Cardiophobia

[Daniel B]

First off, I wanna personally apologize to everyone. While these are not game breaking, one of them makes it impossible to access certain places of the game, and stops you from actually getting the better endings.

What I am talking about is a certain item not being Pick-upable. This is now fixed.
The other thing this version fixes is that saving at the end of the game should work fine now. Again, nothing game breaking, just depressing these things had to exist for as long as they did.

Since an item can't be obtained in the older versions, I am now removing the download for them. Why play a game where you can't even get 100% on?

Hopefully, this will be the last of the annoying bugs, but please do contact me if you find something or have questions.

EDIT: After you've made your save at the end, hit the Rewind button to get everything reseted. If you leave the save, the game will send you into the game again, but things won't be reseted.

 

[Kirp]

The game started out nice...then got tedious and a little annoying.

Everything seems completely random/disconnected from everything else so it's difficult to tell where to go next (you were finding out more about one thing then suddenly it's gone and you're doing random unrelated puzzles). I can't at all figure out what the rope is for, or find the other eye/gem for the dragon. I have a medkit key but haven't been able to find an actual medkit in a very long time. Now one way I go, instant death. Another way, instant death. Any other way gets me nowhere, until he just suddenly drops dead. There's no clue at all for the code on the door in the basement or what needs to be done next.

Not too keen on restarting just because he keels over at the slightest things, so guess that's as far as I'm getting. 

 

[Daniel B]

The game started out nice...then got tedious and a little annoying.

Everything seems completely random/disconnected from everything else so it's difficult to tell where to go next (you were finding out more about one thing then suddenly it's gone and you're doing random unrelated puzzles). I can't at all figure out what the rope is for, or find the other eye/gem for the dragon. I have a medkit key but haven't been able to find an actual medkit in a very long time. Now one way I go, instant death. Another way, instant death. Any other way gets me nowhere, until he just suddenly drops dead. There's no clue at all for the code on the door in the basement or what needs to be done next.

Not too keen on restarting just because he keels over at the slightest things, so guess that's as far as I'm getting. 

Too bad you feel that way, but I'm glad you are at least honest. The game is not for everyone, like I said, it takes some salt to play.

Thanks for trying it out anyway.

 

[HansKelsen]

This game is exactly what I was looking for in horror games. The atmosphere of psychological tension when you do not know if you can trust in what you see is fantastic. The plot is engaging and well developed, full of twists and turns. The characters are so well built and realistic that it makes the game get more and more interesting in accordance with the development of the story. All the scares really freaked me out (shame ... they really did ^^) Dying is really easy, so do not go around without a strategy and a moderate use of the medkits is highly advised. The puzzles are really hard and the clues for them are not clear enough which is kind of annoying when you want to have some progress and you're stuck with little resources ....

 

All in all is a great game but you will die several times before you get it right .. and after that too... All I've achieved for now is a bad ending, but this game is so well constructed that it keeps you wanting to uncover all the secrets ... Great work.

 


*Sorry for the bad english =P

 

[Daniel B]

This game is exactly what I was looking for in horror games. The atmosphere of psychological tension when you do not know if you can trust in what you see is fantastic. The plot is engaging and well developed, full of twists and turns. The characters are so well built and realistic that it makes the game get more and more interesting in accordance with the development of the story. All the scares really freaked me out (shame ... they really did ^^) Dying is really easy, so do not go around without a strategy and a moderate use of the medkits is highly advised. The puzzles are really hard and the clues for them are not clear enough which is kind of annoying when you want to have some progress and you're stuck with little resources ....

 

All in all is a great game but you will die several times before you get it right .. and after that too... All I've achieved for now is a bad ending, but this game is so well constructed that it keeps you wanting to uncover all the secrets ... Great work.

 

*Sorry for the bad english =P

Thanks for the feedback.

I can't really agree or disagree on most of what you said, but I can agree on that the hints suck. I know this cause you are not the first person to mention this. Making a puzzle is easy, making other people figure it out is the hard part.

 

[_Shadow_]

So here comes a horror fan reviewing this.

TL; DR; It's good.   

Spoiler

First off I hate people who claim they made a horror game, but  when I try it, I experience something that is worse than a joke.

@Daniel B calm down, I am not talking about you... yet...

As you can understand, I can be forgiving, except if it comes to horror games.

No mercy.

One thing I dislike is the inability to have the game windowed. It makes reviewing harder. But that will not reduce value from this game.

So the game starts.

I can say that artwork on title screen is really nice. A sketch is always welcome.

Words starting a game, so cliche but it never gets old. I like it always. It could be a little more sophisticated as an intro but it has the job done nicely anyway.

Strange mapping skills, but just that. Strange. Not bad at all. I can feel nice into the maps as a user.

It is nothing like surrealistic painting and stuff.

The sound of the game also collaborates nicely with the enviroment.

It seems that the developer was planning how to set things up a lot.

I like the public domain samples used layered all together on a looping sound.

I have to talk to some people before I go to sleep, all right...

I will get lured into the atmoshpere and the character dynamics, well done.

Oh! This house has rules... strange ones... why? I got no idea!

And there is an sms system that shows stuff all the time.

Nice system that shows a more realistic situation.

Public dialogues and sms hidden messages.

I like the dynamics this system does have.

And then a thunder.

I hate jump scares! I mean, it's like a cheap trick to scare somebody and it never works on me. If it works, I am not horrified, I am just... scared... and this is not horror at all and...

oh wait!! This actually might be not a jump scare, let's go on... let's see....

Well yes that was just atmosphere... or I can take it as a thunder to make impression for what was told in that room.

The Khas Awesome Lught Effects used perectly.

Effectus script did a miracle on the lag, so version 1.3 is playable an nice.

Kudos to the scripter! Kudos to the developer who added it inside the game.

Something that made feel weird is that the guy woke up on no rain sound. We listen to voices, but he doesn't mention anything about them. Text must go with the flow really, so here is a small tiny con I found.

Let me inform you all that there is a hearbeat system and a Stamina system too. You HAVE to balance your hearbeat, or things become worse and worse and you eventually die. How do you actually lose stamina?

What is this? Ok.... (live review) I **** bricks sometimes during this game. The dinner table scary moments are incredible.

(poof! Something was erased here. Something stupid I wrote, and now the review is fair)

Wandering having no idea what is going on is nice.

You should maybe make the hero react to some strange things he can see... it's not like he can't talk to himself. The game starts like that anyway.

Inner thoughts will really give it a lot more intensity.

Someone said he was wandering for no reason. No there is a reason on that. Survive and save the blondie... but still, reactions are missing.

Effectus did an awesome job with light effects but text is still lagging. Not so important though.

It seems like I disliked it but no.

This is one of the best horror games I ever played on VX Ace.

If things I mention here will get enhanced, it will even be considered a masterpiece.

Since there is a new thing, like giving a rating:

A] Gampeplay [ 90/100 ] It is well made with tutorials, but intro takes basic controls for granted tutorial.

B] Graphics [ 70/100 ] Well made maps, very pretty.

C] Atmoshpere [ 90/100 ] I felt my fingers getting numb, that was horror, well done!

D] Scenario [ -/100 ] Didn't finished it, I don't have an opinion on this, it seems good.

E] Sound [ 80/100 ] Some stuff out of place with the other components but still great!

F] Duration- Replayability [ 90/100 ] You WILL try this to the end.

 

[Daniel B]

Just wanna say I've done some tweaks etc. on the game and the version is up to 1.8 now, thanks

 

[Diretooth]

I'm enjoying this game so far, though I had to view a youtube video to even know where the axe key was found. You literally have to search the south wall of the tv room to find it, with no indication of it being there.

 

[amaSenpai]

This looks really interesting! I love horror games although I also have issues with psyching myself out. I like the idea of the sanity/heart rate system. I would love to play this!

 

[Daniel B]

I'm enjoying this game so far, though I had to view a youtube video to even know where the axe key was found. You literally have to search the south wall of the tv room to find it, with no indication of it being there.

I could remembering this wrong, but I know this was an issue that I tried to fix with Felix pointing out that there is something on the wall behind you, and on the mirror you can also see the 2 axes hanging on the wall. I admit it is hard to see/find, but when u know where it is, you don't have to work hard to get it again.

 

[Diretooth]

Yeah, I saw it after it was pointed out to me on Youtube. The lighting makes it look like the mirror is cracked, rather than reflecting axes.

 

[Daniel B]

Yeah, I saw it after it was pointed out to me on Youtube. The lighting makes it look like the mirror is cracked, rather than reflecting axes.

Yeah, I'm not gonna deny that. Glad you found it anyway, even if you had to use youtube to do so.

 

[Diretooth]

I have to say, though, the atmosphere is pretty good, the mechanic of the MC's sanity going south as his heart rate goes up is pretty amazing. (Though, the random math on the walls is full of wut.) Some of the puzzles are a but difficult, that bear one for instance, but overall it's a pretty good game.

 

[Daniel B]

I have to say, though, the atmosphere is pretty good, the mechanic of the MC's sanity going south as his heart rate goes up is pretty amazing. (Though, the random math on the walls is full of wut.) Some of the puzzles are a but difficult, that bear one for instance, but overall it's a pretty good game.

Yes, some of the puzzles are harder, or maybe just far fetched, but those puzzles are like that cause they're if you wanna try and get the better endings.

 

[amaSenpai]

Hello,


I tried downloading the game twice, but I can't open the game due to "RPGVXAce RTP missing". Is there a known fix?

 

[Daniel B]

Hello,


I tried downloading the game twice, but I can't open the game due to "RPGVXAce RTP missing". Is there a known fix?

Oh, you need to download the RTP, here's a link: RTP

 

[amaSenpai]

Oh, you need to download the RTP, here's a link: RTP

Thank you!

 

[Ｍａｒｓｈ]

Well in terms of story, it sounds like the heartbeat thing is an interesting mechanic. I really like when new RPG horror games come out, so I'll
probably give this a look.

(On a side-note, the title gave me the idea of someone who was afraid of doing cardio exercises, which I found hilarious for a second)

 

[IAmJakeSauvage]

This was actually pretty fun (once I got past the little things that annoyed me)!

• Great use of lighting
  
• SMS System really added to the experience
  
• "Sanity" System made exploring worthwhile
  
• The picture puzzle (for the red gem) with the chase was...very frustrating
  
• The heartbeat mechanic was great - once I understood it (after dying a few times...)
  

I can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve!

 

[Clovejar]

Hey, just had a first attempt at this and died. And let me just tell you, it's scary af!


I mean, I'm inspired by horror but this right here is horror. It's almost a bit too scary and intense for me lol.


I think if I pointed out my favourite bits so far it would be a lot of what's said before: the heart condition concept is really clever and interesting (it seems less cheesy than your typical 'sanity' bar, because it's not arbitrarily telling the player how insane they are, more like their physical condition which they can't help). The 'Mother' character and the coloured orbs instantly had me interested, + the setting with the 'house of freaks' sending each other sms is great.


I did have lag problems  =( Although maybe not as bad as has been previously described on this thread. I hope that gets better down the line so this game can really shine.