The premise of a humor removal shop for a vampire is top tier! I giggled. :D
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Humor Me's itch.io pageComments
That was really fun to play! I ended up following the plot all the way through.
I love the vampire trying to good trope, so that resonated well with me. Then again, maybe there are probably darker endings?
Combining some light roleplay with an engaging story is solid. I could see myself playing through a much longer storyline with this as its first chapter. The narrative was quite simple and transparent so far, but the dramatic weight of the little decisions makes up for that.
I was actually surprised how immersive the whole thing ended up being which I attributed to well-paced writing. The art still feels a bit pieced together and is probably the part of the game where you could develop a more consistent style to reinforce your theme all the way through. E.g. the fonts and the blurry dialog boxes don’t really fit with the renaissance painting or photo style of some of the backgrounds and then there are cartoon characters and shop. For a prototype it’s a solid choice not to overly focus on that, but the game could really shine more by putting more work into that.
I would have liked to see some indication of my stats as I played. There were indicators that they increased, but I had no idea where they stood or what that allowed me to do which I otherwise could not.
The world building draws on clichés heavily to set the stage. I think this really helps to create immersion that quickly, but I found myself wondering how this world works and where the player character fits into it. Assumptions about common vampire stories help, but they vary, so it helps to be clear about that. E.g. Van Hellsing was surprisingly easy to convince of my innocence at the end.
Submitted
Companion PlantHi! A cool game, thank you for the experience :)
I liked the charming characters, the humor and the overall cohesive and cozy-spooky atmosphere that you managed to create even though the visuals (mainly backgrounds) were of different style and mood! I also liked the idea of a law-abiding vampire who tries his best to be a good citizen. And the Van Helsing turned out to be such a reasonable man, haha. Great worldbuilding! And of course I very much liked the vampire jokes :)
One thing that I'd like to comment on is that I felt that there was a bit too much randomness. I was at first not quite sure what my goal at the shop was. It seemed like my character is much more aware of what is happening than I am, and dice rolling came out totally of the blue for me :) Once or twice I also got confused by the choices: for example, in my second walkthrough I clicked "Bite him" only to learn that I won't actually bite him! Or when I choose "care for the plant?" I first thought that I was going to think whether or not I should actually care, or maybe I had to find some ways how I could take care of the flower...But these are minor things :)
I was sometimes not sure which outcome I get and how impactful my choices are. Or do dice rolls play a greater role here? I rolled 18 on a stalker but for some reason it didn't help me. Is 18 too little?
I am also interested if reading journal articles about recipes is there for me just to learn about them, or does it impact my gameplay? I was also sure that there would be new entries as I was offered to read the journal a couple of times, sadly I couldn't find anything new :)
I had fun playing! Wishing you luck with your entry.
Submitted
Jesse, stayThank you for spending time trying out my game and providing such thoughtful comments. 'Cozy-Spooky' hah I should add that on the tagline. If I had more time I would've had more opportunities for dice checks. Like vampiric insight to see how much you can sense from others as well. Yeah the dice rolls affect how much or little information you learn during the trance, this includes whether you get "hints" on what dialogue choice would yield a certain type of blood. (recipes in journal). Dialogue choices determine whether you will gain "side quests" that help others at the end (there are 3). Caring for the plant and watering it more than once will have Abigail defend you in the end (hidden side quest). Stats gained from flavored blood are then incorporated into skillchecks during the side quest skillchecks.
Really enjoyed the humourous writing and the unique twist with the dice rolling.
I think one thing I’d like to have seen with the dice rolling was some way of understanding the consequences a bit better. For the confrontations it was quite clear, but otherwise it was difficult to know - what roll would have been a success, and also being able to make the choice to go for the risk with a dice roll.
I watered the plant every day
Submitted
pistachioThat is true I like the idea of opting out of using the mind trance and attempting to unveil secrets through branching dialogue. Originally I wanted the option to humanize the vampire with less vampiric options. That there may have even been a cost to using the trance. Like it would cause you to hunger for additional blood if you did so. Though didn't have time for a thirst mechanic. I agree with the limited player feedback. We intended on using a game engine with a UI but had difficulty with implementation. Hope to provide it in the update though. Thanks for playing! And good on you for taking care of the plant. I'm curious if anyone decides to toss it out hah.
It's fantastic that there are character drawings - and so many of them! I counted around 11 - wow, that's a prolific artist if s/he managed to do them within the jam period. UPDATE OK, I saw on the Itch page which tool was used. Thank you for giving credit even if the creator did not insist on it.
It's unfortunate that the portraits are way too small to appreciate. I think also there is no portrait for the gallery owner.
The story has a good pace. The timing of the the evening walk is well placed - just as the main loop becomes repetitive. There is a satisfying ending. Some humor mixed in as well. Overall - excellent work!
Although maybe the different characters are too similar in style.
I'm not sure what the dice rolls entail - it seems rolling a 2 has the same effect as rolling 19?... The only time I saw it fail was with the stalker.
About the arm wrestle game - is the strength from the blood gathered thus far accounted in the roll as a modifier? There is no indication that it is.
I noticed one small error: "You a carnal hunger for blood." <== You feel ...
Great submission! Good luck!
Every dice roll during the mind trance results in information being shared. More options/details unlock when you succeed. I could double check just in case. I do think I could've done better with player feedback on rolls. Such as success/fail. Or indications there might be something missing. There is less for those who roll under a 10 and more when they get higher than that. And yes I apologize for the small character models. They look like fairies haha And yes the power stat if obtained through invoking anger does increase your chance with the arm wrestle. Thank you for the feedback! Was happy to get in most of what I envisioned for the game though due to time constraints was limited with branching dialogue and additional characters. We are hoping to expand the project and hopefully find better art as we relied on free and royalty-free assets which resulted in a clash between the very gothic/realistic look and the cartoony interior of the locations.
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