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Saffia's Magically Miserable 9-5 Demo's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Magical Girl Concept | #6 | 3.705 | 4.429 |
| Audio | #11 | 3.227 | 3.857 |
| Overall | #17 | 2.903 | 3.469 |
| Engagement/Fun | #19 | 2.510 | 3.000 |
| Theme Interpretation | #20 | 2.869 | 3.429 |
| Gameplay Polish | #20 | 2.390 | 2.857 |
| Aesthetics | #22 | 2.869 | 3.429 |
| Originality/Creativity | #25 | 2.749 | 3.286 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the Magical Girl Genre?
Our magical girls have transformations/traditional magical girl outfits. Our protagonist has petal magic, and eri has bubble magic. Gladis just has super strength and magical energy waves. Their nemesis Midnight also has shadow magic.
Which theme(s) do you pick?
Thousand leaves
How does your game fit those theme(s)?
The final week of the story surrounds the thousand leaves festival, an autumn festival in september
If you follow any of the optional challenges, elaborate as you like.
We have a tsundere (our protagonist) as well as heavy reference to japanese folktales with the usage of various yokai enemies
Were the assets for your game made during the jam? Elaborate as you see fit.
Yes all assets were made in the jam duration. We did story outlining, concept art, and planning prior, but no assets in the game were made prior to the jam
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Comments
I really like the outfits of the magical girls, and the art style, dialogue, dynamics and friendship between them remind me a little of the Powerpuff Girls (grownup version). The beginning scene was a very nice touch in setting the stage, especially with the voice-acting of the three novice magical girls and the villain! It is amazing that a whole lore was created for the game, and I especially enjoyed the battle scenes in the VN. It is amazing that you created a theme song too! It really fits the game, and sets the mood of the story.
Spoilers
The game really made me feel for Saffia, and I felt they definitely shine more as a magical girl as much as they seem to have some trauma about it and maybe an associated past surrounding their relationship with Rose?? I didn't manage to get the good ending, but I wonder if Saffia will find her magic again in the true ending?Thank you for playing the game and your kind words!
The demo is still WIP (to be updated by the end of the month) and it’s only the common route so about 20% of the whole game. There will be much much more to come!
I understand this is a work in progress which is why I wanted to mention these issues now
Playing through the game I had moments I enjoyed but I have to say that the color balance nearly ruined a lot of moments. The backgrounds are either too bright or blend too much with the characters. I did have to take several breaks while playing after experiencing eye strain.
The story isn't bad but could use grammar refinements and some tightening up of the narratives. I think that there should be some scenes showing traveling with how jarring the jump cuts to locations seem. Maybe show a character walking off. I would also suggest doing some more research on miko as well as dropping the "baa-chan" as that is a very disrespectful way to speak about your grandmother to strangers.
The battles were hard to see and felt very clunky. Having to click the only enemy in some battles over and over got tiresome.
The premise of the story along with the characters is a good start but I also have a few issues with their designs and creative choices. For starters...The one Asian character is yellow. She should also introduce herself surname first if she is in fact from there. I don't like how the one black character seems to be sexualized by her outfit and also the antagonist. I don't think this was done on purpose but I do find it very poor in taste for the game. Gladis could use a bit more screen time and personality.
One of the voice actors seemed very board. I believe they play first tanuki in the game as well as whoever plays the manager.
Hi! I’m one of the devs. Thank you for your feedback. We are aware of the battle issues; we unfortunately ran out of time but will implement a more comprehensive battle system for the full game. As for the backgrounds, that’s valid, thank you for pointing it out.
I’d like to correct you on the surname-first introduction though. The game is set in North America, where Asian diaspora do not typically introduce themselves with their surname first, unless speaking with someone from the same culture. As an Asian American who has traveled globally, I hope that this enlightens you on this aspect of our culture.
Thank you for playing the game and giving feedback!
oh i did not know it was in north america, I only knew it wasn't in Canada from the one dialog. Japanese is my culture so I figured I should point that out as I assumed it was taking place in Japan with the way Eri spoke about her upbringing.
Oh I'd also like to explain where the confusion came from as it seemed sailor moon-like with the way it was presented largely with the festival games and the fact that there's yokai and a kami in the game. It might be good to disclose that the game is set in another part of north america. Also I would like to stress that in the rest of the world we do not lump all of Asia together and one culture doesn't fit the others
I do hope this enlightens you to my culture and confusion as it is very clear there is a surface level love for my culture here but it would do you all good to research and speak to japanese netizens in the future for the rest of the game's development. Especially when covering cultural topics and proper terms for someone's family members as well as the odd choice of yellow skin for your japanese character. We have warmer tones and are not pale. Hope that helps
໒・ﻌ・७
Hello, thank you for the response.
The Celine/Midnight situation is a bit more complex narratively but due to this being a demo it would be spoilers to say why she’s not so clear cut as a villain. With that said we’re retuning the common route slightly to convey and hint at this from an earlier point in the story to fix the issue. ^_^
Understood. It was the way the demo ended that left a bad taste in my mouth with her portrayal as an antagonist
The music and the voice acting are really good. I also really liked the black humor of the main character. =D
Thank you for the kind words! Our composer and VAs really went all out for sure!
It really does get a little too real.
Slight issue: if you finish the game once and immediately start another playthrough, the calendar will have all the stickers from the previous playthrough.
That aside, it's really great! I love the title theme song, and the occasional humour.
Thanks for letting us know about the bug! :3 And ty for the complements
Awe thank you so much!!! Just wait until the update, get ready for it to get MORE real ;)
A visual novel with a turn based combat a little hard to understand.
This isn't for everybody, specially if you don't talk english.
I played through the first week roughly and such a big amount of effort! Listening to how some of the characters spoke though made me feel old but I loved Tanu haha. My only recommendation would be maybe some cg stills every so often! Good work
Thank you for the kind feedback :)
We'll be making sure to add lots of CGs in the future!