I intentionally limited this session to around five to ten minutes so I could cover more jam entries and give more developers feedback. A visual novel obviously needs more time for a fair assessment of its characters and narrative, so this is focused on the opening presentation, UI, onboarding, and immediate hook.
The itch page is fantastic and immediately feels unique. I love the artwork, backgrounds, and overall visual direction, which remind me a little of Don’t Starve without feeling like a copy. The dialogue boxes are more elaborate than I would normally prefer, but they fit this game perfectly and feel like a natural extension of the artwork instead of decoration slapped on top. It is weird, charming, slightly unsettling, and honestly very endearing.
I understand the light tone you seem to be targeting with the opening song, especially if it is meant to create contrast with what comes later, but the specific track did not feel like the right fit to me. The onboarding also asks for too much confirmation around the game-mode selection, and the amount of disclaimer text started slowing down an otherwise strong opening. I would trust the player a little more, let them confirm the mode once, and consolidate the important warnings into one cleaner screen.
The story as well as the characters, are intriguing enough to spark curiosity.
I cannot fairly judge the larger narrative from such a short session, but the presentation absolutely made me want to see more. This is something I would genuinely come back and continue playing when I have enough time to properly get into it. Great job, keep going.
If you have two minutes and room for one more strange little snack, try BEAT BAES and tell me where it tastes wrong.