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[Crayolan]

First impressions: Played for an hour and a half, maybe 20-30 minutes of that was on Demontower.

So far, just opening set-up type stuff, with maybe a few hints at the plot. I think the first major plot-related event in the game is about to happen

Spoiler

the party.

If you're wondering what type of game this is, it's very much a narrative-driven adventure game with light platforming elements. So beyond reading dialogue, there's some puzzle solving, some running around town, and at one point a little rhythm minigame. I assume once the story heads into the woods, there will be a bigger focus on platforming.

Dialogue is great, and they've managed to squeeze out a lot of personality even from Mae's little cat face. I can relate to the whole "returning home after college, everything feels so different but also the same" theme going on.

Visually the game is gorgeous, but I think my labtop is having trouble running this. Either that or Mae moves really slow. I'm noticing minor stuttering at times but other than that the speed is consistent which makes me unsure. Load times are killer though. In a bad way. There's a lot of load times and some of them are pretty long. It may just be my labtop being shit but it's kinda taking me out of the experience.

On Demontower, it's kinda like a Hyper Lite Drifter in terms of combat (slashing+dashing), just with partially randomized dungeons. I thought it was a roguelike at first but if you die you only go back to the start of the floor so it's not that punishing. I was into it for a bit but then I noticed that whenever you get hit, you get stunned for the entirety of your invincibility duration. In other words if an enemy gets on top of you the only thing you can do is dash away or else it will stunlock you and you'll rack up lots of damage really quickly. It's fucking obnoxious. Also your combat options never seem to expand beyond just slashing at things. It's fun for a little bit but I don't think I'll be going back to it.

So the launch was a bit of a disaster.... I played briefly last night but between seeing lines like "I have no more dialogue, sorry", "This convo needs to be longer" and "insert random emoticon here" it left me feeling like the dialogue really doesn't matter that much if it can just be filled in with "whatever" at the last second.

I stopped playing because I saw a note they sent out saying a couple month earlier build was released instead of the final game. And I didn't honestly know whether a lot of what I was seeing was unfinished or just bad. So I don't know whether I should be judging it yet.

Though the music is bad. As a Kickstarter backer at the soundtrack tier that is a REAL bummer. Sounds like beginner level stuff and I had higher hopes.

That's clearly just placeholder dialogue. So far for me dialogue is the game's strong suit, so I wouldn't judge anything based on an incomplete build.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Believe it or not I am actually buying this game for business reasons. My wife is in love with this art style so she wants me to play it so that I can familiarize myself with it and use it as inspiration for labels for out products. I love her so much. I actually wonder if I can write that off as a business expense?

 

[BluWacky]

For those concerned about length, I'm up to nearly 3 hours now and the game shows no signs of reaching an ending - and I normally zoom through narrative games like these as I read very quickly.

The game seems to have settled into something of a routine in the section I'm in (Chapter 2)

Spoiler

Pick a friend to spend time with / do vaguely criminal thing with them which is then slightly reversed/made innocuous / have a creepy dream about giant shadow woodland animals which is probably meaningless

It's worth doing for the character moments - the game is genuinely well written - although I'm still not sure where things are going, it's such a slow burn. I'm slightly bummed out that it appears to have choices about bits of narrative you get to see, as I always feel like I'm missing out on something.

The one technical thing I don't like about the game thus far is that, when you save, reloading takes you back to when you entered the room you saved in, rather than saving any conversations you've had in there. Only a minor inconvenience to hammer A through a conversation again, but one nonetheless.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Played for an hour on PC myself. Game runs fine. Very interesting to see where this goes considering Mae has dropped out of college and come back to a town that's seemingly fallen on hard times.

 

[epmode]

I've only played the intro a bit but I love that lots of objects have multiple bits of observational dialogue.

PC version runs very well for me. I'm on a solid state drive though.

edit: Man, this is a good looking game. The lighting is great.

 

[Confused Cheeseburger]

At first it hadn't clicked, but I think the game really starts to grow after band practice.

 

[Dinjoralo]

I've gotten through about four hours, and I am very, very happy with my backing. Praise be.

If anyone finds "DiNJO" tagged somewhere, mind telling me where?

 

[More_Badass]

So what would be the closest comparision? Oxenfree?

(And I know, I know, the major indie release of the month and I'm not playing it yet)

 

[Dinjoralo]

Oh yeah, random tip:

Spoiler

you can find Germ hanging out near the Food Donkey, all the way to the left. You can do stuff with him!

That's not really a spoiler tbh, but I ain't changing it!!!

 

[Silvawuff]

Loving the aesthetic of this game! I wonder if it'll get creepy later on in the story?

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Having an awesome time so far, I am so in the mood for a narrative driven story. I'm getting some Kentucky route zero/Oxenfree vibes from it so far. I'm not too far in though. Decided to wait and play it with my wife later tonight while we eat supper though since she seems to want to. I can count the amount of games on one hand that she is interested enough to do that for.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

So what would be the closest comparision? Oxenfree?

(And I know, I know, the major indie release of the month and I'm not playing it yet)

Narrative and dialogue driven like oxen tree but the style feels like broken age.

 

[Granjinha]

So the launch was a bit of a disaster.... I played briefly last night but between seeing lines like "I have no more dialogue, sorry", "This convo needs to be longer" and "insert random emoticon here" it left me feeling like the dialogue really doesn't matter that much if it can just be filled in with "whatever" at the last second.

I stopped playing because I saw a note they sent out saying a couple month earlier build was released instead of the final game. And I didn't honestly know whether a lot of what I was seeing was unfinished or just bad. So I don't know whether I should be judging it yet.

Though the music is bad. As a Kickstarter backer at the soundtrack tier that is a REAL bummer. Sounds like beginner level stuff and I had higher hopes.

music is bad? are we playing the same game? lol

 

[Hysterical]

Really just having a blast with this game so far. The writing is very clever and there are plenty of laughs to be had. Plus the characters all have interesting personalities. Highly recommend anyone whose into narrative driven games.

 

[McGwigan]

music is bad? are we playing the same game? lol

I had the 2 month old build, so maybe the final soundtrack was remade in 2 months or the build just had placeholder midi. I'll find out later!

 

[Gaffi]

Believe it or not I am actually buying this game for business reasons. My wife is in love with this art style so she wants me to play it so that I can familiarize myself with it and use it as inspiration for labels for out products. I love her so much. I actually wonder if I can write that off as a business expense?

Bit OT, but if you're curious to see more of the artist's style. He created what is probably my favorite music video ever for one of my favorite musicians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy-bEXUA6u0 Seeing that art style in a game had me sold the second I saw it.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Bit OT, but if you're curious to see more of the artist's style. He created what is probably my favorite music video ever for one of my favorite musicians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy-bEXUA6u0 Seeing that art style in a game had me sold the second I saw it.

Thank you for this, friend. That was great.

 

[moozoom]

Has anybody bought and played the mac version ? I'm wondering if it's solid compared to the Ps4... (I have an old mac)

Believe it or not I am actually buying this game for business reasons. My wife is in love with this art style so she wants me to play it so that I can familiarize myself with it and use it as inspiration for labels for out products. I love her so much. I actually wonder if I can write that off as a business expense?

Maybe you can contact the artist and commission him to illustrate your labels ? That kind of thing can be written for sure as a business expense.

Sorry but as an illustrator myself, its a bit disheartening to read that your first idea is copying the art style of someone instead of just asking the guy to create art for you. (Especially if it's for your business.)

 

[Gaffi]

Thank you for this, friend. That was great.

Anytime.

Also, are the 2 downloadable side-games worth checking out? And is there any update on the steam game being an older build? Do they have a time frame for a fix?

Also, also this,

Maybe you can contact the artist and commission him to illustrate your labels ? That kind of thing can be written for sure as a business expense.

Sorry but as an illustrator myself, its a bit disheartening to read that your first idea is copying the art style of someone instead of just asking the guy to create art for you. (Especially if it's for your business.)

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Has anybody bought and played the mac version ? I'm wondering if it's solid compared to the Ps4... (I have an old mac)



Maybe you can contact the artist and commission him to illustrate your labels ? That kind of thing can be written for sure as a business expense.

Sorry but as an illustrator myself, its a bit disheartening to read that your first idea is copying the art style of someone instead of just asking the guy to create art for you. (Especially if it's for your business.)

I would absolutely love to do that... but we are a small business and we don't have the money to do that atm along with our housing situation atm... But I also wasn't saying that I was going to copy the art style either bro. I said, "use it for inspiration." Don't worry. As an artist myself I hate that crap. Every artist is inspired by others art in some way. I would never "copy" anyone's art but I would absolutely take notes and let their art influence mine. I can name tons and tons of indie games that where influenced by the art in other indie games or just even bigger titles. And that's just games. I don't think that's wrong at all. I could only hope to create art that would influence others to emulate mine and let it influence theirs for a season.

Anytime.

Also, are the 2 downloadable side-games worth checking out? And is there any update on the steam game being an older build? Do they have a time frame for a fix?

Also, also this,

Sorry haven't looked into any of this yet mate, trying to get a late work out in before supper since I missed it this morning. lol

 

[JaseC]

Anytime.

Also, are the 2 downloadable side-games worth checking out? And is there any update on the steam game being an older build? Do they have a time frame for a fix?

What happened is that Sony America accidentally generated keys tied to a two-month-old build. The only people affected were those in the US who backed the game on Kickstarter and later opted for the PS4 version.

 

[sabertoothzombie]

Anytime.

Also, are the 2 downloadable side-games worth checking out?

I enjoyed the Lost Constellation. It was short, but it was interesting enough. I didn't play the other one, yet. I'd say yes, just for the experience alone. It also shows

Spoiler

a little bit of the relationship between Mae and her grandfather

 

[Gaffi]

What happened is that Sony America accidentally generated keys tied to a two-month old build. The only people affected were those in the US who backed the game on Kickstarter and later opted for the PS4 version.

Good to know, I must have misread what I saw. Thank you!

 

[Shizuka]

This is the first time in a long time that I get to know an indie through GAF and GAF makes me want to buy it. I'm hoping I can get to review this game, it looks pretty interesting and I might even play the side stories before that.

 

[OniBarubary]

Alright, got my key.

All is as it should be.

 

[The_Kid]

Is it possible to still get the PS4 theme? I didn't preorder but Humble is taking forever.

 

[mrchampipi]

Update on game lengh: at 5h in, I'm just starting "chapter 3" (guess there might me at least 4).
Was expecting a bit more platforming, but overall the game is great and was worth the wait.

 

[Chance Hale]

Is there obvious branching for those later on in the game or encounters you can miss if you interact with someone else? Or any sort of time based system based on doing things.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

3 hours in. Some thoughts:

- The difference between Gregg and Bea is pretty drastic.

Spoiler

When you hang out with Gregg it's about reconnecting with your fun destructive youth, missions are fun and he's very upbeat. Hanging out with Bea it's all about growing up and tough choices that come with that.

. Seems to continue the game's theme of being in that awkward early 20s college stage.

- Shit got super real with

Spoiler

mom

there before I left for the day. Jesus Christ. This game likely won't pull any punches once I'm past the honey moon stage.

- I'm sad the rhythm band playing mini-game doesn't happen more often. I wish it did, it's my favorite part of the game. I wish the game allowed you to actually pursue a music career.

Is there obvious branching for those later on in the game or encounters you can miss if you interact with someone else? Or any sort of time based system based on doing things.

Non-spoilery as possible on events:

Spoiler

yes, in the chapter I'm in you choose 1 of 2 activities to do each day, therefore missing the other one

Looking forward to the game as it goes. It's most definitely a slow burn, but as Blu said I'm 3 hours in and I don't think the game has shown any major signs it's ending soon. Hoping that with this slow burn that it's an 8 to 10 hour title. Though if it's longer I'm all for it.

 

[More_Badass]

Any more story impressions? From the trailers, I get the sense that it's very much "slice of life" kind of pacing/story?

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Any more story impressions? From the trailers, I get the sense that it's very much "slice of life" kind of pacing/story?

It's very much a slice of life. You spend day by day going around the town and hanging out with your friends, talking to family, etc...

There isn't much of an overarching story, just a character drive game.

 

[Grim Patron]

exactly but you might want to wait for the patch because this build is 2 months old.

Cool. Ill redeem. I believe the patch is now live. thanks.

 

[Confused Cheeseburger]

3 hours in.

The elevator pitch= Persona slice of life(sans rpg)+oxenfree+Byran Lee O'Malley's Seconds.

The amount of narrative detail in the game is really solid.Possum Springs really has a collective soul.

Enjoying it more and more the deeper I get.

 

[sabertoothzombie]

Anyone else getting their PS4 version to crash when you do the

Spoiler

Gregg mission of putting the robot back together? Specifically turning it on?

I can't really continue the game now.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

The only thing I am disappointed at this point with is no 21:9 support. Just like Inside, this game would be a perfect fit for it. It really elevated Inside to a whole new level for me.

 

[TheOnlyMook]

An hour in and so far it's everything I had hoped for. Can't wait to play more

 

[Alastor3]

Anyone else getting their PS4 version to crash when you do the

Spoiler

Gregg mission of putting the robot back together? Specifically turning it on?

I can't really continue the game now.

You should message the devs to report the bug so they can fix it.

 

[Chance Hale]

Load times seem long on pc at times, took nearly ten seconds to get back from the flyer board to the town

 

[Kyuur]

Played for 3-4 hours-ish so far, still in Chapter 2 but calling it a night. Seems like the game is just getting started for those concerned with length. Writing, art, music are all top notch. Gameplay wise it's kind of a platformer-visual-novel with very minor puzzle elements so far. Overall very happy so far!

Load times seem long on pc at times, took nearly ten seconds to get back from the flyer board to the town

Definitely seems abnormal. I have a base PS4 (no hdd changes) and loading takes maybe half a second at most.

 

[TetraGenesis]

God, this fucking rocks. It really is somehow living up to my lofty expectations. It started to feel a bit repetitive after the wonder of seeing these environments and characters for the first time has worn off, but that familiarity is part of the charm as well. It helps you connect with the unexceptional aimlessness of Mae's current existence.

 

[joms5]

Any more story impressions? From the trailers, I get the sense that it's very much "slice of life" kind of pacing/story?

If you're interested in what the game is like I know the developer posted 2 free "supplemental games" that take place in the same world on their website.

First one was called Longest Night and second was Lost Constellation. They're both free from what I can remember.

I plan on playing them before stepping into this. But I hear it's a good litmus test of what to expect.

Others who have already played them can correct me if i'm wrong.

Maybe check them out.

 

[More_Badass]

If you're interested in what the game is like I know the developer posted 2 free "supplemental games" that take place in the same world on their website.

First one was called Longest Night and second was Lost Constellation. They're both free from what I can remember.

I plan on playing them before stepping into this. But I hear it's a good litmus test of what to expect.

Others who have already played them can correct me if i'm wrong.

Maybe check them out.

I've played them.

 

[spineduke]

It's a shame the game doesn't have voice acting - I think its really deserving of it. I'm not feeling the comparisons to Oxenfree though. The conversations don't flow the same way, and you have far less prompts to influence the dialog. The writing is class though.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

It's a shame the game doesn't have voice acting - I think its really deserving of it. I'm not feeling the comparisons to Oxenfree though. The conversations don't flow the same way, and you have far less prompts to influence the dialog. The writing is class though.

Dude, seriously, if you have a SO you can do what my wife and I are doing. She reads the female voices and I read the male voices unless she is talking to a female then I do it because she doesn't like having a conversation with herself because it destroys the flow. It's absolutely amazing because she is really good at getting into the role of Mae's character and for me it's super interesting coming from her. It makes her character even more endearing somehow. Usually I read stuff and get lost with it in my head but I can't even do that after we started doing this. This is a game that we definitely aren't going to play apart.

I love it.

 

[MineralCraver420]

OK, I've gotten a bit stuck.

Spoiler

At the not-halloween festival, I have no idea where to go?

 

[Famassu]

Played this for six hours.

First things first: Gregg is the best. Gregg is love, Gregg is life.

...


Now that that's under the way, I've got to say it's hard to think of what to say quite yet. I can't say this is any kind of masterwork of gameplay, but as an overall experience, this has been a pretty enjoyable one that has offered me plenty of laughs, some shit-just-got-real-yo moments as well as a few tears, even.

Perhaps the only bigger complaint I have at the moment is that the best moments have just been that: moments. Just feels like some stuff is being brushed off a bit too easily/quickly after they happen, like there being a pretty honest discussion with two of the characters and then the next day the character who opened up is all "oh, hey, sorry to have been such a bummer last night, let's forget all that" and then they mostly do, at least so far. That said, I haven't seen the story through yet so hopefully those things aren't completely abandoned, just waiting to be brought up again.

OK, I've gotten a bit stuck.

Spoiler

At the not-halloween festival, I have no idea where to go?

Once you walk up to a certain point to the left, Mae should stop and make a remark about going back home to get ready for the evening. At that point you just go back home and then it skips to the evening of that day.

 

[Chance Hale]

Nevermind

 

[MineralCraver420]

That message popped up, and I walked home, but it hasn't skipped time yet.

Edit: I am pretty sure I have blocked myself from progressing somehow.

 

[Kosen]

The elevator pitch= Persona slice of life(sans rpg)+oxenfree+Byran Lee O'Malley's Seconds..

You just sold me this game.

 

[Karu]

The game is nice and all, but I think I largely burned out on these kind of stories in games. After a while stuff like this blurs together. On one hand I like Mae, but then on other occasions it's like good god blablabla.

The design is pretty cool tho and any game with a computer and a "fake" game-in-game collected some neat bonus points right there.

Still in chapter two, so we will see.