I had lots of fun with this even though I think the game tuning is way too harsh. I played it several times, farthest I got was the clone after the lightsaber cat. I like how in encounters with multiple enemies the RPS concept gets deeper because the enemies can essentially stack options on one tick. I feel like the player's options are too undertuned or equal to the enemies' options though.

Like the cabomination is basically a do you have multiple defense mitigating options or a good destabilizer build, which is hard to build sometimes. Like I don't feel blue defensive options are very common, yet in that encounter you have to eat 30-ish damage per turn until the timer hits zero. I had a defensive corrosive build and I still barely survived that. Like, even the elites in StS2 usually have cooldown turns, y'know? And then afterwards the clone has a corrosive build, so you basically need to have steal soul for your corrosive build to gain an advantage. And they do a hefty amount of damage too. The upgrades feel kind of useless, because having more options is simply better. Like having 3 more block isn't gonna matter for the cabomination fight. Corrosion+ is also kind of useless in boss fights because the timer ticks down the same (and the clones apply unstable too), and it's not hard to apply it multiple times in the first place.

I think it's impossible to have an offensive build in this game, because your DPS is simply worse than the opponents'. The best red skills are the utility ones imo.

Having a limited amount of slots for skills feels rough given that each boss fight is basically a build check so you just kind of just eat crud sometimes since your build isn't good against that fight. This could potentially be remedied with giving the player more or stronger options or simply adjusting enemy patterns to be less harsh or at least cycle through different patterns.

On my first playthrough I encountered a bug where the UI disappeared after I tried to replace an option. It reappeared after I ended my turn, although it didn't feel great eating that damage.

Great game, great concept, could use better tuning. I think you have something good cooking. Visuals kind of reminded me of Earthbound.

Everything about this project is great save for a bug that made my UI fly off the bottom of the screen never to return lol.

but good job with the art, sound design, and all the mechanics were very interesting. all in all a very polished project for the time given, save for the aforementioned bug.

Edit: It does return, you just have to wait for the turn to finish (which means I'm down a ton of health and a couple debuffs)

Edit 2: I won, its a great game!

Review time~

Creativity

+ Katz

++ Existential Horror

 The design in this game is excellent. The balance between time and health, the rock paper scissors design dynamic of it all. Great job.

Enjoyment

Normally I reserve about 15 minutes per game this jam (usually 5 to see if I'm interested then an additional 10 after); I was unable to not break this rule and grant the game more time. I am a massive fan of roguelikes and I can see buying this one on steam.

Narrative

Excellent narrative. Absolutely no notes.

Artwork

Artstyle is consistent, with readable UI elements, unique character designs and art which ties into the narrative very strongly. 

Audio

 The main music is excellent but unfortunately loops in a way that's visible if you play for long enough. Sound effects are punchy and the countdown feels properly impending. 

Technical / UX / UI Observations

Verrry minor note, but I recommend lerping a fade-in fade-out for these windows as they can kind of flash if you mouse on and off them.

Concluding thoughts

The fact I've used the word excellent in this review than my others tells you all you need to know. Excellent; simply, excellent. 

Masterpiece!! 26/25!!! not sure if i beat it cuz i was at -26 health when i killed #000 and i it cutoff right after the battle, but all in all an amazing game. Need more rpg like this!!

It's impressive, this game is so good! Unbelievable it was made in 4 days. I died in the last chapter, I wasn't able to watch the end of the story sadly :(