Recent reviews by Manza59

Secret word: Story

After experiencing The Test, I was excited for this new title from the same devs. The whole idea of using player-chosen names is great, and for me it's the main attraction.

I appreciate the effort the devs made to keep the game free. However, free as it might be, there are issues with this game. As a dev myself, I know just how important feedback is, and I've taken the time to discuss these issues so the devs can improve their future games.

My main concerns are about UX, balancing, art/music, and the story. These concerns are my own, and if they don't resonate with you then that's fine.

[UX]
As others mentioned, there are text 'hiccups'. Moments where a dialog phrase or line ends, and there is a pause before the next one. This pause can't be skipped with the Enter key. I suspect these pauses are there for emphasis, and to help induce a specific intonation (but I could be wrong). However, they should be skippable.
Pressing the Enter key should allow you to skip this wait time, and start the next phrase/line. Some people like to read a little faster, and so slowing the dialog down can make the experience a little worse. Since these pauses repeat over and over again, it turns from mildly annoying to infuriating. Now, what's really the issue with the dialog being slow? Well, it's because of the story. Dialog is often predictable, and so the player may want to only skim through some dialog and get to the interesting, mysterious bits. Pressing Enter just to see that it doesn't work is annoying. Don't force pauses unless you have a very good reason to do so.

I will quote the documentation of a popular visual novel engine (Ren'Py):

"In general, using hard pauses is rude. When the user clicks to advance the game, it's an explicit request. To override that request is to assume you understand what the player wants more than the player does ".

[Balancing]
Specific aspects of the game are neglected, mostly the story. The art and music are fine, but they feel overengineered. As good as they might be, the story drags them down and bottlenecks their potential. There are many good games with very bland or even "bad" art (see Higurashi). However, these games are often highly praised for their very good story and character development. They are still good games. Therefore, the takeaway here is to spend more time on the core aspects of the game, and less on the fluff. Art is nice, but many people might come for the core game itself: the story and secret word system. Try to see how you can take advantage of that. If you want to keep the art and soundtrack, then spend more time on the story to bring it up to a similar level. If you want to present your work as an art more than a game, putting emphasis on the art and soundtrack, then that's fine, but you should also mention that in the description. This helps players to create adequate expectations.

[Music/Art]
Others seem to have a problem with AI-generated content. I believe that AI content is only bad when you notice it, or when it's the only thing holding the game together. In this game, both the music and art feel AI generated. And no, it's not about being nit-picky with the details. I'm talking about seeing the art and instantly thinking it was AI generated. There's a specific style it has. The soundtrack felt a bit...odd. It didn't seem to fit the game entirely. However, if the other aspects of the game were good, then it wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, the story is disappointing, and so all the effort put into these assets could've be put somewhere else. See the previous Balancing section. Also, find a way to integrate the music with the story moments, so that they go hand-in-hand.

[Story]
First off, I'm not sure if the secret word corresponds to a significantly altered story path. My word was "Story" and I tried to explore the map a decent amount before moving on to the main objectives. I'll therefore base my review on this specific path, and I'll try not to spoil anything.
At first, I was intrigued, not knowing where the story will lead. However, after a bit, a lot of stuff became very predictable. So much so that I was waiting for the good mystery to come. Before I could find such a moment, the credits started rolling. The characters felt generic and shallow. Some of them, like the Bard, I feel lacked purpose. Sure, it's great for world building. But remember: the Bard appears only briefly, and has its own art. Time was spent on that art, time which could've gone into the development of the story.
There is very little time for tension to build. The fact that the events are predictable doesn't help at all. There are some elements with unanswered questions. This is good; leaving players with some questions lets them speculate, and in the end will leave them wanting to experience more from the same universe/franchise. However, the story feels so generic that it doesn't create that feeling in the end.

Starting your game with a quiz designed to check if the player is lying about playing the first game is NOT a good start.

I've played the first game a long time ago, and so I know the overall story, but not certain details.
If I say "yes, I've played the original, I don't mind spoilers", then why do you feel the NEED to check me TWICE to confirm that I'm not lying?

If you want me to stop playing so badly because I can't remember a specific detail from the first game, then so be it.

Sure, the answer is "one google search away", but this is bad design. Why should I have to prove to you that I'm not lying? If the user says he WANTS spoilers, give him spoilers. You are only inconveniencing those who played the original.

Software that doesn't do what the user tells it to do is infuriating.

A tribute to Hotline Miami that weaves multiple mechanics together to create something unique.

Well executed.

A classic. This version has one flaw however.

As a player, you're usually punished if you make a wrong choice. That's not the case with one specific scene.

The bug pit with the short timer. It's completely unnecessary, very frustrating, and makes no sense. I failed numerous times, and I even failed once with the guide open. You're supposed to just know the maze layout and complete it perfectly in 10 seconds. They should've kept the longer timer, or discarded this scene altogether. It was so irritating that I almost dropped the game.

Hassou Tobi is still broken.

This isn't a game; it's an experience.

The idea is pretty good, but the story execution is sadly subpar.

The story itself is just fine overall, but it's lacking in some scenes and doesn't always make much sense.
It's not really the kind of story that makes you crave more explanations, intentionally leaving you in the dark. It just feels like some things are poorly explained or only quickly mentioned once.

The ending itself felt a bit rushed, and was disappointingly short. It's a shame, since the soundtrack and the visuals are pretty good.

The game is good, you should experience it, but this is more of a neutral rating than a positive one.

The idea is good, it borrows some elements from Zero Escape and Danganronpa.
The story itself is fine, you will enjoy it, but the gameplay can get a bit dull after a while.

It's not bad, it definitely hooked me, but the execution doesn't fully do justice to the idea itself.
More specifically (spoilers):
You can definitely see patterns in voting for those that are Gnosia, which is actually nice.
However, when someone thinks someone else is suspicious, they don't say why.
Some characters can support someone, only to turn against them the next round, which
doesn't really feel natural.

Overall, interesting game.

⣀� ⣤⣤⣤⣤⢤⣤⣄⣀⣀⣀⣀⡀⡀� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �
� �� �� �⣾⣿⣛⣿⣿⣞⣿⣛⣺⣻⢾⣾⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣶⣄⡀� �� �� �
� �� ��  ⣿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣯⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⣷⣿⣿⡿⣿⢿� �� �� �� �� �⣿⣿⣿⣿⡀� �
� �⢀� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⢛⣿⣁� �� �� �� �� �� �⣀⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⡀
� �� �� �� �⢶⣷⡶� �� �� �� �⣿⣿⡇� �⡺⣾⣾⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣽⣿⣿
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⢀⣿⣿⣧⡀� �� �⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣿⣻⣿
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⢀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣏� �⢿⣽⢿⡏
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��  � �⣤⣴⣾⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣦� �⢹⡿� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⣳⣶⣤⣤⣄⣀⣀⡈⣀⢁⢁⢁⣈⣄⢐� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⣰⣿⣛⣻⡿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡯� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⣬⣽⣿⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿� �� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⢘⣿⣿⣻⣛⣿⡿⣟⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟� �� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �⢛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡿� �� �� �� �
� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �

100% rage