Really liked the macabre vibes with the choices of color, textures and shades.

Think the N64-like animations were on point, with those ever so slightly truncated or skipped frames (as I'd describe it) and somewhat lack of smoothness, in this case intentional as I see it; those polygons with many flat surfaces and limited use of curvature (baring exceptions) were also pretty recognizable + the pixelated texts and other details like the aesthetics of the "user interface".

For the writing and the story, I really liked Nancy's personality (e.g. her taste in chocolate and the way she often has her eyes half-closed) as well as the other characters' and how that was expressed, plus the pacing of the narrative and the whole 1st-person camera fits well with a video-game vibe again, IMO.

A lot of this animation seemed to be a homage or inspired by N64 games (although still with its own identity), but I wouldn't mind a bit of straying away from that just so to make it something even more unique; perhaps more exploration with the camera angles instead of the either 1st person or the "expository cutscene" one (as I'd call it), or maybe showing different ways of how Nancy advance through the environment instead of always 1st person walking; I realize changes like these could make it less recognizable as a game/homage, so I suppose it's about what choices you want for the throwback and which ones you want when it comes to expressing your own identity (when deciding that, I'd advise you to follow your heart, naturally).

Also, loved the disguised kid, hehe.

Overall awesome, solid stuff, I would love to see more.

It was fun, gets a bit repetitive with the same moves, but the different stages and uh, game modes, added some thrills. Ok voice acting IMO, I appreaciated the diction, pacing of words, accents and speech idiosyncrasies; I'd have enjoyed some more tension or highened emotions a bit besides the quips, but that's alright (maybe that relates more to the dialogue writing I guess). Also I suggest other music genres besides EDM, maybe trying to tie that to the stages, you did it for the Mario stage so stuff like that to add more diversity. Also, Chandler got me, heh. And my favorite girl was the eyeball one. Overall, enjoyable.

Wow, so much personality on the animation, colors and visual effects, the expressiveness and uniqueness of all of it, also on the story and music, which fit so well with everything being so upbeat and energetic, I just love it all completely. All elements of it AND the whole are so genuine and singular and I find that astoundingly beautiful.

I'd like to mention shoots like on 0:52 and others where I see some presence of straighter lines and edgier shapes and I'd suggest a sporadic use of that, for IMHO curvy and smooth lines and shapes seem to be your strength and thus something to focus on, if you'd agree.

Also I'd suggest a display of more expressive and also contrasting emotions from Mercedes around 0:14 and also some of that for Pearl moments earlier, I feel like that could say more about them. And I find some excess of variety in the colors of the visual effect on the credits (an effect that's repeated on many parts of the movie), I felt that makes it distracting and chaotic.

Those are the points I wanted to raise. Again, I really love a work so full of personality like this one, I sincerely hope you achieve success in whatever you pursue with those skills. I wish I could find a venue for donation/patronage so I could support you in a meaningful way. That's it, have a truly wonderful day/night/eating time/visit to the doctor/anything and everything.

Really liked the shapes with a lot of smoothness and straightness and the limited choice of color, both of which I think work together for a simple aesthetic that's pleasing to my eyes by demanding less focus on detail (exception being the intricate pattern on the text box but I think it's fine since it's on a separated area, close to the text. I'd still say it has a different visual appeal but I'm thinking on the whole here).

I also really appreciated the symbolism constructed from many uses of visual effects and a number of sound effects (e.g. the heartbeat or the moment of rage during the reunion with the mother, or the series of camera flashes also on the reunion), that was a nice device of communicating/expressing many different things on different parts (emotions, ideas, events...). There were also sfx with less symbolism and merely realism, like the bell ring at the store or the car drift when the deer appears, they were nice and all but just trying to make clear what are the ones I'm talking about here.

The "photography" was also very nice (as in the angles you portrayed the images, lol), I thought they were in general clear and representative/meaningful, many of them could have worked well if this was a comic, IMO. The smooth and varied/deliberate image transitions also complemented this and in a way befitting of your chosen media.

I also liked how the color limitation, the very subtle image filter and the music often worked together, I'd say. On the first and last parts of the visual novel the slower rhythm and "isolated" notes (as I'd describe it) + the color and filter evoked in me feelings of sadness; the filter + the faster paced song on the scene preceding the reunion evoked something of turmoil/unease/anxiety; and the stretched out notes + filter + color evoked something of relief and sadness on the hotel scene. Speaking of the music, it also evoked in me the notion of something delicate (like feelings, which matter a lot in this story, let's just say) in the title screen in conjunction with the pattern.

I think the introspective 1st person narration was a good fit for this story, including the narrator's personal views and value judgements. Speaking of writing, the different small sounds for when either Clara or her mother was talking was a nice touch.

And finally, let me say why I'm not voting 5/5. On the funeral scene, after the baby starts crying, Clara smiles to herself; considering the funeral context, the whole mood stablished by the song and story so far and everything, it felt really out of place to me, as if she was enjoying the couple's misfortune sadistically for no clear reason (or at least that's what I thought at first); my guess is that it was intended as some brief comic relief, if that's the case any additional clues to stablish contrast or something would've helped IMO, a brief stop in the music as the baby cried louder and then a quick chuckle animation played out, some short remark in addition to "I smiled to myself" in the narration, just anything to prevent a misinterpretation.

A somewhat similar thing happened when Clara smiles during the otherwise heartbreaking phone call when her mother says "Okay then. It'll be nice to see you."; it was kinda subtle and I could understand if that's just showcasing the joy of her mother saying those words, so it didn't bother me as much, but I might as well mention it also as feeling out of place (maybe I'd suggest have it as a quick smiling animation before returning to the frown, idk).

One last thing, I felt like the ending was cut too short, either there could've been some more tension build up before Clara gets to the stand, or maybe the way her relatives react to her speech could've been shown (even if they wouldn't react much, like her brother on a previous scene), or maybe the story could've ended with Clara's lament and reminiscence of her father on the hotel room...it's almost as if it ended on a cliffhanger (specially when her father used to give out good speeches) since so much of the story's conflict lies on the way Clara and her close ones relate and treat each other and we are left without knowing how'd that go after the speech. Would they approve her speech despite everything else? Would their attitudes to Clara's life choices tarnish their views on her contribution? Etc. Think you could either give us that or build up some tension a bit before if her presence there was the thing in itself you wanted us to focus on.

That was basically why the 4.5/5 (I mean, still great, right?), now I just want to mention some things extra. Think you could've made either the visuals have more details or the text box pattern have less and much of what I said would still be achieved (if adding more details maybe a more descriptive writing would also be a good fit, think it'd be possible without sacrificing the introspection). Don't think any of these would've been better or worse than how you made it or than each other, but I just wanted to share these ideas for...options for next time? Reflections on the work process? I don't know, hope it's useful, lol.

Well anyway, thank you for making this and may good tides come about in your life story and this review got so long @_@

Pretty cute and simple aesthetics, pretty reminiscent of old flash games, so I call that a plus for the nostalgia (I surmise that's intentional because of the jam, if somehow not, the perfect color gradients, solid colors and use of perfectly straight lines in contrast randomly with very curvy ones on drawings lack harmony and cohesion IMO; but that's exactly the kind of construction that reminds me of old flash games, so I'm calling it a positive here).

Would have appreciated some animation to transition between places, maybe just Tracie walking, anything to smooth a bit the experience, let's say.

Little details like the idle animations and the effects for when you get an item give the game charm, IMO.

I feel like the idea was for this game to be short and simple, but I can't help but to think about stuff like the girl in the library or Tracie's reactions to things, both of which I thought would have some impact on the ending/game (at least I couldn't notice anything special while paying attention to them on multiple playthroughs); although I suppose maybe it's an intentional subversion, considering how the ending goes, in contrast to what the game suggests will happen...

I'd say maybe the girl was missed potential for, say, more endings while the reactions...if I'm correct on this subversion idea, I'd suggest some added dramatic effect on the ending, maybe a sound or cutscene, anything just to strengthen it and make it look like the reactions tip was "useless" on purpose (again, if I got things right about all this).

And yeah, all in all a fun game. You only had two weeks but I'd say you had many goods ideas for it. Thank you for making this!

Very cute game!

I think the amount of colors and of details in the shapes, plus limited use of lines and lights/shadow work together for a cohesive and simple aesthetic (which I could guess that was your vision, if that's the case, bonus points).

I'm impressed by the smoothness of animations and camera movements, made for a very pleasant visual experience to me.

I also liked the soft/relaxed mood of the song yet aluding to the western/cowboy theme through the instruments and melody, I believe.

The cereal boxes buildings were also a cute idea, heh.

I thought it was fun to shoot the enemies in slow motion as if conveying the toast shoots with the speed of a gunslinger (I've seen that in other games before but the implementation here was well done and fits well with the game IMO without being cliché or anything).

My beef with this game is that I felt a number of shapes lacked smoothness, specially at the beginning and end cutscenes, which felt purposeless, uncohesive (including with simplicity) and a bit unpleasant to look at, for me.

The stages could have a bit more of variety also IMO, in background, colors, theme, etc, the train one was a good exception.

And I could have appreciated some lore into the bandits, one small cutscene or clue in the stage would be enough, anything to explain why they caged the dude's sweets (I surmise that's the link between them and the initial cutscene?). I guess there was a bunch of pro-cereal propaganda in the buildings, which could mean that was their motivation; when I first played I thought the bandits probably were occupating the place illegally rather than own it so maybe the problem was on my end, but I hope all of this is still helpful feedback, anyway.

By the way, good choice on the words' font, aluding to western movies posters(?) but "Los Tostadores *here* to save..." instead of "are here" felt like a needless typo rather than some casual/relaxed use of language (unlike "went zzz" at one of the ending cutscenes).

Also, small stuff, I believe some small elegant details could add a bit of clarity while maintaining the simple aesthetic (e.g. on the bed on one of the endings, is the white a pillow?).

Well in any case, nice job! It was a really fun game, looked like a lot of care was put into it and I saw it in the things I praised. If you guys enjoyed making it, make more! Thank you for your work!

IMO the atmosphere was intense and dramatic (think it was due to the echo effect on the voice and the solo violin with streched out notes), the voice was clear in diction and emphatic in tone, adequate volume (pending more to the loud but without reaching a scream), all of which I think help well to make an annoucement sort of thing for the event, if that was the goal (I interpret so).

The drum beats during the name listing I believe worked well for showcasing a noticeable rhythm that one could tie to the rhythm of many kinds of poetry.

The last part with the lines that felt very fluent, genuine and improv-like to me also I believe falls perfectly in line with the idea of the event, even if improv on it is not necessary for participants (though we did see some of that then, heh). I also think the short, rhymed verses at the end helped with fluidity (and also to make us think of poetry).

I'm docking points for I felt the name listing was a bit repetitive with the beats (even though I still commend the rhythm like I said), I think I captured slight differences in intonation through the names' pronunciations so I don't see why not the idea of on-point notes from different instruments or something else just for variety.

And speaking of variety, I believe a higher degree of it for the melody, different sections, changes in the pace/speed/rhythm/idk or something like that would also be nice, maybe around 1:05 at least? Even for an announcement.

My opinion here. Still, rock solid stuff, awesome work!

Well, the single voice hurts my score here a bit, didn't find that much difference between the characters. The pacing of everything was on point to me, with key moments well placed for intensity and stablishing moods, classic movie trailer stuff. Also the story hits all the right notes for those family friendly movies here, hehe. I don't know if I'd recommend a higher pitch for Mrs. Bumbridge's voice, I was thinking it was some random man at first (then I got the joke of it through context). I'd also perhaps suggest adding some points of higher or lower tension, just to shake the relatively stable mood a bit, but maybe that could stray it a bit from cliché movie trailers and hurt the parody side of things... I don't know, would depend on your creative vision I guess. Anyway, great job!

Aw man, such a cool story, the dialogues were great, on the choice of words, syntax, manners of speech, on the VAing you guys nailed the pacing, pauses, pitch, some inflections but the tones were always so flat! It's like you guys are reading lines from a script instead of voice acting, I could barely capture any emotion there, or the characters often sound calm and collected with that not fitting with their words. The sound effects and ambience setting were to my liking, realistic without disturbing the dialogues, subtle yet meaningful, although I'd appreciate some music or background sounds on moments of lengthier silence. The tone thing pulls things down for me on other fronts too like the tension and suspense, but overall, yeah, a lot of quality here, just please try to convey more feelings 'cause I find that was the main lack. Well anyway, my opinion for this work.

Oh baby, what a delight. I don't even know where to begin. Let's start with the colors, I loved the intensity (saturation?) of the red and how that's contrasted with the black all around in the hair, the masks; also the work on textures on the girl's skin, dress and hair and of course the use of value (light/shadow) here is _so_ creepy, _so_ creepy, I love it and with the contrast on the stark eyes and how the shadows on the surrounding parts give such emphasis on the terrifying girl to me.

I loved all of that, as well as the liquids dropping from her eyes, nose and mouth, they have such thinness and smoothness to their lines that really unsettles me (in a good way). And the variety in the shapes for the eyes on the right painting plus the textures on the left one (in and outside of the eye) are also giving me the creeps. I just love it.

The masks designs also unsettle me in a good way, giving me the feeling that they are apathetic to me in some way (even though they're just masks), my favorite one is the one right beside the girl's head as I really like the shadows and forms on its eye and nose and with the creepy smile and how open the eye is for I really feel like it has "gotten me", let's say, noticed me and now I'm afraid. I forgot to mention the skull, also giving me the creeps, specially due to the textures and lines I believe. I just love all of this.

Ok for some constructive feedback...I guess I'd enjoy more monstruous features on the masks, like fangs, maybe vertical eyes, there's already one with a beak and one on the top-right has some fangs but I think I'd enjoy more. Though I'm interpretting the human features on the masks were a part of the creative vision here so I don't know how my suggestion could be implemented without going against that, but who knows, maybe I misinterpreted or maybe there's a way.

Anyway, freaking tremendous work of art here to me, thank you so much for making this!

Wow, perfect use of value and texture to me, with the light calling attention to the distinct shapes and also strengthening the use of color and some blue x red contrast on Frankelda and also "smooth" and realistic shadows when it comes to value; while the texture specially on the dress, hair and face is intricate yet simple and clear to me.

Also I enjoy the variety of colors, red, pink, blue, light blue, orange, green(?) and how you implemented them, tying them to some areas or elements of the picture and to me making it easy to digest everything without feeling it as chaotic.

The characters are expressive to me too, specially in how you used the lines and shapes, really liked that.

And finally the composition is also pleasant to me, I feel like you organized really well the space ocuppied by Frankelda and the book and their position in the picture, in a way that I can look at and appreciate the ammount of details fully with enough space around for my eyes to rest.

If I could think of any sort of constructive criticism I guess I'd suggest more space between the areas of denser detail (like the forearms and the dress) for I think it would give me even more easiness to appreciate each one, doing something like drawing her right forearm in a position slightly higher and her left one in a position slightly more to the right (though between the freckles and the front part of the garment I dunno how you'd do it, elongate the neck or something? Lol)

Anyway, marvelous job, thank you for making this

Very friendly and pleasant shapes and some well measured use of space in the disposition of the characters and their size and position between each other (I'd personally enjoy more room for the background but I believe that's a stylistic choice). An engaging use of color in the contrast between the lighter tones on the left side (with blue being notable) and the darker ones on the right behind Ryuko (with red calling attention); I'd perhaps consider placing Mako and the family on the left if a heroes x villains duality was a part of your vision but naturally that would mean a whole set of implications for the whole picture, so I don't know. Anyway, also perhaps due to the aesthetics of the source material but I appreciate the simplicity on the texturization or even barely any at all depending on where you look, I think it emanates some calmness which fit nicely with the shapes (funny that I usually suggest more texturization on reviews, today's an exception). What would take for me to give it a 5/5 would be some very detailed and expressive linework, something deeply tied to your personality, because you have the skills but I humbly believe something like that is the only thing missing. That's it.