I deliberately bought the game hoping for some delightful cringe, so in that sense the game fully delivered, and I have no regrets buying it because it's exactly what I wanted, and I got a few laughs playing it. That said, the game is obviously on the lower end and very janky, even though I think when it comes to indie horror you can get away with a lot of "cheapness" if you handle the vibes well, so that is something I think you could work on more, making sure you have a sense of dread and immersion that isn't overshadowed by the goofy scenes or the cringe voice acting. To be clear, I am not making fun of the game, sometimes I like to buy janky horror games because most people that make good horror games have to start somewhere, and I am hoping this will be a learning experience for you as well, and perhaps you can make something better next time.
The game is fully voiced which is a double-edged sword, you have to consider if the low quality of the voice acting is actually beneficial to the experience, and in this case it was not, maybe ironically it made the game better because it was so cheesy, but in terms of immersion, you probably would be better off using dialogue sounds instead. I realize the oldschool games also had that issue, but in those cases I think the games themselves would elevate the voice acting, otherwise it feels like you have goofy voice acting distracting from the suspense that you trying to build.
I like that you at least trying to animate every part of the cutscene or interactions, even though overall the result is not great, at least you trying to have some narrative structure which is more than I can say for some games. The character models were reasonably well made for an indie horror (except maybe the flashlight run animation), but the scenery definitely could use more details, you have too many flat surfaces which will give off that cheapness feel. I would also recommend utilizing some texture for things like walls or the top of the head, otherwise the game looks very glossy and unfinished.
It's a fixed camera game (kind of), except that the scenes are usually quick-time-event based, in addition to a few chasing sequences. One mistake I think you kept making is having very long scenes with a single camera shot, probably because you made the location too big, and you should focus on making smaller scenes with a sense of composition and better detail. The rooms in the orphanage looked too plain compared to those inside the church, so again, try to make smaller locations that have unique themes, instead of big locations with nothing in them. The narrative didn't really have anything notable for me, It reminds me of many other horror games that I played, it's certainly not very original.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) Some of the close shots on the characters didn't look bad, for example the girl with 2 white eye-balls or the jaw animations. There are not many parts of the game that look decent, but it was not completely awful all the time.
(+) I like that you trying to animate every part of the cutscene or interactions, even if it does not look great, not many devs would even bother.
(+) The detail in the church was a little better than the orphanage, you need to improve the detail and light balance for the locations.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Some aesthetic elements: [/u]
- the arm does not move when you run with a flashlight which is very silly looking
- you have a tendency to create unusually large scenes which makes the camera angles a bit awkward, if you look at generic examples of fixed camera games like Resident Evil, it's almost always a small room or a hallway with constant camera changes at every corner, what you really want is to thematically create small and enjoyable scenes to look at, you don't want to stretch yourself too thin
- the amount of detail in the orphanage felt very underwhelming/glossy, but the church looked a little better, there needs to be something that makes every room stand out, say like that green bath in the church. It seems maybe open locations are a bit too much for you to handle, so maybe next game pick an easier location to do, maybe like a castle, focus on small rooms but make sure they are interesting to explore
- the game could use more retro texture for things like character hair and walls of the buildings
- the shadows were too heavy, there is a very strange balance of visibility in the game, there is a thing where many game devs think that a horror game should be dark, but if you look at many oldschool horror games, they actually very bright and colorful, say like RE1, it's all about the vibes and the design, as long as you get the music and sound effects down, you don't have to use shadows as much
- on a side note, some of the monsters look a bit too much like generic zombie, you should try to steer away from it, it may give those assety feels to the game, maybe something humanoid but not actually human, design a unique creature for your game
[u] Other: [/u]
- felt like the running speed was a little too high, partially because you made huge open areas so you kinda need to run, but it feels jittery and unnatural
- when it comes to voice acting, unless you can do it very well, I think for small horror games, just don't do it because it will overshadow the horror vibes, focus on having good melancholy music like Silent Hill and good sound effects, maybe even some sound effects for dialogue, the voice acting will make it worse if it's not on par
- I wish I could skip the cutscenes
[b] Overall Thoughts: 5/10 [/b]
Not to come across as discouraging, I am trying to give you a sense of direction, I know many good devs that started making jank like this, it was not all bad, but it feels like it's lacking a good sense of immersion, partially because of the inclusion of goofy voice acting. The locations look a little too plain, you should try to make sure every room has a unique theme going for it, and don't be afraid to use colors just because it's a horror game. I like that you animating every part of the interactions so that is something I think you should keep doing. Overall, not very good, you need to put more thought into the design of the creatures and locations, it felt very glossy with not enough texture, and has a very assety feel to it. Making sure you horror game has a certain tone is very important, you don't want too many goofy moments or goofy voice acting that constantly cuts the tension, it's all about having immersive soundtrack and sound effects, and making sure that vibe is maintained across the game.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
