Go to the game's main page
Review
Adapted from an IFCOMP24 Review
RPG Maker is not my jam. Its throwback graphics are adorable for about the first two minutes, then the experience quickly becomes dominated by a maddeningly slow full traversal of every screen. Regardless of the inventiveness of the screens in question, they grow tiresome as I watch the protagonist… walk. When it doubles down on a Pokemon-ish combat of ‘select move, randomize damage, repeat’ I can hear my brain groaning.
Anime doesn’t have any particular hooks in me either - though I’m more agnostic to it. There are anime works I enjoy, almost always because of the storytelling, not the animation style or tropes per se. Certainly, I do not seek out works in that style UNLESS I am given to understand the story is something special.
All that said, I do love me a good puncturing of sacred cows, and who doesn’t? The title of this piece alone cues its subversive intent, and grabs my attention. Applying it to a platform and style that I am suspicious about… yeah, I’d check that out.
Thankfully, you the player do not need to manually navigate the world, the game does that for you. Combat is tedious but not cruel, and has a move that amusingly short-circuits things. The settings are pretty random and graphically interesting. Where the work comes alive is by making the most of its subversions, I think. Yes in gameplay, though that remains the most mixed of successes. Really, it’s the writing that brings the whole thing to life.
Our protagonist wants a cup of tea. In a very specific mug. The obstacles in her path are hilariously out of scope to her quest, of which I would INCLUDE RPG Maker gameplay. That juxtaposition alone is amusing but could not carry the weight of the work if not for the wonderfully wry humor that infuses every interaction. NPCs are laughably venal and unhelpful, but vividly so. You get to talk to neighbors (who are understandably concerned if you start rifling their house), wizards and genies and everyone’s favorite, (Spoiler - click to show)Actual, Literal Satan. As far as I can tell that is his full, given name. Just reading it still elicits snorts from me.
Our protagonist is indefatigable in her progress, taking one bananas development after another totally in stride. Her observations about the proceedings are subversive yet somehow optimistic and warm, even when fighting! The whole thing builds a fun vibe that mostly overcomes its gameplay challenges. Its brevity is a key element here. The game seems to have a supernatural sense of where the ‘wearing out its welcome’ line is, and pulls up short.
It never really breached into Engaging, I don’t think RPG Maker is engineered to provide that experience for me. For sure though, the thing Sparked every step of the way. Only two things kept it from being seamless: 1) it would not run on my linux box because of font dependencies. This was fine, online is a perfectly acceptable experience. 2) the ‘space bar select’ input was pretty hair trigger. It often interpreted a button press as multiple clicks, making selections I had no intent of making. Also not a HUGE deal, though I likely missed some great dialogue because of it. Well worth your time, ESPECIALLY if RPG Maker is not your thing.
Played: 10/9/24
Playtime: 20m, bailed, joined guard, in swamp, won
Artistic/Technical ratings: Sparks of Joy/Mostly Seamless
Would Play Again?: No, experience feels complete
Artistic scale: Bouncy, Mechanical, Sparks of Joy, Engaging, Transcendent
Technical scale: Unplayable, Intrusive, Notable (Bugginess), Mostly Seamless, Seamless
