Pretty much the same on thoughts about Unity there - not enough to warrant the cost, to me. They might want to push over to complete free usage unless you put something out that pulls in enough money over a certain amount or something. Maybe they already have such a license?

Yeah, I saw that they almost have Monogame's content pipeline completely opened up, which should be great for open-source cross-platform development.

This looks cool. Reminds me of games like Towerfall with its one-hit kill (IIRC) party-game aesthetic.

Ah, I see. I tried Monogame myself - hope they get that content exporter business sorted out soon (I think they haven't yet?). I know a lot of people use Unity, and I'm sure 2D stuff's easier with it now.

This is cool, yeah! I've yet to try out the demo, but the game looks pretty fun, and I like that method of creating your character. Feels kinda weird and random, but fitting for the game. Keep it up!

Oh, okay, that's understandable. And yeah, I got confused by the samurai on the white ground in front of the sky - I thought that was a different gameplay screen. Anyway, what engine are you using? Unity?

Hm, this is really interesting. I'm wondering how you'll handle these NPCs that will have their own motivations and interactions - that seems to be the real meat of the game.

Yeah, cool. Any reason why you're trying to get to the spaceman? Is your goal to make him freak out in every level?

I just figured you might have something else to say as well, rather than an outright negative comment about something that evidently hasn't much leeway.

It's fine though, it prompted me to fix some transparency issues anyway, so it helped in a round about kind of way.

I don't usually mind and I wouldn't comment on this usually, but if someone gives you feedback, then I think you should value it as much as anyone else's feedback. While slightly negative if you choose to take it that way, Carrie's comment is still constructive. Not everyone's going to say nice things along with negative things. Some people will just tell you straight what issues or problems they see.

Now, I have some (hopefully constructive) criticism.

Your tiles are, to me, a bit rough around the edges, I think. It could all use some theming. For example, the trees don't really feel like they're in the same world as the rest of the objects. They have kind of a "toon" look that doesn't exist on the other objects. The dirt has an obvious strong "tiling" feel to it on the edges, and the wall (in the grassland screenshot, at least) is the same tile as the dirt one, but lighter. The same problem exists with the lava and water (that they're just color-swaps), though I do like the smooth flowing animation. Try designing different tiles for these areas, adding some flora and fauna around for ambience. Be careful of making it too busy.

The characters themselves feel a bit plain and without any style - everyone's kind of dressed normally, and are just standing around. If characters are going to be static, then try drawing them in interesting poses (i.e. sitting at an angle around a table, or reading a poster, or something. I played old-school games like Final Fantasy a lot I was young, so I'm more partial to characters with more exaggerated proportions that allow them to emote and express themselves more-so. Your game reminds me of games like the original Fallout games, which didn't seem great for expression and real "character", though I haven't played most Fallouts (though I do own the first one, I think?).

The interior of the buildings are okay, but lack any identifying features. For example, in the Castle Arms, there's no coat-of-arms, statues, suits of armor, anvils, etc. If it's supposed to be a bar (which I infer it is from the guy offering you a pint of beer), then there should be liquor, bar-stools, posters, flags and banners, perhaps a pool-table or jukebox if you want to be anachronistic / weird, haha.

Anyway, overall the game is pretty good so far. The combat itself looks simple and well-suited to mobile devices with such a simple setup. You might want to add MP drops to the enemies - waiting for your MP to refill, especially in the middle of a battle, seems to conflict with the gameplay.

This looks and sounds interesting. Action RPG combat is always cool.

So the overworld is 2D isometric, and battles take place on that 2D plane with the Samurai sprite? I had a similar idea for an RPG with a ninja, actually, haha. Overworld was top-down, encounters were 2D. Looking pretty solid so far! Kinda tough to imagine pixel-art overworld sprites with these isometric flat tiles!

I really like the boss in the IGF build - it was really amusing and interesting to see and hear how the song grew over time. Great work!

This is a really ambitious, interesting project! I'd like to see how it turns out in the end, if you keep going with it. Keep it up!

@myname - Hah, that looks really cool. Really full of life and attitude.

@Raku - Nice spriting as usual. I'd like to try no shading sprites again as well - it's as valid a style as any other. Anyway, it's a cool character. I assume his cloak will float or bound around while flashing before disappearing?

I like the new look - it feels like Paper Mario. Not a style you see in Harvest Moon-likes, really.

Cloudface Cameo

Haha, cool. You don't usually see indie cameos in other games (but more than you see cameos in normal games).

Yeah, I agree with dek on the blurring. I think the problem is that you're not actually doing a depth-of-field blur, but rather just blurring the top and bottom of the screen. The closer objects (like the trees in the foreground) should be blurrier than the ground, for example. Perhaps you could only blur the top half of the screen to help give the DOF effect as well. Fog might help in this instance.

I think a less noisy color palette would also help, since it's kinda hard to make out the game world. I also second a more colored tank - perhaps bright pink or red or something to help it stand out.

Interesting game idea, though.

Yep, just gotta make a habit of drawing and stuff more.

Cool bagool. Are the crates physics enabled? Also, are all NPCs hostile, or will some be helpful, or _{I feel like I asked this already...?}

EDIT: I did, and I got the answer. Looking good!

Excellent art, Delicious and klamp! I wanna get better at art one day too. :v

Yeah, I like that mini Teslagrad kid - shows his overalls and stuff well for it to be so small and just use two colors.

^ That's an interesting idea - potions that do something related to the name, but not always the same effect. Perhaps it's randomized, or perhaps it does different things depending on if you use one on yourself vs against someone else (if you have the ability to throw potions, anyway).

I like the idea of potions giving you better abilities or advantages, though it seems like a quick-heal ability or potion would be a good idea still. Unless you can get hearts from enemies.