That’s a delightful read. The writing is neat and the characters are fun. The bright visuals definitely elevate the vibe. I just wish the story kinda… punch harder? There are 2 big things going on, the heist and the romance. I feel like instead of strengthening the whole narrative, they kindof overshadow one another. Guess that’s the downside of having the story happen in a very specific and narrow window of time. Nevertheless, great work!

A pretty good, if sort of light, read all around; the art style is cute, the prose flows naturally, and the world feels specific with all the pleasantly strange little details we get. It's short but a complete, satisfying story, and the climax makes for such an excellent deadpan punchline.

I think my primary criticism would be that the game maybe doesn't go far enough in any of the potentially compelling directions it gestures at? The plot is pretty sparse, making it feel like less like we're reading a heist story and more like a romance that happens to be set in the background of a heist; there's not enough action and intrigue for that aspect to land completely. On the other hand, the romance does ultimately not feel super weighty, either – though the ending hits, it's still more of a beginning of a romance – and all the comedy is maybe a tad too understated. Also, the choices come off as a little perfunctory since they don't seem to affect anything major. There are many good elements here, but I feel like the overall vision is not quite sharp enough.

A meet-cute romance in the middle of an heist story, where the muscle of the team ends up having to play at the last second the part of a femme fatale seductor for a gay target.

The premise itself should be an immediate selling point, and the rest of the game work said premise with stile and charm. The game very simple stilelised background contrast well on the more elegant character, all of them with a solid design behind. They look and play well their role both as the romantic leads of a light hearter story and as heist movie tropes. The naked baron "reveal" is such a cute way to implement the theme, you have to respect that. If I have to nitpick the designs and presentation, I wish the design reflected a bit more the setting of "Steampunk inspired XIX\XX century with the HorrorsTM happeing barely out of frame" with a tiny bit of that flair also in the costumes.

I like how the story just does his world building and gives you enough to understand all the messed up stuff happening in the background without having to pause and point them out. Is very pleasant to read, complemented greatly by the presentation. 

Is just good, and the short lenght makes it really easy to recomend.

An adorable story about a gator and a wolf!
I found the story overall to be fun and enjoyable to read through. I liked learning bits of the world while the story slowly leads to the climax. If you ever expand/return to this world in the future, I would continue to read from it.^^
I don't have any criticisms as these game jams are meant to be short. The implementation of the theme from the jam is great.^^ Presentation and creativity is great as well.

An absolutely adorable tale. It's refreshing to get a story this light-hearted for a change. Forgive the scalie in me, but Matthew is an excellent protagonist. Confident, charming, and even a little manipulative? But thanks to him being the protag, we get to see his inner thoughts and how much he actually cares at times (plus he's massive in all the right areas). Hope you don't take this the wrong way, but this was actually very easy to read. Despite introducing a whole new world with a lot of lore, this VN kept it light and simple, focusing on the story at hand. The dialogue was witty throughout, yet the characters all gave it their own unique spin. The pacing was kept quick and the story was more engaging as a result. Plus, certain... implementations of the theme gave it a well deserved 5 star in that aspect. Well done!

First, I must applaud the writing. The fun premise of a heist is greatly supported by the tone which feels very much in line with practically all heist stories I've watched/read/played/written myself- snappy and funny dialogue interspersed with tense moments. I'll keep the comparison to your novembear brief as this should be about this game, but I much preferred inhabiting this dumbass manfail's (appreciative, very appreciative) perspective to someone with stressfully low self-esteem; in my opinion, it's a type of character you're also better at writing! The dynamic between all major characters is well-balanced, of which I particularly enjoyed Matthew and Felicity's. 

I have not, as of yet, had the time to play the game this one has connections to. But, City's Light works well with giving only the relevant information from what I'm sure would give a more 'complete' experience; being perfectly functional on its own while piquing interest to check out what that's all about ( subtle cross-project advertisement at its finest).

The background art is relatively simple but exceedingly charming. The sprites are expressive and quite dynamic, with extra points for the character designs immediately letting us know who that character is on the archetypal level. The sprites also just look really good :D

Now, the part you're fighting back tears for: Music. 

The composition for most of the tracks is quite good, and you do interesting things with variations in some cases which I loved to hear. I think the most noticeable issue is a screechy quality to much of it, a very common problem when working with digitally produced music (my early work in the music department is plagued by it as well). I would absolutely not say that your efforts here are bad, and I can already hear the style you're developing. So just continue to focus on composition; maybe delve a bit deeper into music theory if you think having 'rules' would help; look into the tools which can make digitally produced music sound more natural as well as the limitations the medium has - you have the potential to make music into one of your greatest strengths of game development and you're well on your way there <3

This was a cute story! I find the relationship between the protagonist and the love interest to be interesting and has some neat reflections on class differences. The protagonist also has an endearing personality. Overall, it was a nice experience.

I believe this story and implementation is your best yet!  I know Ren'Py is also not the engine you're accustomed to using, so props on learning that for the game jam as well!  Your sprites were quite charming, and it was nice to discover some additional lore for your jam game from February. I love when an author's game references their previous works in unobtrusive ways that aren't necessary to understand the narrative.  You also went all out with multiple applications of the theme without it feeling overly forced and shoehorned in.  I believe your game music has also improved from the previous two I've read.  

The main character is kind of a ridiculous dumbass, I love him. "Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why i top on company time." It's not perfect, the ending is a little "and everyone is happily ever after enough," but eh I'm not gonna complain too much. I love the setting, the little pieces of lore sprinkled here and there. Also I know that the "light in the dark" theme is pretty obvious with the light house... but I think the real ones know what the massively big brained way it was really implemented is. It's just a really charming experience all across the board. I want for more!

This was solid! Cute, short, and sweet (as long as you don't think about some of the details too hard, and I'll get to that). 

Implementation of Theme:

Obviously very literal, but I think that's fine. I think it's a fun take to have the "light" not be like a target of affection but rather a literal target that the protagonist needs to acquire. Using that as the focal point for the the lore is a nice touch too.

Story:

The interactions between Matthew and Cass are clearly the crux of the VN and I thought they were pretty believable most of the time, especially regarding Cass being dissatisfied with his current arrangement and gravitating to the person that seemed furthest removed from it. I thought Cass' characterization was the better done of the two, with the desperation to find an outlet from his restrictive position fairly convincing without being too Disney princess-y.

Matthew was most of the way there, though I did feel his opinion of Cass changed a little quickly given Cass' attitudes towards things like the Angels. There is clearly a different level of attachment from Matthew to Cass than there is from Cass to Matthew, but I think Matthew might have been a bit more forgiving than someone with his background actually would have been in the situation.

On the subject of the Angels, I think the VN kinda yadda yaddas past some really heinous stuff this government is doing, and that brings me to my main issue with the story, which is that the romance seems a bit too simple for the lore it takes place in. 

The ending to me seemed very convenient - where do they fence such an apparently vulnerable item to get that much money, especially in what we here is effectively a police state? How do they get away with it without the Sheriff looking into the crocodile that got rich out of nowhere and was seen with Cass by multiple Angels as well as the Minister during the poker game? Like if Cass can find him, surely so can security. I also don't buy that the other leaders would have let Cass get off so easily, since even if the light was easily replaced it would still be a symbolic embarrassment to be played like that and they likely would have held that over him as leverage. Just seemed a bit too easy to give these two an almost "happily ever after" ending, but I also get the desire to be positive.

Presentation:

Pretty good stuff. Obviously you're working on a time crunch here so I'm not expecting massive amounts of sprites or anything, but the ones that we have are well done and expressive, and the UI fits the general visual theme as well. Music was just a tad bit grating though.

Creativity:

I can tell you put a lot of thought into creating the setting for this story, and that shows. There were definitely parts towards the beginning that seemed in a rush to get out a lot of exposition though, and I feel like even with that there could be a little more clarity on what exactly Matthew's role in the job is supposed to be, since I kept thinking through most of the story that whatever it was, he seemed too oblivious to be any good at it (it seriously took noticing that the flowers matched to figure out that this guy was gay and hitting on you? Come on, man). 

I'm intrigued enough by this universe that I'd be interested in seeing more stories set here, even if they don't necessarily involve these two characters. I think there are a ton of opportunities to explore with the world you created. 

You’re on a heist but, uh-oh, looks like you’ll have to take the femme fatale’s place! Fun premise, cool worldbuiding and just a nice story all around. The sprites and backgrounds (and the CG) are all quite good and the UI fits very nicely. The view of the city looks a bit weird (how tall is that tower that the buildings look so flat? And is that forest purple?). The choices make you think of what to do to complete the heist (even though they don’t seem to affect anything of importance) so that’s nice. The interactions between Matt and Cass are really nice and I have no problem believing that ending.^^ Overall, I really like it!

'City's Light' is a lovely tale between two members of different classes that find more in common than they realize. The premise has layers of intrigue as it forgoes any long exposition, and allows the characters and set pieces slowly clue in the reader as to what's happening and what things are important. That being said, it does almost get too vague in what's actually happening in this world, leaving a lot of blanks to be filled in by the reader.

It is an interesting set up for a world. Something about a land shrouded in darkness, and the light being a resource that is either used as a power source or something else. Characters are able to have special abilities and powers like 'going ghost', and there's these apparitions known as angels that are mystical sentient but simplistic guards. There's a political vibe to this world, a clear class system of the rich aristocrats and the poverty stricken common folk. The way that this plot is about characters from the lower class pulling a heist by infiltrating a higher class party by seducing one of the royalty. It sets up an ambitious plot that seems to look at the class system itself, and how it may not be beneficial for those on both sides of the class line.

The plot itself is focused on the flirtations between the main character and the wolf where the dynamic between the two is that classic royal duke and rogue thief.  The smut scene is also quite enjoyable and a nice 'climax' for the character's night of flirtations. I feel there's far more to explore with this story, and that it's setting itself up with the possibility of expanding upon it's premise, since it ends on a 'to be continued' note.

The presentation is really charming, with both art direction and character design. I did have to mute the music as it got a bit repetitive, so maybe a few  more curating of audio choices would've been beneficial. I did love all the extra details in the UI, that really gave it an identity that evokes regency. It's super cute when you used the name text to add in bits of personality or to use it as a way to emphasize some dialog. It's a bold visual impact that has room for refinement to be even better.

The implementation of the theme is easily apparent, with the object of importance and of the heist is a light that illuminates this shadowy land. It does also lend metaphorically to the contrasting nature of the two main characters, both being from different upbringings, but it does leave a lot to reader interpretation if the 'light' is their meeting each other, or if they act as a 'light' to each other's dark day-to-day lives.

A regency tale in a magical shadow land with mystical creatures is quite creative, and choosing to highlight this heist plot as an introduction to this world is an interesting way to frame it. It leaves a lot to the imagination, even though it does leave me wishing there was a bit more establishing of the setting. Overall a very solid entry, and sets up a foundation to explore it's plot further.

I love the Miazaki-style storytelling going on here. We hear about the strange happenings and the way the world works through passing commentary on how well the system works. There is magic, both ritualistic and seemingly enchantment based, but we know only that there is some degree of sacrifice to it. The love tale was a little bland, with the Wolf falling for the MC off the bat and through the end. I thought it was interesting that the "Light in the darkness" comment is only through the non-horny route. 

I really enjoyed it! Fantasticly charming art!

This was a cute read! It gave me some "old school flash game" vibes and I mean that in a positive way. Very nostalgic and cozy