RMMV Origin Hunt

[41728280]

Thanks, I am watching a movie, my time is already 11pm, hope to download it before going to bed

 

[KILLERTIGER]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH CANT STOP LAUGHING SSS+ COMEDY GOLD

 

[ShadowDragon]

on my way to sapphire town, (I forgot the town name) where ella joins the part, there
is passibility where you can go through (see image)

didn't start of hard glitching yet, but I will start doing that from now on

I got to say, its a nice game.

 

[Cythera]

Sapphire is the town name The slide is a doodads; I guess I missed a block there.
Glad you're enjoying the game so far, @ShadowDragon !

 

[Mimironi]

Could I test? Your game seems interesting & I'll try to have a good list of feedback when I complete it !

 

[Cythera]

Sure thing, @Mimironi I'll send you the download, so keep an eye on your messages!

 

[RCXDan]

@Cythera I took time out of my schedule and played up to an hour and forty minutes, which is wild because that alone is the same length as my own demo.

As for whether I'll play the whole eight hours... it really depends, but I'm leaning on no. Not because I don't like it - in fact, you got some good stuff here. More that I'm overloaded with other things to do.

Pros:

Spoiler

+ Nice title screen music and effects. Like hot damn these are some cool animations.
+ I like the snappy way the game starts, you're instantly in the shoes of a dude who pissed off some monsters and they push him off a cliff? I'm surprised he doesn't die but I guess that's the classic curse of "player falls off an infinite height and survives" in play
+ Pretty mapping and nice music. Is it custom?
+ Cool pause menu
+ Nice lantern and weather effects
+ Enemies being unable to revive is a cool idea
+ I enjoy the idea of the archives. Any kind of lore book is good to have.
+ Item rarity system? Cool. I tend to like that in games.
+ Ooooh I really like the concept of achievements actually having rewards instead of just being bragging rights. Helps incentivize the player to do them.
+ Augment system for your weapons is pretty cool.
+ You can see enemies on the overworld!! Very nice, especially with how they can respawn after a while. Not only that, I vastly prefer games that have health bars for enemies.
+ I like the animated enemies, I saw this kind of thing in another game and thought it was neat.
+ Vincent's monster form is sick, even if I don't know what the hell he's supposed to be. Is it a custom sprite?
+ Thank god you teleport the player out of the dungeon instead of forcing them to backtrack
+ Interesting lore, but I feel it'd be better spaced apart where it's more relevant. Like during the part after you beat up the Hunter and the Archer, why would Mara decide now is the perfect time to exposition about the Guild if it's still an extremely tense situation where the team is surrounded by angry people?
+ The racism plot is servicable. Not terribly ground-breaking, but as it is it works.
+ The way Celicia shows her power off during her intro cutscene is cool, especially with the icicle towers remaining after she leaves. That, and how she's the one who broke the bridge. It gives a good first impression.
+ You know, it's great that even status effects are counted as resisted and have their own pop ups.
+ I enjoy the combat and the way turns are decided reminds me a lot of the Digimon World DS games, where you can see who has turns coming up soon
+ I like that the characters get their own tutorials when it comes to their skills.
+ The night and day mechanic is pretty cool, although it does get me being all nitpicky wondering if there's more to it beyond cosmetics and giving Ella a straight up buff. (Like why would you want it to be day?)
+ I enjoy the idea that using Scan/Insight doesn't waste Mara's turn. Is this because of Yanfly's Instant Cast?
+ The characters having passive abilities is hella neat.

Cons:

Spoiler

- Not sure how well the very industrial title font works with the soothing music if I have to be honest.
- You have quite a lot of systems in place that could overwhelming for newcomers. I don't like the concept of AP where you have to teach your guys skills instead of getting them on level-up. It adds this unnecessary layer of complexity that feels... strange at the very least. Like I'm not gonna lie, when all these different systems are mashed together in the same game it feels like feature bloat.
- I don't really like the Soul Trigger system, your stand-in for TP. I feel it would be equally effective as to have all actions boost TP the same way instead of having it be a customizable thing, since it also adds another layer the player has to keep in mind.
- Why is Dark Fire 3 MP as opposed to the other techs that are 15 and 34 despite the fact it does more or less the same damage as the mid-level Fire spell? The mid-level spells don't do enough to justify using them over the cheaper version. Actually, if Vincent has poor Magic attack then why does he even have magic skills? It seems more intelligent to have him use physical versions of those magic skills.
- I don't like that the Escape option when you press X during battle isn't shown. It kinda makes it seem like it's not there.
- It feels very bizarre to just barge into a stranger's house/cabin/whatever and be like "yo can I crash here" like... dude.
- Wait. They kicked Mara out of her home, forcing her to live in the sticks because she had an affinity for every element? That... seems not-right. You'd think someone with that much potential would be revered as like... the Avatar, or something, and would deserve special attention. If anything I'd rephrase this so she was targeted instead of just vaguely ostracized like her intro cutscene implied.
- The boss music for the early big fights are a bit too intense and unfitting, even given the situations. The human bosses definitely need something else.
- The lack of AOE attacks aside from Mara's ultimate feels strange, especially for Monster Vincent. Best example I can think of are the Ice Ifrits that nearly wiped me out due to the lack of AOE. That entire fight felt off because it's four to two, yet you don't have something to make up for it.
- Grammar: "These are, Mana stones?!"
- Not shifting the music after Celicia clears out the racists feels offputting, especially when Ella gives us her backstory
- The regular enemies have too much health for monsters you can fight multiple times. Maybe lower their HP values by quite a bit, since the time used to fight these enemies aren't well utilized if they go on beyond like... three turns at max.
- "Magic? What does it do?" you've already seen Mara use it hundreds of times before this, Ella. Maybe remove the "magic?" part since the topic is about the special magic Squall can do.
- I'm not sure how to feel about the dynamic of our main characters. The way Mara treats Vincent like a dog is just weird, even as a joke. I kinda find Ella annoying.
- 6000 HP for the Echo enemy seems very excessive, even as a display fight for Squall's skills. It doesn't help that you immediately face a Gremlin who also has 6000 HP to burn through, making the fights feel very drawn out and HP sponge-y since not much really happens in them.
- The Kitsune and those little white ghost monsters are way too strong with their AOE MP drain and the fire pillar attack that hits four times. Like jeez, that's excessive.

Bugs:

x Tileset error - I can't walk to the right here.
x Uh, what's happening here? Also, is Mara supposed to be in this cutscene? Cause she isn't.
x Also, she got stuck on the fence after this.

Observations:

Spoiler

= If you're gonna have "Person Joined The Party" messages, make sure the text stays on screen for as long as the ME plays, even if it involves waiting.
= Celicia is your avatar, I see
= You should take the time to add custom sound effects, as that tends to make your game stand out from other RPG Maker games.
= What are these little lines on the ground in the plains supposed to be?

 

[Cythera]

Oh wow, thanks for all the feedback, @RCXDan !
Don't worry if you can't finish the demo; I fully understand if you're busy.

Spoiler: Pros

• Thanks! I made the title screen myself, using Gimp, an online text generator, and some of the in-game animations. I am not an artist, so having my title screen liked is big
• I really enjoyed the way you summed up the intro, that makes me laugh. Yes, he survives the fall - Vincent falls in water and the currents push him ashore. Yes, it's pushing the 'player falls off a height a survives'. I'm hoping you can forgive me for that cliché
• The mapping and music are a mix of RTP and resources I found online - all names are in the credits. The only resources I've bought were the FSM sets and some animations. Thank you, Christmas Steam gift card!
• Ah, the load/save screen - you are enjoying another of my lovely artworks! It's a Mog plugin, and it is fun to use
• Skipping ahead to the anti-revive passive: This IS an awesome idea, I do agree It's also a big plot point
• Vincent's monster form is from ShadowHawkDragon. He (she? pancake?) makes amazing SV sprites! Majority of the animated battlers are theirs, actually. I really recommend checking out their DeviantArt if you are after animated SV battlers
• Good point on Mara's expo on the guild; I'll look into that
• That's a lot more to the plot that becomes evident over a bit more time, but I shall take it as a compliment that you are enjoying the intro part
• Wonderful, I'm glad my antagonist makes such a good first impression
• The status effect popup is a modification of a plugin; it was worth the pain and hassle. I get tired of trying to inflict status effects that never land, only to later find out an enemy is immune to them. A resist popup helps
• The battle system is Olivia's OTB; she makes high-quality plugins. 100% recommend her stuff
• The day/night cycle does have impact outside of combat! Some NPC's change their dialogue (mostly for fun) and some events are only available at certain times. Also, Ella does eventually get a nice 'day' skill that deals double damage in the day on a 3-hit skill. At the start, though, she's a rogue, so she does prefer the dark
• Yup, Instant Cast. Lots of character's use this, and some armour effects and items. Helps with balancing, and player convenience in the case of Insight skill

Spoiler: Cons

• I tried a more 'fantasy' font, and it was super hard to read. Now I've grown attached to this font, so I will likely keep, as a personal preference
• I'm trying my best to introduce systems to players one at a time, to prevent overwhelming them. Hence why you can't learn skills right from the get-go, or why crafting isn't introduced until you have all characters. I'll always understand my game better than players, so I'm open to anyone saying a feature is introduced too quickly, or not in-depth enough and I'll go back and see what I can change to make it more coherent
• I love customizing characters and changing how they can be used in combat, hence the Soul Trigger system. New Soul Triggers are unlocked over time. I get how this added layer may confuse players at the beginning, so I may start all characters with their ideal Soul Trigger active. That way, if players leave it, they'll at least have an optimal SP gain for that character's usual use
• Vincent's Dark Magic is based off a % of his Max MP. He is a physical attacker at the start, as his weapon doesn't offer any magic buffs yet, and his magic stat has the slowest level-up growth. I prefer to play him as magic attacker later in the game, after he gains some unique skills via plot, actually!
• Thanks, I'll change that so the Escape option is more visible
• Vincent is a monster with little social skills - he sees nothing wrong with walking into a cabin and saying 'I sleep here now'. Maybe I'll have Mara comment on that to make it more obvious
• With Mara, mages aren't allowed to practice more than one elemental type of magic; it's considered an insult to the Origin Mages. Mages that can use multiple elements are often targeted by less-than-desirable people. I'll rephrase to make that more clear
• Aw dang, you don't like the boss music?! I love it
• Hm, true, I had to pause and think 'well of course there's aoe - no, no there isn't...' I'll give Vincent an aoe in his monster form early on
• Grammar, thank you
• Music, thank you
• I'm going to circle back to the HP and comment on the balancing at the end...
• Haha, nice catch on Ella's dialogue, thanks
• The dynamic at the beginning is intended to be awkward; these four don't know each, all come from very different lives, and have very different intentions. They do warm up to each other over time, and do so at a faster rate if you interact nicely with them. Or you can be a jerk, either is fun
• Okay, on balancing. First, I do intend for the game to be difficult - such is my desire in RPG's. However, I do not intend for it to be needlessly punishing. I'll definitely consider what you've said on the balancing side. Early game enemies, before you have the whole team, will likely have their HP nerfed. Gremlin has an AI, so he should have been doing...something? I'll look into that. The white ghosts should be rarer enemies, so I think I'm okay with their damage output, though I'll look into nerfing the MP drain, as it's unlikely Mara and Squall have their more reliable MP-recovery instant skills here. The Kitsune, okay, I'll drop the hit count to 3. They've hurt me a few times as well...
• Whoops, whoops, and whoops! I'm going to fix those :3

Spoiler: Observations

• Good idea
• Just realized you've been spelling her name Celicia so now I'm going to panic and search to make sure I didn't spell it that way in the game...but yes, Cecilia is my avatar. I have a soft spot for my antagonist
• Yup, that's on the list
• Ah, those are supposed to be grass - from blowing in the wind. I see it is not coming off as intended

Thanks again for all the feedback, I really appreciate it!

 

[Markholla]

Count me in! Looks cool AF.

 

[ShadowDragon]

2 typo's here (1 image) while there might be more grammar issues (which I cant fix for you)

While I like the soul system, it adds something new and original.

the mara stuck in the fence s something I noticed, but it corrected itself.
I enjoy the gameplay and on the boat for now, will later learn skills to actor's to become
stronger, but can you also kill the mimic before it flees? because I dont know if you gain the
items he throw at you (not in the victory list though) if he flees.

 

[Cythera]

Hy @ShadowDragon Straie is the plural version It was intended.
And yes, you can kill the Giver before it flees! It starts attempting to flee at turn 5. You gain the items it throws right away, and keep them even if it flees.

 

[41728280]

I also played a bit, let me talk about my point
I can’t give too many opinions on the plot story, because my English is not good, and there are cultural differences, so let’s talk about the system.
advantage:
There are many elements of mutual restraint during battle. It seems that the future battle will be very deep, but if you don’t use skills to analyze the weakness of the monster, it will not be displayed?
I like the upgrade and transformation of equipment
Vincent's transformation ability is cool, I like this setting very much, but as the brother above said, his magic attack is really bad! Please highlight his warrior attributes
Conversational facial expressions are very rich, I like their different facial expressions
The day and night system is great, I hope that because of the different day and night, different things will happen, encounter different NPCs, etc., it will be interesting
The achievement system is also great, allowing players to feel satisfied each time they reach a goal
The database function is also very detailed, which makes players not confused when playing games

Disadvantages:
The cave at the beginning even made me want to uninstall it directly. I don’t know if it will be the same in the future.
It is good to darken the angle of view and increase mystery, but the change of the turned light source is almost dizzy, which will cause players to feel disgusted. It is better if only the visible range becomes smaller.
It’s weird that the attack during combat temporarily disappears the targets except the attacker and the designated target.
Why only show one map follower? It makes me lonely
The accessibility of many tiles is not set, for example, you can't walk on the grass, but the bed can walk on it
The town is very big, but there are not many NPCs, it seems very deserted
The monster refreshes slowly, probably because I fight more!
And there are a lot of skills at the beginning, it is difficult for me to get the thrill of learning new skills

Right now I don’t have much game time, but this game is very good, sorry, because I’m lazy, so there is no picture

 

[Cythera]

Hi @41728280 , thanks for the feedback! You're bring up very similar points to other play testers regarding cons haha. I'll be making some adjustments before a public demo release, mostly pertaining to:

• Vincent's Magic. I don't plan on changing his actual stats, considering how powerful he gets later, though I will add an indicator of some sorts that he is a physical attacker at the start
• The flashlight lighting effect. This will be changed to a simple round lantern effect.
• More NPC are on their way!

Now I just want to address a few other points of yours that I don't intend on changing at the moment:

• No followers on map. It's because of how I do cutscenes, personal preference, and that you can hide behind them to avoid encounters. Mostly personal preference :3
• Non-targets disappearing in combat is for action sequence and animation purposes. Sometimes I would have skill animations play on non targets that are hiding behind targets and that bothered me. Again, this is mostly a personal preference

Thank you again for your feedback! If you think of/find anything else, just let me know

 

[RCXDan]

Glad I could be of assistance. You seemed in dire need of help so I figured "why not?", right.

While I'm personally not a fan of not having followers behind you, I understand why you have to do it. Take it from me as a person who has followers be important aspects in cutscenes: it's a lot of extra work that's probably largely unnecessary.

Spoiler: responses

• Yup, Instant Cast. Lots of character's use this, and some armour effects and items. Helps with balancing, and player convenience in the case of Insight skill

Very nice. I say this because a lot of your game reminds me of mine, even down to both of us having scan skills, which is part of the reason why I wanted to research your game.

• I love customizing characters and changing how they can be used in combat, hence the Soul Trigger system. New Soul Triggers are unlocked over time. I get how this added layer may confuse players at the beginning, so I may start all characters with their ideal Soul Trigger active. That way, if players leave it, they'll at least have an optimal SP gain for that character's usual use

I was also gonna suggest having a default one that gives 5 for every action/taking damage while the special ones give a lot more to compensate, like 20 per heal for the healing one.

• With Mara, mages aren't allowed to practice more than one elemental type of magic; it's considered an insult to the Origin Mages. Mages that can use multiple elements are often targeted by less-than-desirable people. I'll rephrase to make that more clear

Hhhhuh. Interesting. I'd definitely put in the "insult to the Origin Mages" in her introductory cutscene, since that small detail by itself tells a lot about how much reverence they're given in-universe.

• Aw dang, you don't like the boss music?! I love it

It's not bad - in fact, it reminds me of the Illbleed boss theme and I love that game from top to bottom. It's just that bosses should have themes that fit thematically. The one you picked seems more fitting for some impossibly large terrible monster like an evil version of Monster Vincent, not four baby imps and some human racists.

It's those little details that get people invested more, you know?

• The dynamic at the beginning is intended to be awkward; these four don't know each, all come from very different lives, and have very different intentions. They do warm up to each other over time, and do so at a faster rate if you interact nicely with them. Or you can be a jerk, either is fun

True.

• Okay, on balancing. First, I do intend for the game to be difficult - such is my desire in RPG's. However, I do not intend for it to be needlessly punishing. I'll definitely consider what you've said on the balancing side. Early game enemies, before you have the whole team, will likely have their HP nerfed. Gremlin has an AI, so he should have been doing...something? I'll look into that. The white ghosts should be rarer enemies, so I think I'm okay with their damage output, though I'll look into nerfing the MP drain, as it's unlikely Mara and Squall have their more reliable MP-recovery instant skills here. The Kitsune, okay, I'll drop the hit count to 3. They've hurt me a few times as well...

A bit of advice. The reason the MP drain bothered me was cause it was new and very powerful due to how it hit everyone. I don't feel the enemies themselves should be rarer, just to have the scope of that one attack only hit one person.

Then much later on at like, the end of the game, have an enemy that does hit everyone with MP drain to ramp up the idea that "oh crap, they're getting serious".

 

[Cythera]

You've given some great advice, @RCXDan and I really appreciate it! If you find the time to play more of the demo, your feedback is welcome!

 

[KILLERTIGER]

the game is really good i'm currently after half breed'father killed two hunters(sorry forgot name) very good til then wonder what's next

 

[Cythera]

Glad you're enjoying my game so far @KILLERTIGER ! Micah comes back, don't worry. You'll get to see him a few times!

 

[KILLERTIGER]

need some help in the shrine of shadows can't figure it out

 

[Ophiucus Games]

I'd like to playtest this too!

 

[Cythera]

Hi @QuikInk ! You're lucky number...last? I'm going to be tweaking a few things, waiting for a bit more feedback from playtesters (find the bugs! Find them all!) then I'll be putting out a public demo. You are welcome to playtest this version, and I'll message you the download, just be aware a modified version is coming soon!