The Good
The game runs fluently with few, extremely minor hiccups on an average to decent PC.
The Story
So far, only two chapters have been released. In the first, according to a friend of mine, there used to be an intro, but I didn't see that, therefore, I had no idea why we were in an abandoned (?) Kindergarten and no further story came until a singular room in chapter two (id actually know how many levels this has, there is no labeling) that explained the entire backstory of the mascots through a comic.
[Correction, there is an intro, in the corner]
I can't say it's very persuasive so far, I didn't care about the characters and the way I was told felt very out of place. I am sure there are some ways to explain it, but regardless, the two minute story I got so far wasn't exactly thrilling.
Motivations were vague at best and a lot of it seemed very random.
In the demo are a few voice recordings in the first chapter, those however have been removed. There is another recording in chapter two, however, it didn't reveal anything that I didn't gather from the comics.
TL;DR: The story doesn't have any impact, so far.
The Gameplay
The puzzles weren't exactly challenging, however, that may just come from personal experience with those exact puzzles.
The chases were relatively intiutive, apart from some very random sudden passages and a point where one of the entities literally stopped right in front of me so I could pull a lever.
Mechanics were introduced and either never used again - during the pakour (which has no reason to exist) I had a stamina bar, something that never came up again after that one minute or before.
Bugs did happen.
Mostly the saving mechanics seem to be struggling. I reloaded at the very beginning of the second chapter, which ended up trapping me, so I had to restart the game. In itself, not too much of a bother, you can speedrun the first level in less than five minutes, but regardless, safe points in general were kind of iffy. Nothing too bad though, just walking back to where you died (which didn't take long).
TL;DR: Eh, inconsistent and sometimes buggy, but neither too time consuming, nor very challenging.
The Arts n' Stuff
Most of the props used in this game seem to be from puplic libraries. In itself, that's okay- However, nothing looks consistent. You have books that look like they're from the 1930s next to the playroom and some cardboardboxes (that don't really make sense). There are labeled drawers that have all the same label, and they're on top of each other. There are books in the bookcase that float in the air, and I mean, this book is mid falling, because whatever it's supposed to lean on, isn't there.
My favourite object in the entire game is a cabinet, the only openable one (in my memory) which had doors labeled cabinet_door_L and _R. And the one side swings in the same direction as the other one, which in this case means, it cannot be closed, it can only hit it's own outer wall.
The character design is... there. I am trying not to get passionate about some of the things that upset me in this game, but by god. The bunnies look plain and Bokkie themself look like an absolute mess. My child wouldn't get close enough to see this Kindergarten through the windows of an airplane.
I'm sorry, but what is that? I know it's supposed to be a teddy, but what is up with it's everything? The colours are odd, the 3D model looks neither creepy or good and the only thing I think is a nice touch are the visible threads on the feet things of the sitting model. I like that, I genuinly do, because it makes it feel like an actual toy. Everything else doesn't. Why does it have sharp teeth? Why do the red eyes dissapear when it jumpscares me? Why does it look so inconsistent?
Maybe that'll be explained, but even the drawings don't look good. That's not a good design.And design is hard, but maybe this should have been reworked a little. If you want to counter it with Huggy looking weird -> Huggy has a function. Long arms to hug you and a wide smile (without sharp teeth if we take the 'OG' design). He has big eyes and is soft. He reminds me of a toy I used to have, where Bokkie reminds me of the rip off that would make me cry if someone had given me that. (That's a lie, but I wouldn't have been happy, that's for sure.
Passion and AI
Some people have pointed out that, especially the art looks AI generated. I agree. Most of that art has been removed and replaced (by drawings that, even if not perfect, are an upgrade), but there are still things here and there that smell odd. For example, the drawings in the comic have subtle incosistencies. Backgrounds not matching the previous picture, a beard that's a full beard in one frame and a seperate moustache in the next. There are numbers on some of the front pages and on others not. I initially thought they were the numbers I needed, honestly.
Then there are also descriptions that match neither the writing style nor formatting of the comics and seem overly desciptive. As in, 'A generic, yet mysterious key with an unknown use. Keep it on hand, as it may unlock doors, chests or secrets yet to be discovered.' You open the door at the end of the hallway, not even five meters from where you find it and it leads to the sewers. Maybe this is a joke, but only two items I found had descriptions at all.
Despite how it may sounds, I am not completely opposed to using AI and public props in your work.
However.
If your work is 60% not your own work, then this isn't your product. The mpst obvious AI art has been removed, yes, the obvious AI voice acting has been removed, yes, but a lot were not replaced, which leads to missing pieces and blank walls. Walking around in this game is like walking around in a recycled IKEA. It doesn't feel like a real place in the slightest, because nothing seems to really add up.
If the game is going to replace some of the material, good. However, the developer is already charging money for something they mostly didn't make. The only things I believe are their own are some of the shelfs in the second chapter, the mascots, the story and the code itself.
Even the starting area looks like a recoloured air port for crying out loud. There are so many inconsistencies that make it seem like the developer didn't care enough to make most of the props or adapt the story to work with what is available.
I understand that game developing is hard. Especially on your own and you probably won't have all day to work on it. But don't call this a passion project and then have typos on every second page, nonsensical assets, and world building so thin that it feels like I'll break the fourth wall if I look at a cabinet wrong.
Maybe try creating different types of games. For example, something I've seen a lot new developers experimenting with are rpg maker games. And I've seen a lot of very creative ones. Or maybe try more platform based games, they can still be 3D (My Friend Pedro, as example). You can learn what you need to learn over time, if you don't have the resources to work with someone together.
I want this creator to better, and I hope the next time I hear from them it'll be more positive, because this isn't it, chief. Especially since you're expecting money. 4€ are just about apropriate, but given the lack of visible passion, I am not exactly willing to give you that. You can code. Maybe you can find a team you can work with, earn money that way. And maybe this game will get polished to hell and back, but that's not how you sell products. If you sell a cake, don't give me a cake mix to do at home.
I sincerely want to believe that this developer can do better, and honestly, if this was free, I wouldn't be half as frustrated. But there is a difference between a free and a cheap product, and I'd rather have none than cheap, in this regard.
TL;DR: If this is a passionate project, man, I am so sorry for the developer. Because it sure as hell doesn't have much.
