MV - Wind Ryder (Available on Steam)

They have camera technology!? :kaoswt2: Or maybe... they have camera magic!? OMG DO THEY HAVE PHOTOMANCERS?

Thank you Tridium!!! If only I could get more consistent on working on part 2.

Lol alice, they have magic and weird monsters and summoning, but it's the camera technology that you don't believe in.

MY BOY. Have you seen what happens in a camera obscura?:kaoswt2: A lightning bolt comin' outa William Wallace's butt feels more believable than that!

2024 End of the year update:

I've been chipping away at part 2. Here is what's coming:

• Improve your social stats to unlock different playstyles / responses / how attractive you appear to your companions.

• Take your companion on a date. Your companion will be fully interactable as she follows you around like a puppy (head pats are allowed).

• Build intimacy by doing different activities like shopping, going out to eat, playing games and interacting with your companion.

• Light-hearted adventure (hopefully). Relax and enjoy the experience.

• Drooling art, like literally drooling. At least pretend you are looking away, Anabelle.

• Massage mini game. That's a nice touch.

That's all, a lot of shoutouts to the community for your support, resources, and help.

Anabelle's new look tho :biggrin: She kinda lookin' like she only halfway thru, and be like, "Ah screw it, Ima just go out like this" :wub

Also, IT'S NO BIG DEAL

Idk what i love this whole image so much. But i do!

Also, I see you fixed Anabelle's belt! I love a man with an eye for detail :wub

Thank you @Puppet Knight! I also like how it turned out, although there is still some work left on the "rank up" screen.

Haha @alice_gristle, it's no big deal, right?

Heyo!

I played you game for a while. And uh...

I am a bit torn with this game. On paper, it sounds good. And jumping into the game, it goes quite well. Presentation wise, it does a rather good job (outside from some busts that are slightly lower res (maybe) compared to other images and one color error in one of the NPCs). After the introduction, though, cracks started to show up. I don’t have much to say about the battle system, but there are some dumb (or erroneous) issues with it. First off, the QTE bar: why is it tethered to the map? This makes the use of it jarring (it should have been a UI element) and the only workaround for the user is to disable the battle cam. The second part in the battle is the weird inclusion of pressing right to skip a turn. This is very easy to trigger by mistake, so the player could be confused why someone’s turn was skipped suddenly.

Then there are the notifications that the game throws. The biggest issue is that they drag out (in one instance, the slime’s death animation was held up until the mission notification finished). In all honesty, it would have been far better if they were simpler, in the corner and kept brief. Depending on what the player does, it can be very teeth grindingly slow to do what you need to. I’ve been hammering my keyboard’s space bar, just to speed up the game a bit (and being like “Move it!”).
To wrap up with the presentation, there are some audio issues (especially with Arwen). Some of the voice overs seem to peek or distort. Now, I’m not an audio engineer, but the most likely culprit is that the audio was a bit too loud, and it started messing up. Better recording techniques would help there so the audio doesn’t get messed up. Despite my criticisms, the presentation for the game is good.

On the gameplay side… This is where the game starts falling apart. On the positive side, I do like how the character progression works. The current implementation of the relationship system (barring the notifications) is good. I like that these not only expand on the character interactions a bit, but they also grant some perks as well. I also like the Talents system as well since you can also get some extra buffs. Where the gameplay falters are the battles. It didn’t take me long to get to a point where the fights were me throwing the most damaging spells onto them. I almost One Turn Kill the boss at the Lovebirds, uh… place. Mainly due to figuring out how to beef up Arwen’s Ice Attacks (didn’t take long. A side-mission and pouring talent points into boosting Ice attacks later) and a bit of grinding to level 5. The second side-mission boss I encountered was a little more interesting. But it didn’t take long to take her down (by that point, I had some of the nymph gear attached to Arwen, so she was more buff). Speaking of the Lovebirds place… I’m not sure what to make of it. Finished quite fast, yet it felt like it took a tad longer. I feel like the game could use more meat to the (metaphorical) bones of the game play. Primarily, more interesting mechanics and bosses.

I don’t have anything else to say about the game (I am indifferent to the writing, to be honest), so I’ll wrap up my thoughts here: The game is great presentation wise. It just needs some depth in the game play front and a bit of streamlining.

Thanks for playing @AceOfAces_Mod. I appreciate you giving it a go and leaving feedback!

Will part 2 have battles btw? Or are the battles winning over the hearts of the ladies?

I'd like to have battles, but I'm not good at those. Battlefield of love as of right now though.

Nothing to see here, I've just been practicing my art.

I'm afraid I can't comment on the situation itself (help, my wife is pointing my own sword at me) but awesome looking art!

I think you forgot to draw a tricorder in Arwen's hand!

Not what Arwen sayin' there

Part 2 (demo) might be just around the corner...

Nice, congrats!
Those shoes battle with my game clothing choices for most fantasy era accurate :D

Lol, I'll have you know that fashion is very important in that fantasy setting.

Somebody stop this guy! He's cooking games faster than most of us!