A pretty compelling comedic entry. While some of the dating culture jokes in the beginning are sort of hit-or-miss, the protagonist's obliviousness to his AI boyfriend is a good comedic core that only gets better the harder the story leans on it. The humor is only partially genAI satire, the rest being classic "robot misunderstands human language" mishaps, but there are gags that land in both categories, and I do think it works to make the game feel like it's not trying too hard to be topical.
Structure & pacing are good all around ā the opening in particular is a really fun and efficient way to introduce the conflict ā apart from the climax, which feels like it runs out of steam in a pretty big way. Though there are a lot of delightful ideas, instead of coming to some sort of ultimate escalation of absurdity or final punchline, the action just ends very abruptly. The part that follows is also maybe a bit heavy with explanations for why all this happened, given a lot of the information isn't really super intriguing. It feels like the game gets too caught up in clearing the stage for the final beat and tying up loose ends to deliver an ending that feels satisfying instead of just the logical next step, and the outline could probably have used some iterating.
Visually, there's enough of a coherent style despite the sprites from all the different jam artists and plenty of good ideas (the "light in the dark" scene is pretty striking) with one pretty noticeable issue: the aggressive image compression artifacts. The game appears to be using lossy .webp files, which is really an unnecessary optimization in a project of this kind, a small one-off VN the reader will likely play once and then delete from their computer. I'd rather have crisp image quality than a slightly smaller size on disk.
My apologies; I was unaware the sprites didn't appear clearly.
I have several eye issues that my glasses unfortunately can't help with that makes my vision blurry at the best of times (glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and frequent ocular migraines), and combined with working on a 13" laptop, I honestly couldn't tell.
I still have the original sprites, so I can re-export them and adjust the settings; I just stuck with the converter's default compression.
I've already addressed the ending in some of my other responses.
I really enjoyed this! The whole story is just a fun time, with a neat premise, nice characters, and some good comedy. I really liked the glitchy sprites as well. And like the others before me, I agree that the ending is the only flaw I could find. Great job!
Thanks! Admittedly, writing good narration and endings are my kryptonite, so I agree wholeheartedly. I'm also still trying to strike that balance of revealing too much or too little exposition, but it's been fun seeing at what point people realize who/what Al is.
That was really funny, if Falling for Al was in the running for the āBest Comedyā superlative, I wouldnāt have had trouble voting!^^
The premise is simple but fun, the characters are nice. Mostly, the only real flaw is that the end meanders a bit.
The presentation was nice, I liked the way the phone was used at the various points. And the glitchy sprites for Al are cool.
I appreciate it. š I just wanted to keep it simple and fun, and I fully agree, the ending still needs some work. I tried to do the opposite of Polar Opposites and pick up the pacing a bit. I'm still trying to figure out my writing style, since other than the game jam vns I've made, I'm woefully out of practice.
'Falling for Al' is a classic farce of a romance story in a modern/slightly-futuristic setting. The comedic situational dialog is this story's strongest suit. The main character's absolute bad luck when it comes to dating is amusing to read, when each date is shown just how absurdly bad, the next one is still somehow worse. Even the twist that the ideal date, Al, is actually just an AI just in his head, obvious to the reader, but oblivious to the main character, so it becomes a series of funny interactions where the main guy keeps missing all the signs.
All the jokes that come from trying to interact with an AI chatbot come quick and tight. Stuff like Al parroting Max's interests and likes, unable to craft an original thought, only able to recite knowledge from a wiki, and unable to draw things without it being wrong are all just so recognizable as common chatbot shortcomings. Stuff like not being able to understand colloquialisms and turns of phrase were also just funny (love the 'taking you window shopping' gag). Even when the sprite glitched out mid-conversation, different outfits and multiple ears, just a great comedic detail.
Where I think this story kind of looses steam is how it resolves and ends. It's a wholesome ending where Max gets together with his work friend, but it does make me wish there was some kind of final punchline for the whole interaction/date with Al. It might've been funnier if Al and Max did end up trying to get married only to find out at the altar/courthouse that Al doesn't exist at all, really pile on that embarrassment and humiliation, rather than just getting pulled over by the cops and going to jail.
This is also a really fun use of the community sprites, and the presentation overall is really good and cohesive. The UI designs and animations just really make it feel polished and charming. While I think a lot of the jokes are great, how it relates to the theme 'a light in the dark', does feel a bit like a stretch figuratively. I can see illustrations that give that vibe, like the phone downloading in the night. The idea of Al or Nate being some kind of hope or brightness to Max's bad luck at dating, a bit too liberal an interpretation of the theme concept, personally.
While I understand that this entry is disqualified for rating, you did put a lot of effort into this and I wanted to provide the same level of feedback in the spirit of the game jam. If ratings were active, I'd give it a (2/4/5/4). It's what I consider one of the funniest entries this game jam, really good job!
I appreciate the feedback! I did have a bit more fleshed-out ending originally, but simply cut it completely due to running out of time to rework it. The part that I most messed up is forgetting to code the final transition between leaving the jail and going back home... I had around 20 minutes left to upload my game before the deadline, and ran out of time to playtest the final scene. (I literally drew the jail cell background at 11:15 p.m. with the jam ending at midnight for me!)
I wanted the literal interpretation to be the cellphone lighting up in the dark, wanting to subvert the idea of the light in the darkness always being a good thing, with the more figurative interpretation being his friend was the actual light in the dark. The message was intended to be that things are not always obvious to the ones closest to the situation, but more clear to those removed from it, the difference between experiencing things emotionally versus logically.
Writing admittedly isn't my strongsuit, but rather an excuse to get to do the other fun stuff I enjoy doing, so I'm just thankful I was able to convey the message at all. š Thanks for taking the time to read and review!
This was a fun read. The humour was a nice touch to a subject that could've easily been infuriating were I in the place of the MC. Sad the project was disqualified though.
No worries! I specifically asked for a disqualification as one of the sprite artists due to knowing the theme well in advance. I didn't start planning until day 1 of the jam and followed all the rules, but personally felt it would be unfair to compete, even though I was allowed to. I just wanted to make something for the fun of it, and had planned to do so from the start. Glad you had fun playing!
Comments
A pretty compelling comedic entry. While some of the dating culture jokes in the beginning are sort of hit-or-miss, the protagonist's obliviousness to his AI boyfriend is a good comedic core that only gets better the harder the story leans on it. The humor is only partially genAI satire, the rest being classic "robot misunderstands human language" mishaps, but there are gags that land in both categories, and I do think it works to make the game feel like it's not trying too hard to be topical.
Structure & pacing are good all around ā the opening in particular is a really fun and efficient way to introduce the conflict ā apart from the climax, which feels like it runs out of steam in a pretty big way. Though there are a lot of delightful ideas, instead of coming to some sort of ultimate escalation of absurdity or final punchline, the action just ends very abruptly. The part that follows is also maybe a bit heavy with explanations for why all this happened, given a lot of the information isn't really super intriguing. It feels like the game gets too caught up in clearing the stage for the final beat and tying up loose ends to deliver an ending that feels satisfying instead of just the logical next step, and the outline could probably have used some iterating.
Visually, there's enough of a coherent style despite the sprites from all the different jam artists and plenty of good ideas (the "light in the dark" scene is pretty striking) with one pretty noticeable issue: the aggressive image compression artifacts. The game appears to be using lossy .webp files, which is really an unnecessary optimization in a project of this kind, a small one-off VN the reader will likely play once and then delete from their computer. I'd rather have crisp image quality than a slightly smaller size on disk.
My apologies; I was unaware the sprites didn't appear clearly.
I have several eye issues that my glasses unfortunately can't help with that makes my vision blurry at the best of times (glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and frequent ocular migraines), and combined with working on a 13" laptop, I honestly couldn't tell.
I still have the original sprites, so I can re-export them and adjust the settings; I just stuck with the converter's default compression.
I've already addressed the ending in some of my other responses.
Thanks for reading!
Oh okay, no problem, was wondering if something like that might be the case! Should be fine if you re-export with lossless webp compression!
I really enjoyed this! The whole story is just a fun time, with a neat premise, nice characters, and some good comedy. I really liked the glitchy sprites as well. And like the others before me, I agree that the ending is the only flaw I could find. Great job!
Thanks! Admittedly, writing good narration and endings are my kryptonite, so I agree wholeheartedly. I'm also still trying to strike that balance of revealing too much or too little exposition, but it's been fun seeing at what point people realize who/what Al is.
That was really funny, if Falling for Al was in the running for the āBest Comedyā superlative, I wouldnāt have had trouble voting!^^ The premise is simple but fun, the characters are nice. Mostly, the only real flaw is that the end meanders a bit. The presentation was nice, I liked the way the phone was used at the various points. And the glitchy sprites for Al are cool.
I appreciate it. š I just wanted to keep it simple and fun, and I fully agree, the ending still needs some work. I tried to do the opposite of Polar Opposites and pick up the pacing a bit. I'm still trying to figure out my writing style, since other than the game jam vns I've made, I'm woefully out of practice.
'Falling for Al' is a classic farce of a romance story in a modern/slightly-futuristic setting. The comedic situational dialog is this story's strongest suit. The main character's absolute bad luck when it comes to dating is amusing to read, when each date is shown just how absurdly bad, the next one is still somehow worse. Even the twist that the ideal date, Al, is actually just an AI just in his head, obvious to the reader, but oblivious to the main character, so it becomes a series of funny interactions where the main guy keeps missing all the signs.
All the jokes that come from trying to interact with an AI chatbot come quick and tight. Stuff like Al parroting Max's interests and likes, unable to craft an original thought, only able to recite knowledge from a wiki, and unable to draw things without it being wrong are all just so recognizable as common chatbot shortcomings. Stuff like not being able to understand colloquialisms and turns of phrase were also just funny (love the 'taking you window shopping' gag). Even when the sprite glitched out mid-conversation, different outfits and multiple ears, just a great comedic detail.
Where I think this story kind of looses steam is how it resolves and ends. It's a wholesome ending where Max gets together with his work friend, but it does make me wish there was some kind of final punchline for the whole interaction/date with Al. It might've been funnier if Al and Max did end up trying to get married only to find out at the altar/courthouse that Al doesn't exist at all, really pile on that embarrassment and humiliation, rather than just getting pulled over by the cops and going to jail.
This is also a really fun use of the community sprites, and the presentation overall is really good and cohesive. The UI designs and animations just really make it feel polished and charming. While I think a lot of the jokes are great, how it relates to the theme 'a light in the dark', does feel a bit like a stretch figuratively. I can see illustrations that give that vibe, like the phone downloading in the night. The idea of Al or Nate being some kind of hope or brightness to Max's bad luck at dating, a bit too liberal an interpretation of the theme concept, personally.
While I understand that this entry is disqualified for rating, you did put a lot of effort into this and I wanted to provide the same level of feedback in the spirit of the game jam. If ratings were active, I'd give it a (2/4/5/4). It's what I consider one of the funniest entries this game jam, really good job!
I appreciate the feedback! I did have a bit more fleshed-out ending originally, but simply cut it completely due to running out of time to rework it. The part that I most messed up is forgetting to code the final transition between leaving the jail and going back home... I had around 20 minutes left to upload my game before the deadline, and ran out of time to playtest the final scene. (I literally drew the jail cell background at 11:15 p.m. with the jam ending at midnight for me!)
I wanted the literal interpretation to be the cellphone lighting up in the dark, wanting to subvert the idea of the light in the darkness always being a good thing, with the more figurative interpretation being his friend was the actual light in the dark. The message was intended to be that things are not always obvious to the ones closest to the situation, but more clear to those removed from it, the difference between experiencing things emotionally versus logically.
Writing admittedly isn't my strongsuit, but rather an excuse to get to do the other fun stuff I enjoy doing, so I'm just thankful I was able to convey the message at all. š Thanks for taking the time to read and review!
This was a fun read. The humour was a nice touch to a subject that could've easily been infuriating were I in the place of the MC. Sad the project was disqualified though.
No worries! I specifically asked for a disqualification as one of the sprite artists due to knowing the theme well in advance. I didn't start planning until day 1 of the jam and followed all the rules, but personally felt it would be unfair to compete, even though I was allowed to. I just wanted to make something for the fun of it, and had planned to do so from the start. Glad you had fun playing!