spent like half my playthrough audibly saying variations of "that's so f*cking cool".
i mean, my dude. my pal. this game was the KING of attention to detail. to a level i don't think i've seen in an rpg maker game yet. the way the girl's sprites changed when you picked up teddy and the blanket? the lightning that gives you a better view of the maps but only for a moment? the way the ice monster changed speed giving it a more erratic and dangerous feel? the way the fire creature rapidly zipped across the screen in a darkly playful way? the fact that oversized words are ONLY used for grandma, giving her words in the flashback and the final battle a truly dangerous aura? the use of everything the player has learned so far in the area before getting home? the sudden and wordless shift in tone when said final battle ends and we interact with the objects of grandma's room? "she's a BRAVE little girl"? the storm being used as a metaphor for pain and grief? just the fact that the text window is pink symbolizing the perspective of the little girl we're playing as and giving insight into whether what's happening is real or not? AND the fact that the pink window isn't used in the ending since now we're seeing the real world? seriously, why did you go so hard in everything???
sorry for the rant of unfocused thoughts, but MY GOD, i had to get it off my chest because this amount of care in a work shouldn't be overlooked. now, on a more coherent note: i loved this! what a great story about a child dealing with her complicated family life, and trying to come to terms with things she doesn't understand. the "child getting lost in a disturbing fantasy world" trope is part of great pieces of media for a reason, and it's no different here. loved the design of everything: the house feels homely but empty when there's no one, the dungeons have a great feel and look to them, the storm and snow visual effects really amplify the vibes... and the sprites and art are super neat too, you really have a distinct style that comes through in this and All I Want really well. and btw, you made this in a MONTH? how?? every time i finished a dungeon i was like "wait it's STILL going???" (in a good way tho, lol). also forgot to mention earlier but the fights were really well balanced too, well done.
if i have to nitpick anything, this might sound dumb but i kinda wish the save system wasn't based around "sleeping"? i know the game is called Sweet Dreams and there's no real way any of what happened wasn't a dream, but i kinda wished i was kept more in the dark about if what happens is real. also some puzzles are a bit unfair, like the moving block of ice which feels like it's impossible to control, getting to zuzu is kind of awkward, and i wish there was more indication that you had to push the giant ice a LOT of times for it to move. i also never used the pop rocks since running out of spirit wasn't a problem in the slightest, and i agree with zem that the game over screen at the end is a bit confusing. but like, all these problems i have are little things here and there, there's no big overarching issue or giant flaw at the base of the game. it all feels really solid and tight, and i'm glad this experience made you learn as a developer.
you really have a knack for game design and storytelling, and if All I Want is any indication, i'm glad you kept it up and hope you continue to do so in your future projects!! :>
what a lovely comment! Thank you so much! All the little details that I kick myself over including feel so worth it when they’re noticed haha. This one was such a labor of love. It was the very first pixel art I’d done. And was loosely inspired by the very very first game I made with VX Ace like 5 years ago that only my friends saw haha. I wanted to kinda go full circle in my learning journey here and start with this idea again. Little girl having a nightmare.
You give rly kind and useful feedback, it is so appreciated. I have so many stories in my heart to tell and it means a lot to me to get to share them with people who love stories and games as much as I do.
That was pretty cool. The mom and zuzu bossfights werent too clear for me, which was probably my fault. How does the sliding ice cube work? I thought i was supposed to push it, but it felt like it was running away from me on its own
Hey thanks for playing! Not ur fault, turns out balancing battle is much harder than I gave it credit for. The ice block is supposed to just run away from you, I’d had a whole dialogue idea in mind to make it a sentient ice block that’s running away but ran out of time to animate it so left it as is. But it’s on the list to add that and I think it’ll be a lot clearer as a puzzle. Thanks for the comment! It helps so much.
Well it wasn't battle per se, but rather the puzzles right before them. The fights felt good especially the final boss, I had to figure out which attacks dealt how much damage, to time my heals right.
I thought frostbite was Zuzu at first, but when I figured out I need to get to the ice block, I thought I was doing something wrong/cheesing it unintentionally since I was getting hit every time.
And the fire/mom puzzle, since I was hitting enter I skipped the first dialogue after I started pushing so I thought I needed to do something else, like hit the guy in the middle of the lap, over the lava with the freezy power. Both of these problems are very much obvious and my own fault in hindsight lol
Also was the teddy option (the one that cost 50?? 20???) A block? I don't think figured it out, it didn't have a description, or I missed it.
Oh yeah one more thing. There should be an end screen instead of a game over. I got confused so I re did the final boss to make sure it wasn't a bug. I liked the game a lot btw! Hopefully my comment somehow helps? Keep up the wonderful work!!
thank you! This does help, and yes the Teddy option is a block. I had no idea it’s not normal to use the game over screen for the ending until I saw someone playing it on twitch last week and had the same feedback 😂. All of this has been a huge learning curve and it’s on the list to update haha. Such helpful feedback, thank you! I’m doing the next horror jam next month as well and I hope you play my next project, it should be more proper scary next time.
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(SPOILERS)
spent like half my playthrough audibly saying variations of "that's so f*cking cool".
i mean, my dude. my pal. this game was the KING of attention to detail. to a level i don't think i've seen in an rpg maker game yet. the way the girl's sprites changed when you picked up teddy and the blanket? the lightning that gives you a better view of the maps but only for a moment? the way the ice monster changed speed giving it a more erratic and dangerous feel? the way the fire creature rapidly zipped across the screen in a darkly playful way? the fact that oversized words are ONLY used for grandma, giving her words in the flashback and the final battle a truly dangerous aura? the use of everything the player has learned so far in the area before getting home? the sudden and wordless shift in tone when said final battle ends and we interact with the objects of grandma's room? "she's a BRAVE little girl"? the storm being used as a metaphor for pain and grief? just the fact that the text window is pink symbolizing the perspective of the little girl we're playing as and giving insight into whether what's happening is real or not? AND the fact that the pink window isn't used in the ending since now we're seeing the real world? seriously, why did you go so hard in everything???
sorry for the rant of unfocused thoughts, but MY GOD, i had to get it off my chest because this amount of care in a work shouldn't be overlooked. now, on a more coherent note: i loved this! what a great story about a child dealing with her complicated family life, and trying to come to terms with things she doesn't understand. the "child getting lost in a disturbing fantasy world" trope is part of great pieces of media for a reason, and it's no different here. loved the design of everything: the house feels homely but empty when there's no one, the dungeons have a great feel and look to them, the storm and snow visual effects really amplify the vibes... and the sprites and art are super neat too, you really have a distinct style that comes through in this and All I Want really well. and btw, you made this in a MONTH? how?? every time i finished a dungeon i was like "wait it's STILL going???" (in a good way tho, lol). also forgot to mention earlier but the fights were really well balanced too, well done.
if i have to nitpick anything, this might sound dumb but i kinda wish the save system wasn't based around "sleeping"? i know the game is called Sweet Dreams and there's no real way any of what happened wasn't a dream, but i kinda wished i was kept more in the dark about if what happens is real. also some puzzles are a bit unfair, like the moving block of ice which feels like it's impossible to control, getting to zuzu is kind of awkward, and i wish there was more indication that you had to push the giant ice a LOT of times for it to move. i also never used the pop rocks since running out of spirit wasn't a problem in the slightest, and i agree with zem that the game over screen at the end is a bit confusing. but like, all these problems i have are little things here and there, there's no big overarching issue or giant flaw at the base of the game. it all feels really solid and tight, and i'm glad this experience made you learn as a developer.
you really have a knack for game design and storytelling, and if All I Want is any indication, i'm glad you kept it up and hope you continue to do so in your future projects!! :>
what a lovely comment! Thank you so much! All the little details that I kick myself over including feel so worth it when they’re noticed haha. This one was such a labor of love. It was the very first pixel art I’d done. And was loosely inspired by the very very first game I made with VX Ace like 5 years ago that only my friends saw haha. I wanted to kinda go full circle in my learning journey here and start with this idea again. Little girl having a nightmare.
You give rly kind and useful feedback, it is so appreciated. I have so many stories in my heart to tell and it means a lot to me to get to share them with people who love stories and games as much as I do.
That was pretty cool. The mom and zuzu bossfights werent too clear for me, which was probably my fault. How does the sliding ice cube work? I thought i was supposed to push it, but it felt like it was running away from me on its own
Hey thanks for playing! Not ur fault, turns out balancing battle is much harder than I gave it credit for. The ice block is supposed to just run away from you, I’d had a whole dialogue idea in mind to make it a sentient ice block that’s running away but ran out of time to animate it so left it as is. But it’s on the list to add that and I think it’ll be a lot clearer as a puzzle. Thanks for the comment! It helps so much.
Well it wasn't battle per se, but rather the puzzles right before them. The fights felt good especially the final boss, I had to figure out which attacks dealt how much damage, to time my heals right.
I thought frostbite was Zuzu at first, but when I figured out I need to get to the ice block, I thought I was doing something wrong/cheesing it unintentionally since I was getting hit every time.
And the fire/mom puzzle, since I was hitting enter I skipped the first dialogue after I started pushing so I thought I needed to do something else, like hit the guy in the middle of the lap, over the lava with the freezy power. Both of these problems are very much obvious and my own fault in hindsight lol
Also was the teddy option (the one that cost 50?? 20???) A block? I don't think figured it out, it didn't have a description, or I missed it.
Oh yeah one more thing. There should be an end screen instead of a game over. I got confused so I re did the final boss to make sure it wasn't a bug. I liked the game a lot btw! Hopefully my comment somehow helps? Keep up the wonderful work!!
thank you! This does help, and yes the Teddy option is a block. I had no idea it’s not normal to use the game over screen for the ending until I saw someone playing it on twitch last week and had the same feedback 😂. All of this has been a huge learning curve and it’s on the list to update haha. Such helpful feedback, thank you! I’m doing the next horror jam next month as well and I hope you play my next project, it should be more proper scary next time.
I'm definetly looking forward to your next project!! and I'm glad my feedback helped even a little bit ^^
Could we get a download version? Please and thank you! 🙏
Yeah! No issue. There you go!
Awesome, cheers! 👏