Okay, so I played this a little while ago, but I haven't been able to properly formulate what I wanted to write about it.
I'll start with my plain stance: I really like this game! My favorite aspect is that it felt loved. That's a hard measure to substantiate, but I think most players can tell the difference between a game the creator was in love with and a game the creator simply made. And if you didn't love it, well... it felt that way!
The music is really nice. I'd like to see it up for sale on Bandcamp, honestly. I know you have a SoundCloud, but last time I checked these tracks weren't up there. Polish those puppies up and sell them on Bandcamp and I'll definitely buy a copy from you.
The art is good. I think it's fitting for the most part, but not top notch. Still, I found it endearing.
The writing is great, and I love the characters. Even Bud starts with his own character as an emotionless mute. The battle system works wonderfully in a lot of ways, but one of the ways I found it worked best was in giving everyone on the team that character! Every time Bud lost some HP, I felt bad. Whenever Crow Squawked, I rooted him on. Mara, being a total awesome witch, only really every annoyed me when I had to attack with her. XD The way they functioned irreplaceable-y in their battle roles did as much for growing them into the narrative as the dialogue.
The whole battle system is well balanced, and I think you did a great job on it. Moreover, it exemplifies an idea in JRPGs that I was discussing the other day: most JRPGs are "dungeon"-centric, not battle-centric. This game is both, in a way, since every battle can be its own thing regardless of item optimization. But it also incorporates how you traverse the "dungeon" into the grand scheme of battle. I know that the next time I get into this specific conversation I'll use The Heart Pumps Clay as one of my examples.
The Attack and Guard commands were a problem for me. They had strategic use, but being that everything else had a bit more charm and unique-ness to them, you never wanted a character to
just attack. I think you could trick me into feeling those skills were more valid if you changed what they were called. Defying the convention in just those few names might add flavor, but it's not necessary since I still used them. Mara, for example, could have Attack replaced with... ummm... Witchslap! That really makes you want to Witchslap Percival (although you shouldn't, since it won't work....)!
My big complaint with battles is a repeat you've probably heard quite a bit, which is that elemental shifting shouldn't take up a turn. I like that for enemies, but not for Mara. Making the shifts immediate would be a big balance-breaker, though, so if you were to change anything about that, I would suggest somehow making a move or set of moves that allowed Mara to shift on the same turn at the cost of 10MP (maybe 15, but probably 10). It'd make shifting feel less like a time restriction that drags the battle on knowing that if you blow some MP you've bought yourself the time slot. Another issue would be making that option available without cluttering her Witchcraft command even further. Maybe a new command with all of the Shifts would work out.
I also wish the mandatory battles were lessened. I don't know why, but when I entered a new screen and saw a mandatory battle, I felt less inclined to go after chests. Maybe it was my personal fear of losing Bud!
This was a great entry and I was glad to play it! The little touches were so nice, like how battles form an outline of Bud as you enter them, or how Thulak Khan shifts back awkwardly when he laughs. I'd love to see more polish applied to it. Having even color-swapped pictures/animations of Bud as different elemental golems would be cool. And the RTP assets fit in a bit awkwardly, but great job as a whole! Easily among my favorite entries.
