I like how you space out the tutorials and clearly explain the controls during the course of the game. When entering your name, it's worth mentioning that the Esc key, not just X, can also be used to backspace.
I found no game-crashing bugs, although at one point I froze the game somehow during the big tree scene. (I was fiddling around with Z and X key presses which is probably not relevant to the issue)
Your mapping is fair, although there were quite a number of places where I keep seeing the same grass and red flower in the forest maps. You probably were busy finishing the game for the deadline, but it would be nice to see some variety such as logs, stones, different coloured grass tiles, anything to break up the monotony.
By adding variety, I don't mean cluttering the forest etc with objects. I'm no mapping expert at all, but just little touches here and there would be a nice change. In comparison, your castle and sewer maps were better designed, and I had no trouble navigating these areas.
There were places where I could explore parts of the forest, only for me to reach dead ends with no reward to show for it. I did come across one treasure chest in the some four or five clearings, but this doesn't really justify the effort to explore, especially with random encounters hitting every 20 steps or so. I would have liked to see something unique at the end of a path, whether it be treasure, a new object to interact with, or something as simple as an NPC fishing in a pond etc. That way, you at least reward the player for bothering to explore your map.
I don't mind random encounters as long as there's something unique about the combat system, but since it was fairly standard, it became easier for me to just Escape, thus avoiding the encounters easily. Later when my party members began to level and acquire more skills, it became more worth it to fight.
This is just my opinion, but I thought this 'big tree' you mapped looked really strange:
Would it be better if the tree were part of the treeline, on the north edge of the map perhaps?
The Premise
You started out strong with an old man for your main character, and I like the surprise when he becomes a young man. The problem for me is...he doesn't talk like an old hermit at all. For instance:
"What's the use, she wouldn't want to talk to an old geezer like me anyway."
"Wow, she's so beautiful."
"Man, I'm such a creep."
To me, these sound more like something a kid would say. In comparison, in the first map when the old hermit realises that he's become young, there was one point when he said, "Oh my, how is this possible?" Which sounds far more realistic to me. As the game progresses and you continue playing a young character, he keeps saying phrases that make me wonder if whatever spell that turned him young is also making him forget he was ever an old hermit.
By the end of the game, your main character doesn't ever address the issue of how he turned young or how he feels about the change. (I was waiting for him to say something about falling for a princess like, three times his age!). The game could easily cut the beginning, and the story could just be about a young man who stumbles across a beautiful girl in the forest and follows her into a castle where he meets a strange cat...and so on.
The cat - I like the cat. More than that, I enjoyed those few times when he could disappear into a hole and tackle those few challenges. I actually wished the game could focus more on him and be about him navigating the castle or sewer passageways to allow the young/old man to proceed with his quest. The cat's dialogue made me wonder whether he was really a cat or used to be human. Judging by what he and Beatrice had to say, you seem to have given some thought to the back story of this entire world, and it's commendable that you didn't bog down players with exposition.
I like that you gave the main character a mix of Skills and Magic, although admittedly I rarely had to use Magic until I ran out of TP. Still, it's good to give players options during battle.
Nitpick: The prisoner and the cat (sorry, can't remember their name as I'm terrible with them) are shown to have MP although they don't have the Magic spells to use it.
The text could use some proofreading for typos and punctuation, but the writing is not all bad. The story is told clearly, and I like the tension of the scene when Beatrice interrogates a supposedly mute princess. Another reason I like the cat is because his character abandons the main player when he (the cat) thinks the odds are against him. This made his actions and character more realistic to me, and I respected him more.
I don't mind swear words at all, but the story continues along so innocently that it's jarring when the main character suddenly says the F and S words (at least to me).
I like the rare bits of humour you inserted into the game, like when the cat tells the prison guard "You are relieved of your services" while attempting to rescue the princess.
I'm curious, is there any particular reason why you didn't show the princess' face earlier in the game? I know that she was playing mute earlier, but players could still see her face when she mumbles or keep silent ("....").
I was a bit surprised that you could finish the game without any boss battle. You just reach the end of the sewers and that's it. I've been escaping every random encounter I came across - it got to the point when I was getting encounters every ten steps, it feels like - and I was gearing up for a tough battle. This is because you had chests in the sewers dropping Life Ups and other stat increases, so naturally I thought the party was about to face their final challenge soon. Like another showdown with Beatrice or some other boss. But then the game ends, so I wonder if I'm missing something.
I like the Special Ending at the end of the credits, because you seem to hint there was more to come. You probably did have more gameplay and content planned, but had to do what you could with time constraints.
