I'm not really sure what I should consider "good" and "bad" in itzkreator's Black Cat's Story. Even the fact that I can't tell what's clever and what's just poor design? I don't know if THAT'S good or bad. It's sort of like watching Snakes On A Plane - you know they knew it was going to be ridiculous, and it ends up being kind of shoddy, but it's so tongue-in-cheek about it that you don't know if you should be laughing along with them or just shaking your head.
For example, there's a lot of spelling and grammar issues, but it's hard to tell if they're intentional or not. The main character refers to himself in the third person, and often characters give a pretty nonchalant "Ok" as a response to people telling them things. "My name is Black Cat." "Ok." It's funny because it pokes fun at characters just walking around talking to random people in video games, like that really would be the answer you'd get in real life - "That's nice. Why do I care?" So you think, "Alright, they're intentionally making the dialogue sort of awkward and stilted." But then you see them using "your" instead of "you're," and you think, "... I mean, was THAT on purpose?"
The art style is in the same vein - on the one hand, the fact that everything is produced from scratch and still tiles well and functions correctly is kind of impressive. I didn't recognize a single bit of RTP in the game, and I'm sure custom-creating all the graphics, tiles, animations, etc. was quite pain-staking and arduous. On the other hand, it... You know, looks like it was made in Paint. A lot of the characters have a weird sort of "sickly undead ragdoll" kind of vibe to them - it almost looks like they're creepy stuffed animals at times.
The thread for the game suggests that all the "shoddy" qualities are very much done with a nudge and a wink to them. I don't have any doubts that the creator was maybe aiming for a sort of, "It's so bad, it's good" sense to the game, and I will admit, I found it humorous to play through. It feels like a joke that the player's in on, but you have to be sort of willing to be on board with it.
I think a good example of what sort of game you should expect when you sit to play is that one of the bosses is a gigantic water-dwelling dick tentacle. I mean, it's not straight-up CALLED "the gigantic dick tentacle," but... I mean, that's what it is. Its special move is to "spew forth vile sludge." And just... I don't know, look at it. Tell me you see something different.
One thing that's a bit easier to talk about is the actual mechanics of the game, because they play like a pretty standard RPG Maker game. You spam attack through most of the battles, you start with no special skills or equipment or interesting items or anything like that. While I will give it good marks for not throwing absurdly difficult enemies at you from the get-go - which seems to be a more and more prevalent thing the more I play RPG Maker games - I can't say the combat's particularly engaging, either. In fact, by the time I did gain a few levels and put on some equipment, the battles were more of an annoying interruption than any kind of challenge or thought-provoking process. The battle system is about as simplistic as a game gets, so if you're looking for something that will challenge you or appeal to you more strategically-minded folks, this probably isn't for you.
However, the look and feel of the battles is not to be understated. The music is all very 8-bit, but to my knowledge, is also original (or, at least, not ripped from something commercial). The enemies look surprisingly good, considering the Paint-style graphics of the rest of the game, as do the battle animations. If the mechanics were more engaging or involved than "spam attack 99% of the time," I think it would be a good surprise twist for the game.
My playthrough of the version 0.5 demo was unfortunately cut short by what I believe is a bug - at one point in the game, you discover your character can fly. For no apparent reason, mind you, it's literally, "We're in a dangerous situation. What are we gonna' do? Oh, yeah, by the way, I can fly," and then your whole party rockets away. You can use this flying mechanic to visit old areas, but once I did, I found myself trapped and unable to get back to where I was supposed to be. I don't 100% know for sure if I just couldn't find the path again, but I was pretty well stuck and decided to give it a rest there.
I'm not exactly sure what to think of the game - I mean, it's... Bad. But it knows it's bad, and that makes it funny and entertaining. I think it's worth a look, at the very least - you just might find yourself laughing along with itzkreator at the absurdity of it all.
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