Runaways Tale

this was great!! a really compelling and intriguing story with super endearing characters! :D

(SPOILERS)

i got really endeared to aldrich and raven, they're such a great example of the "extroverted x introverted" (platonically) trope haha. their interactions were really compelling, and even small bits like them playing in the water or aldrich carrying raven on his back when he couldn't walk were adorable (i also really liked the awkward pauses in their conversations, felt very realistic haha). i spent like half my playthrough screaming at the screen because i wanted them to be safe and okay so bad XD the father character was really well handled too, i really liked how you subverted my expectations by, like abra said, making me think he was the stand-in for the devil or something of the sort. also made him more fleshed out than if he was just a one-dimensional abusive father, since in the true ending we learn that he knew his son had been possessed (doesn't mean he's a good father tho, those are way too many bottles of alcohol for one house-). overall the characters are fantastic, and i think having relatively few made them feel more complex and three-dimensional than if the plot was overstuffed with people, and it makes the simple plot really memorable. great job! :>

i really liked the visuals too! default assets were used pretty well; no section felt like it was too big or too small. some parts of the forest looked a bit hallway-like, but apart from that everything looks natural. i especially loved how rubble and things like that were peppered across maps, blocking your way when you were trying to run and making chases even more tense, without looking unnatural or too much like a deliberately designed maze. and the original art was fantastic!! the characters' designs and face images are super expressive and adorable, and the cgs are really well made. i loved how you paid attention to really small details, like how if you don't bring your old shoes to raven, he's barefoot in his sprite and cgs. that's just great attention to detail :D (also as a person who's kind of squeamish with blood, i appreciate how you made the gore scenes look realistic without being too disgusting haha)

as someone who tries to get all endings in jam games, thank you for making it relatively easy to get all of them. it was really fun to pick different hiding spots and finding out what happens in each one. and speaking of which... WHY DID YOU MAKE 6 OUT OF 7 ENDINGS SO SAD ASDJDSJNH- i was so heartbroken with every one except the normal ending 1 why did you do this to meeeee... (i'm not actually mad, it's a testament to how good your writing that i was so invested haha) the other endings ranged from super creepy (thank you for the nightmares i'll have with the face in the darkness :D) to super depressing, and the true ending was a really cool interpretation of the jam's theme. i love eldritch beings acting super casual with the protagonist haha, and the idea that this monster takes the body of your childhood bff and makes you its new friend for eternity is a really disturbing concept... and also a kinda funny one haha. and finally, i REALLY loved the post-it drawings of each ending, made them hit 10x as hard. i'm still thinking about the one where they die next to each other... brb gonna go cry again-

i didn't love the parts where the path split and you had to guess where to go. it was kind of frustrating to die so many times before being lucky and guessing the right one. if there were clues to which path is correct (or, in case there are, if there were more obvious), or when you get caught you just go back to the start of the chase instead of the title screen, i think it would've been less frustrating. speaking of the chase, if the frequency of the father's steps was higher i feel like it could've been a lot more tense. and not a big deal or anything but at the start, when you interact with people and talk about them, i think it would've been better if their direction was fixed and they didn't turn towards you, since you're not really talking with them. these aren't big problems tho, and since you said you're just starting with the engine, i hope you keep improving with it cuz i think you really have a talent for storytelling! :>

overall, this was a great game with a plot and characters that kept me gripped to the very end, with really great art and sprites to boot. i really hope you keep making games and working with the engine, i think you have a lot of skill that shouldn't go unnoticed!! <3

found a bug - if you go back to the room after chase starts, you see this again: