NONEWORLD

~Review copy A small JRPG with about ~3.5 hours of content on normal difficulty, I think there were only around 10 battles including a few boss fights, so it's more focused on the narrative and the mood of the game. Strangely the game was somewhat challenging and it's kinda odd because by the time you unlock all of the abilities, you will finish the game, so you never get to fully utilize the synergy to its full potential. You went through the trouble of creating a fully functional party based/synergy based strategy, and then you only have like 3 fight left when you have access to everything (I have to say not a fully realized feature). Even though I think the writing was decent and the game had a few warm character moments, I felt like you didn't utilize the world-building and exploration as much as you should have, and I often felt like the rooms and biomes were too similar and didn't have any curious landmarks. Sure, you still have a nice art direction compared to the generic RPG maker kits, but the locations need some personality instead if just having square rooms and roads. When I think of immersive JRPG games and more specifically, Earthbound type games, you want to reward the curiosity of the player, you want make it exciting to explore the game, even if the game is mostly linear, you want to let the player explore some optional locations and make them feel like they found something extra. On paper the combat system wasn't bad, mostly very vanilla JRPG mechanics, but I do have some issues with a few specific parts of it. For example, all 4 characters have an instant access to the same status effect "weak", like sure they get more variety later, but where is the variety before you unlock those, why they all apply weak, that is not how you design characters in a party based RPG. The balancing was a little funky as well, I felt like using "resist" was often not even worth the resources or the turn to use it, and I could not even tell if it reduced the damage enough. Enemies would go from hitting me for 40 to 50 with armor up, like how low is that damage resist, and it was not just one time, I rarely felt like it did anything. The enemies were seemingly doing very strange amounts of damage sometimes, like even with defense up sometimes they would just erase all of your HP, it was almost never worth using healing items because they would damage you for 100+ anyway. I really wish you had more optional locations in general, sometimes I was like, what a cute animation for the boat rides, and then you never see it again. You really should have added a few islands to explore, maybe find some extra items, fight a few more enemies. A lot of the "optional" collection is on the way you were going to take anyway, so you always want to explore the game, but usually there is nowhere to go. Very rarely you would introduce some extra characters and side quests, and those were the better moments of the game, but that is the thing, the game felt very hollow and not populated enough with things to do, or characters to talk to. [h1]Pros:[/h1] (+) I did find the game to be very moody, partially because the soundtrack was so unusual, feels like a combination of broken melodies, sinister combat beats, and also very atmospheric and ambient music. Props if it was made for the game, I don't know if it was, but really awesome music either way. (+) The writing wasn't really bad by itself and there were a few warm moments, however, because I feel like you didn't give enough character to the individual locations, I wasn't as immersed in it (+) I like the art direction and just the unusual Alice in Wonderland vibe, but again, you are making most of the stages from the tiles that you made, you not drawing enough unique details or unique characters, and that hurts the world building. You need more unique objects in the game, not just ground and wall tiles [h1]Feedback: [/h1] [u]Level Design/Rewarding Exploration: [/u] - I always felt like at some point the game would give me more freedom to explore and find things, and it felt it was extremely linear and unrewarding to move around, even if I found something, it was just another chest on the way I was going anyway. You don't have to add like huge bonus areas, but you need to sprinkle enough smaller optional areas and some secrets so the player is rewarded if they choose to look around. There was this cool animation with boat rides, you know, make that water area larger, add a few islands, a few extra chests, things like that. - even though you have nice art direction, the stages and rooms look too similar and not exciting to explore. 3 things you could consider doing. You could maybe add more random characters that would talk to the player. You could add more biome specific landmarks or drawings like various objects, or you could add more secrets, maybe walls you can break, and so on. - consider adding a run button, or make the character a little faster, I thought the game was unusually slow with the movement - on a side note, I get that you probably playing in the window because you drew the game in that size, but it's too small, it's hard to appreciate the details. I liked that ending art, I wish the game had more art panels like that around [u] Combat: [/u] - there were not enough enemies in the late game to actually take advantage of new skills, items and synergy. You will have like 2 or 3 fights left. The area probably needed to be bigger overall. - something is really off with your resist balance, I never felt like it did enough to be even worth spending a turn on it, if anything enemies would hurt me more when I had it - you gave all 4 characters access to "weak", like why all 4 characters, you should be giving them identity before you unlock anything - I suspect it might be possible to softlock yourself if you can't rest and can't heal enough before some fights - it's kinda weird how rare the stores are, maybe add a few more, and a few extra enemies to support their usefulness [b]Overall Thoughts: 6/10 [/b] You didn't do anything objectively wrong, but I think more than anything else, you still struggle to understand how to reward exploration, and how to make the locations exciting to navigate. Try to add more optional areas and maybe some hidden mechanics that use the items you already have. Consider adding more visual landmarks to make every biome look more unique, including the individual rooms that often look the same. Even if you just add more characters to talk to, the game will not feel like such a slog, there were so many areas where I was walking for 10 minutes with nothing exciting, you need to do more world-building with more optional characters. So overall, the writing was decent, the music was great, but the game felt a little too basic with exploration, I think you left a lot on the bone there with a lot of areas to improve. Consider making the character a little faster, she is extra slow, even by JRPG standards. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

Honestly, this is a game I can see myself finishing. The cute art, fun characters, and dialogue kept me interested, and I really love the black and white theme. I also like that the game doesn't tell you everything. It feels like you're slowly discovering a secret as you explore the world, and I always wanted to see what was waiting in the next area. I don’t usually play action RPGs, but the combat in this game was easy to learn and not too hard. One thing I really liked was how the game mixes cute characters with a dark and mysterious world. That contrast made the adventure feel unique and gave me this quiet feeling of curiosity the whole time, like I was gently pulled forward just to see what would happen next. I’m currently about halfway through the game, and as a cozy gamer, I really like it so far. I love the large black and white cat in the game too. It has a slightly mischievous “bad smile” on its face, like it’s saying to us, “I know something you don’t”. ≽^⎚⩊⎚^≼

Милая, но в то же время мрачная и пустая JRPG. Игра проходится приблизительно за 3-4 часа на нормальной сложности. Большую часть времени вы будете решать головоломки в красивых, но крайне однообразных и тёмных локациях. Проект делает упор на нарратив, линейность и визуал, практически обходя стороной сражения(За всю игру их наберётся не больше десяти). Однако после финальных титров остаётся ощущение недосказанности и пустоты. Отчётливо видно, что автору не хватило времени на подробное раскрытие игрового мира. Решение каждой загадки занимает немало времени, но никакого вознаграждения за это игрок не получает. Было бы славно, если бы за преодоление очередного препятствия показывали мини-кат-сцену -- хотя бы такую, как в финале. Визуал очень приятный, но из-за однообразия он быстро надоедает. Добивает общее впечатление жёсткая линейность: она не позволяет полностью прочувствовать мир, так как игрока никогда не выпускают за пределы строго обозначенного маршрута. Когда я впервые нашёл эту игру, то я сильно завысил себе ожидания как раз из-за хорошего визуального стиля, однако ожидания не сильно оправдались, и по большей части это моя вина. Я бы не сказал, что мне игра не понравилась, но в то же время она не настолько хороша, чтобы ставить ей оценку выше... 6/10 Спасибо Millie Snowfall за этот проект и пожелаю удачи в создании новых, если этот, конечно, был не последним!

I'm not sure how I found this game, or how it found me, or what it was, or what I am, but I'm pretty sure it was trying to tell me. Unfortunately the sign was ineligible. I'm so glad this found it's way into my purview, however that happened. It's short and concise, and left me with many questions, in a positive way. It runs fine on the steam deck. No issues at all. Wonderful game!

I highly recommend checking this game out. Beautiful artwork and charming characters. With a puzzling story that you will need to play through a few times to piece it all together. As a first released project by this developer I am very much looking forward to seeing what they do next.

уснёшь когда будешь проходить эту игру. Игра очень хочет быть мистической, как другие психологические игры со всеми тропами, но ей это не удалось. Только за визуал могу чуток похвалить. Не стоит своих деняг

Review written for Noisy Pixel, which you can view here: https://youtu.be/S8wFlkHNEfE?si=opoeD1YkZDO8L6zW There’s always something special about playing through an indie project created by a single developer, even more so when it’s their debut work. Perhaps it’s purely psychological, but I always find the experience to feel much more intimate than other games, like paging through a sketchbook full of unique drawings that lack just the right amount of polish. As fresh and ambitious ideas are laid on canvas and battles against the constraints of limited budget, time, and experience are waged, the developer’s voice tends to sit at the very forefront, resulting in a work of art that often feels deeply personal and expressive. During my time with NONEWORLD, the debut title of developer, artist, and musician Millie Snowfall, the act of playing the game often felt like a conversation had directly with Millie herself, as the unique sense of earnestness, humor, and mystery seemed to effortlessly pour out of her hand-crafted world. NONEWORLD places you into the role of Princess Quartz, who awakens with a faded memory within a dark castle, accompanied at first only by a mysterious omnipresent Cheshire Cat. There is little backstory beyond this minimal setup, which makes it feel natural to slide into the same headspace as the confused and displaced princess. As you explore the dark, surreal world in search of a way to return home, it doesn’t take long before you find yourself fighting against horrid manifestations and monstrosities. Thankfully, your battle is not a lone one for long, as you are gradually joined by the cheerful Mayday, the reclusive Cloud, and the protective Ophelia over the course of your journey. Interestingly, these characters seem to be colorful reflections of the Princess, each encapsulating a different aspect of her now-mostly-forgotten personality. Alongside the Princess’s own witty and earnest dialogue, party members will tend to chime in with their own personable and often silly banter, which results in each being a more than welcome addition to the group. This contrast between the cute and funny characters provides a nice balance to the gloomy world, preventing the experience as a whole from ever becoming too bleak to enjoy. While the world starts as purely an ominous and disorienting one, you will quickly find yourself traveling through a diverse set of landscapes such as the decaying Farm Town, the flooded Swamplands, and the sinister Shadow Spire. As you’d expect, each location features its own set of unique characters, landmarks, and secrets to uncover, ranging from consumable items to scrolls that provide insight into the backstory of the Princess. What really sells each of these areas as its own bespoke location, however, is the absolutely enchanting sound design. Shifting seamlessly from unsettling and dissonant to upbeat and adventurous, the music consistently matches and elevates the delicate balance of cuteness and horror in a way that I found thoroughly enjoyable. Pairing this with the abundance of lovable sound effects, such as the fun sound made whenever a patch of mushrooms is stepped on or the joyous exclamation made upon catching a fish, results in an audiovisual presentation that stands out with a distinct personality. Combat encounters with the manifestations within NONEWORLD are purely a turn-based affair revolving around the game’s unique revenge and energy systems, each of which has its own associated meter. You build revenge either by taking damage, using specific energy moves, or by consuming items; after building up enough revenge, you can expend it to dish out powerful offensive moves. On the flip side, energy moves tend to be more defensive, and you only build up additional energy through the use of items or by defeating enemies in combat. The most powerful moves in the game, such as the unique ultimates associated with each character, require expending a combination of revenge and energy, making them difficult to pull off without proper foresight. You retain your built-up revenge and energy after each encounter and can also use items to further fortify these meters, making it easy to always feel prepared for what comes next. Adding an additional layer of complexity to the combat is a modest suite of buffs, debuffs, and status conditions, all of which consistently feel impactful to utilize or crippling when used by an enemy. My personal favorite was the poison status effect, as the damage over time felt like a strong answer to the guard ability that many enemies loved to utilize; though I loved the sharpness buff as well, as it always feels great to deal additional damage. I played through NONEWORLD twice, once on the standard difficulty and once on nightmare, and enjoyed the combat systems on both playthroughs, though I do think the game is a little overgenerous in terms of what it provides to the player. Being able to store revenge and energy, or even increase it, outside of combat made it feel a bit too easy to buff up my team with little consequence, and I found myself breezing through most encounters as a result. If you explore thoroughly, there is an overabundance of items, making it easy to consistently do this, and with only a handful of encounters within the game, I never felt any sort of pressure that I would run out of resources. I would have loved to see an increase in encounter density and variety as the fundamentals of the combat system are unique and interesting, but I just didn’t feel like I needed to fully engage with it in order to succeed. This, of course, isn’t a problem if you’re here purely for the atmospheric storytelling, but I would recommend anyone comfortable with turn-based combat to opt for the nightmare difficulty just to add more friction to the experience. Outside of combat, the gameplay focuses on exploration of the world, completing a small selection of side quests, and solving fairly simple puzzles. The exploration and side quests go hand in hand, as each quest just requires finding a specific item somewhere and then returning it to the lovable NPC who requested it. The puzzles are, for the most part, similar, where you track down switches to open up the locked doors blocking the critical path, though there are a few unique mechanics, such as shrinking down to fit through a mouse hole, collecting water in a teacup to fill up chalices, and even remotely controlling a drone guard to have it step on out-of-reach pressure plates. I felt like there was a lot of potential to combine these different ideas into more elaborate puzzles, so I was a bit disappointed when I found this wasn’t the case. I also wouldn’t have minded an increased roster of NPCs to help out, as I thoroughly enjoyed the personality of those present, but I understand there is a delicate balance to making the world feel as though it’s teetering on the brink of existence, which too many NPCs could easily detract from. NONEWORLD is an experience that thrives as you allow yourself to sink into the unique atmosphere of its simultaneously cute and decaying world. As you make your journey home alongside a cast of colorful, lovable characters, you’ll find that the darkness and mystery shrouding the start of the adventure begin to feel much more manageable to navigate. While I would have loved for the combat to instill a bit more tension and for the puzzles to grow more complex throughout the game, this did little to overshadow Millie Snowfall’s absolutely enchanting world. Brought to life through its diverse and creative soundscape as well as through its cleverly minimalist storytelling, which trusts the player to piece together and form their own conclusions rather than stating anything outright, NONEWORLD deserves to be on the radar of anyone looking for expressive, intimate, and earnest storytelling complemented by a fun and engaging combat system.

только зашел, a уже понравилось

Been playing for a few hours now, and its a pretty interesting game. (Haven't finished yet, to be clear) Pros: - Great atmosphere. The feeling of "There is something wrong here" saturates everything, including your character. The overarching theme of recovering memories makes me feel like I'm living through a mystery novel and I'm waiting for the pieces to all fall into place in my head. I'm excited to reach the end. - There's some pretty funny jokes scattered around your adventure. I've definitely laughed a few times which helps keep the aforementioned "something is wrong" feeling from being overwhelming. - The difficulty seems to be scaling pretty well as the game goes on. The berries are a great mechanic, and important/useful items are spaced along the adventure so you don't run out but also don't end up with too many. Battles can be both tough and easy depending on how well you learn to use your abilities. Cons: - There's several times where you're forced to go to the next area as soon as you enter a certain room, with no way to go back. Unfortunately, there's no real way to know you're entering said room until its too late, so I've missed a couple things by accidentally progressing down the correct path. Possibly will get more chances as I get further in the game, but I'm not sure yet. - Still has some bugs. I've clipped out of bounds three times already. twice because a wall didn't actually have a barrier attached to it, and once due to a room exit with an awkwardly placed loading trigger. I also ended up soft-locking myself at one point and having to force quit the game losing progress. Overall, I'm having a great time. This is the first time I bought a game off the "just released" list and I think I found a good one :D

A fun, short adventure with strong Alice in Wonderland vibes set in a striking monochrome world. Every corner hides eerie manifestations that keep exploration interesting, and multiple playthroughs are rewarding thanks to special achievements that gradually reveal more of the world's lore. A memorable indie experience that rides the line of cutesy and uncanny with plenty of mystery packed into a compact journey.