing it? It will be useful to know for future improvement. Oh and also - whom did you suspect? I wanted the moment you realize Evaness was behind it all to be a shock, i'm not sure if i succeded... Huge thanks for amazing review as always!🖤
yeah, legit needed to digest the story because it was so dramatic haha. sorry to have kept you waiting! i wanted to play your game sooner, along with playing all the other jam entries, but sadly stuff came up and i don't think i'll be able to do it in time :( at least i'm glad to have played this one!
i don't recall exactly what those parts where, but if i remember correctly after you escape evaness there's text that explains how you got out and reached the mayor's mansion. and there also was a moment where you're at the police station, there's a fade to black and it explains that the characters investigated the mayor's mansion, and you're back again at the police station. just struck me as odd cause it made it look like nothing had actually happened.
i thought the mayor did it! seemed suspicious how people talked about him but he rarely ever appeared in person, and his name showing up in the dream solidified that theory haha. it was really shocking to find out it was evaness! legit didn't think she was suspicious for a single second lol.
*beep*, man, thank you!😅 I'm surprised by how many people liked Ben. I was afraid i made him too creepy... But it seems he's a loveable loser like i intended hehe/ The opinions kinda split on if this game is a comedy or not...🤔
edit: can't wait to see your reaction to other games muahahah
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Another spooky entry, I really liked it! I think I ended up getting confused about different characters' names, but that's just a me/memory thing @ _ @;
I was really surprised about the reveal! Felt like it was the last person you'd suspect, so I think this was written really well! I love the dynamic between Westwood and his partner, very funny and believable :>
I also really liked all the bleeps for swearing haha! Great job!! ^w^
omg i'm so glad you finally played it🥺 your opinion means a lot and i'm happy you liked it!
i know some charactres need more than one appearance to be rememberered, but it was a jam game so i was limited on time:((
i'm especially happy that you you didint expect (you know who😉) being a villain, I really love that scene, it was so fun to write:)
Since you played all important games of GANA series, i hope you won't be confused by future games😅
by the way, did you see both endings?
Aaa I'm sorry it took me a while to get to it ;w; Aw you're too kind! Also, I think for a jam game, to have as many characters referenced in this was pretty impressive! I'm just bad at remembering names haha;; And yes!! I got both endings, and I was pleasantly surprised at how different they both turned out to be!! I felt so bad for "you know who" in the one ending, but it also felt hopeful ; _ ; I really like Westwood's character, bc he jokes so often about being old and leaving things for the next generation..it feels like he's actually a really soft/sweet guy under that gruff exterior :3
you saw right through him - he's short-tempered and sometimes makes scary faces, but that kinda professional habit of playing "the bad cop" lol. (Also he's a cat person and loves sweets.)
You probably the first who actually showed pity to you-know-who, it seems people dont like her... And i was even more shocked that everyone liked Ben Weeds😅
spoilers 4 anyone reading!
-
-
-
I really sympathize with people who are mentally ill, so maybe that's why I felt the way I did about that person. I liked how you handled the topic, especially how sensitive it can be- it felt realistic in a way, despite the supernatural parts- also, I love how Westwood has a kitty, and his banter with Rogers was cute and friendly, overall a nice experience! As for Ben, I was a bit disappointed he wasn't seen again, but may his cracked out/ drunk soul rest in peace 😔
spolers
i intended it to be more ambigous about youknowwho being mentally ill. You see, in that world spirits of the dead are a common thing, and people who can hear them(like Aurinko) are not called crazy, just perceptive and sensitive. But if you talk about seeing evil entities crawling dark streets... then welcome to the psychiatrist🙄. All we know that she was diagnosed with having hallucinations... And in our world people assume that diagnose = illness 100% of the time, which is kinda sad😥
also i wanted to show Ben more than one time (and Emily, and the mayor, and the captain), but the game was already big enough for the jam entry. If you're intrested, i posted in my progress thread some facts that werent mentioned in the game. I can copy them all and send to you in dms, if you want🙂
Playthrough by HawkZombie💚
Playthrough by Creepicatfish 👻
Just finished your game, it was AWESOME
You did an incredible job with the dialogue, it was very entertaining and natural
Giving hints to the personal characters' lives using dialogue was done really well too, like how Westwood (Krumpl, heh) got married several times and all that
The story was really good too, the maps were done well, the dream sequence was great, and the puzzles? Excellent
Great job!!
genuinely had to take a day to process what happened, man that was heavy HAHA
in a good way ofc!
(SPOILERS)
i really, REALLY love the vibe here. everything made me feel so much like i was watching a noir movie about an elderly detective on the brink of retirement. the moody music, the interrogations, the chases... even the censor beeps (which were really funny btw) add to the vibes of watching an old investigations flick haha. this game absolutely NAILS feeling like a detective story, from the title screen to the very end. and that's also aided by the way the story progresses; it felt appropiately realistic when i got nothing from interrogating the apartment neighbors, or when i couldn't find the cultists in the graveyard and had to go home by bus, or in general when a day went by having found next to no new clues. it felt frustrating, but in a way that added to the tension and storytelling. obviously everything is unraveled by the end, but the path to get there is filled with confusing clues and dead ends that the characters have to try to get through. again, it's realistic, and probably how something like this would play out in real life. and then, the reveal of supernatural things possibly being at play is the cherry on top, and makes this game feel so unique compared to other detective stories. great job!
the visuals are really good too! default assets are used really effectively here; never once i doubted the places i walked through could exist in real life. and your character art is once again really nice, conveying personality and emotion with with drawings that feel both simple and stylized. the mist in the graveyard chase that makes it harder to know where you're going while you're trying to hurry? so cool. the ominous lighting during the dream sequence and the shadowy world in the bad ending? AMAZING. the loading screen being magnifying glasses? brilliant haha. so many little touches that add up and make the presentation really cool. and that's without mentioning the audio, which is also fantastic! the music that played through each scene was PERFECT for the atmosphere, love me some moody jazz lol. and i noticed you use a lot of creepy whispering in your games, right? it's really effective haha.
i gotta say, i think this might be my favorite game of yours writing-wise. for starters, the characters here are some of the best in this series; they're all so charismatic and memorable. westwood and rogers had a funny rivalry in their debut game, so it's awesome to see their friendship in a much deeper way. their bickering throughout was funny and felt natural, but it's still made very clear that they have a really deep-rooted relationship and would take a bullet for each other. overall their dynamic is great! and the other characters were great too; evaness walking a fine line respecting westwood and annoying the crap out of him was very amusing, and her villain persona is delightfully psychotic, even achieving the sweet tinge of making you feel a little bad for her; emily being a stickler for the rules contrasted by her hidden courage was really neat to see (that moment where she's shocked after killing evaness in the true ending was REALLY good); and even small characters like the mayor, his wife, the tree guard, the kid that runs from you, the apartment's neighbors or the absolute legend that is ben, have so much personality despite barely even speaking. it's a REALLY strong testament to the quality of your writing. one of my favorite aspects of character writing is just characters having little details or quirks. learning that westwood loves cats or that rogers is a plant nerd, even if those are really small things, endeared me to these characters even more :> and the actual plot is fantastic on all fronts. like in 'pieces', it was really intriguing trying to untangle this mystery clue by clue, step by step, feeling the same frustration as the main characters when nothing seemed to lead anywhere. as well as in that game, i think the plot can get a bit confusing with so many characters, names, and storylines crossing together, but i got the gist of everything by the end so it's fine. and even then, it's compensated by a LOT of standout moments: the creepy phone call in the middle of the night, the street lights breaking during that walk, the plants puzzle which is both challenging but not too complicated... and my favorite moment in the entire game, the dream sequence, which was just so so SO abstract and cool looking and excellently done!! legit made me feel like i was watching a hayao miyazaki film, walking among street lights, talking to sentient memories of people i knew... so so incredibly well done. i got both endings, and they were bittersweet in the best way possible. even if evaness gets stopped in both endings, it's clear they're not 100% happy and clean resolutions. at all. (that scene in the mental hospital is gonna stick with me... i wasn't kidding when i said i needed time to process the story HAHAHA abra you're amazing at breaking hearts and minds-)
there's honestly very little i want to complain about? the puzzle after the dream was pretty hard on my first try, had to repeat it to get it right (maybe i just have bad memory lol), i think having less items to keep track of would've been better. and there were some parts where the game explained an important event in text form instead of showing it, but i'm chalking that up to the jam's time limitations since the game is pretty long as it is. and yea that's all lol.
i was already curious about a westwood spinoff when you mentioned it some time ago, and this game honestly exceeded all my expectations. and i'll be thinking about the story for a while, no doubt haha.
amazing job!! <3
edit: I WROTE HIDEO MIYAZAKI GOD DAMN IT I'M A FAKE ANIMATION FAN AFEDEFVJFRFJOFIA
omg i was waiting for your review so much and so glad to see it😍 If i get it right, you mean you played it a day ago, but it was so much that you needed time to digest it???? If so i'm honored:> Being able to "break hearts and minds" is exactly what i'm striving for! I want my stories to be as dramatic as possible. In previous reviews people kinda split between those who noticed only comedy elements and thos who appreciated deep dialogs and story... You put it all in place, i guess both were right:> I must say i didnt have a certain plan when i started to make the game. I knew it would be a dark and gloomy story, with a lot of dark police humor of "i'm too old for this shit" style. But midway i suddenly wanted to add some tragedy. For me Eveness is a very tragic character, i broke my own heart by what i've done to her😭 She was supposed to be a cheerful young detective with a bright future.... and was sacrificed for the sake of drama:((( But it seems for everyone else she was simply a villain that you must hate😔
I'm glad you noticed that the story combines classic murder mistery and paranormal elements. (tho in that world spirits of dead people is a scientifical phenomena,as you know after playing "Pieces". But most people think they are just echoes and can't affect this world directly. That's why Evaness couldnt talk to anybody about what she saw...)
I'd like to know what parts where the game explained an important event in text form instead of showing it? It will be useful to know for future improvement.
Oh and also - whom did you suspect? I wanted the moment you realize Evaness was behind it all to be a shock, i'm not sure if i succeded...
Huge thanks for amazing review as always!🖤
yeah, legit needed to digest the story because it was so dramatic haha. sorry to have kept you waiting! i wanted to play your game sooner, along with playing all the other jam entries, but sadly stuff came up and i don't think i'll be able to do it in time :( at least i'm glad to have played this one!
i don't recall exactly what those parts where, but if i remember correctly after you escape evaness there's text that explains how you got out and reached the mayor's mansion. and there also was a moment where you're at the police station, there's a fade to black and it explains that the characters investigated the mayor's mansion, and you're back again at the police station. just struck me as odd cause it made it look like nothing had actually happened.
i thought the mayor did it! seemed suspicious how people talked about him but he rarely ever appeared in person, and his name showing up in the dream solidified that theory haha. it was really shocking to find out it was evaness! legit didn't think she was suspicious for a single second lol.
oh i see! there is only text because i didnt have time to add a whole scene. i missed jam's deadline anyway tho 😅
that's what i figured haha. like i said tho, it wasn't a big deal or anything!
I genuinely love this game!
1. The characters and the world feel really alive (I mean, goddamn, there is a huge tree in the city).
2. The jokes hit really well! I laughed so hard.
3. The characters are so likeable (Ben Weeds, God bless his soul! Roger and Westwood, I love this duo of sexagenarians).
4. The mystery is also quite interesting!
5. *beep*
love love it
(Edit: Just noticed that this is a spinoff. Time to play all of them)
*beep*, man, thank you!😅
I'm surprised by how many people liked Ben. I was afraid i made him too creepy... But it seems he's a loveable loser like i intended hehe/
The opinions kinda split on if this game is a comedy or not...🤔
edit: can't wait to see your reaction to other games muahahah
The censor beeps caught me off guard, and they were funny pretty much every time they were used. Some of the music choices were also quite nice.
The apartment building scene gave me slight Hotel Dusk/Last Window vibes, which is always a good thing.
thank you!🖤 Maybe i should remove the bars since it's the only thing everybody notices lol
No you should keep them! I think they help sell the humor of it. The "It's only 9:00 AM" bit was elevated by it.
i know, but didnt i overdo with the comedy elements? It's a sad story after all...
It wasn't overdone, especially since the comedy disappears as the story goes on and gets more serious.
great, it's waht i intended☺ thank again for feedback<3