RMMZ Lucidity (demo)

[BenSD]

Lucidity
A playable personality inventory.​

Mature content warning: Contains some strong language and sensitive topics such as religion and drug/alcohol use.

SYNOPSIS

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Lucidity is a playable personality inventory where you move through the lifespan of a character who is searching for their sense of self and a mythical "You" who may or may not exist. The events take place in a dream state, sometimes working outside the bounds of traditional logic and reason. To progress, collect the shattered Shards of Personality and confront the people who work to define you, defining yourself in the process. Meant to be a casual play, the game has no traditional combat, no way to 'lose,' and can provide hints should the player ever find themselves stuck. The unique boss battles utilize dialogue choices to defeat your enemies and interpret the character's personality type. Every choice you make matters in determining who you are!

SCREENSHOTS

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DISCLAIMER

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This probably goes without saying, but...
Although this games includes (or will include) features of actual psychological inventories (MBTI, BDI, GAD7), this is not a mental health tool and is not intended to treat, diagnose or otherwise speak to any aspect of mental health. It's only a game, and the results you get pertain only to the game's character.

OTHER STUFF

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This is my first RPG Maker game, so it's largely pretty basic. I know RTP assets aren't usually ideal, but I used primarily those for a few reasons:

• The focus is more on story and development than art.
• The somewhat generic elements enforce an idea of "I could be anyone" or "this could be any game," appropriate to the ambiguous protagonist.
• They're easy. Yeah, I confess; that contributed.

I'm interested to know if those common tiles and places took away from the experience. The game was made as a companion to an experimental novella of the same name, so I'm also curious if that translated into something enjoyable or tedious. Please point out anything that doesn't seem right and thanks for checking this out!

PLAY IT!

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Play it on itch.io: https://ben-sd.itch.io/lucidity-demo
Play it on my website: https://bensd.org/demo/
I also have download options on my website (bensd.org) if playing from a browser isn't your thing.

 

[BenSD]

Fixed a few little things -- typos, art tweaks, minor bugs -- but nothing too major in terms of gameplay. I did add a windows executable and an unsigned android .apk to the itch.io files if that makes it more enticing for anybody.

This is a pretty unique game aimed at a pretty niche audience, so I'm anxious to hear how that's received by the fine folks of these forums (read as: plz play)!

 

[BenSD]

Updated sound effects from random familiar noises to random unfamiliar noises. It's a good change, imo. Also added a couple things, fixed some typos (how do I always find more typos?), and generally made a bunch of minor adjustments. The next era is nearly done, so I'll offer a more substantial update before too long.

 

[rpgLord69]

Tried out the game (played childhood + half of young adult). Random thoughts:

*Writing seems good
*Liked the music
*Some building interiors maybe needed more furniture in them, and I didn't personally care for the color of floor/walls chosen
*Like the environmental interactions
*Didn't have enough time to read through all the text in the boss battle, before the boss was already attacking me + the whole mechanic wasn't 100% clear to me...were those answers just supposed to define my personality, or were there "better" and "poorer" answers?
*I think it would work better if at least some of the personality defining points were allocated in interactions during cutscenes and depending on how you interact with persons/objects during the game, instead of an orb asking a question.

 

[BenSD]

@rpgLord69 Hey, just wanted to say thanks for playing my game! A few things about that:

• Looking back, you're right about the furniture (or lack thereof).
• I can definitely clarify boss mechanics; I agree that could use better description.
• Except in a few rare cases, most answers aren't better or worse by mood, only different.
• There are actions that help define personality in addition to dialogue (taking or leaving your ID in your room or where you sit in class for example), but you're right that there aren't enough of these, particularly in the first couple sections.

So anyway, I appreciate you, and I'm glad you've given me a few things to improve on! Thanks again!

 

[BenSD]

Just put out what I think is the last version of the demo for this game. It's already too long to really be a demo, and everything I'm adding and changing from here should mostly only effect the full version, so I made a big update and I'm calling this iteration of the project 'done.'

Change log:

• Updated title screen
• Retyped minor typos
• Squashed minor bugs
• Added the Lucidity Player's Guide, an item which provides detailed walkthroughs and secrets
• Added a few small insect and rodent sprites to liven up the world
• Redecorated some buildings to make them feel more complete
• Updated available tips
• Updated descriptions of hints for clarity
• Updated credits to reflect new material
• Added tons of description to previously 'blank' objects
• Changed some minor vehicle mechanics
• Took some fresh screen shots (which I'll be uploading soon to replace the outdated ones)
• Finalized demo version!

Thanks! You may play now.

 

[Renicon]

Hey there! I played your game and put the review on YT. I like that this game isnt your typical JRPG/RPG its refreshing. There is a few tweaks to gameplay I would reccomend such as the boss encounters and telling the player to always be on the look out for a clock to advanced to the next level. I'm interested to see how this game develops!