Completed ~~♥Pokémon Fairies♥~~

luxdiablo · Mar 13, 2021

Nice work! This looks really neat, v excited to play it :)

brysoonye · Mar 14, 2021

This is literally the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Samdeman123124 · Mar 14, 2021

Review Time:

Genuinely enjoyed this game. I loved the aesthetic, and as brysoonye, said, it was very cute! It felt kinda Animal Crossing meets Loz meets Pokemon, which I didn't expect at all. I do think it could have used a text skip, custom UI, and/or fast-forward, even running shoes, just some basic conveniences because the slow pace and text got boring eventually.

A good game, and I recommend a playthrough.

Armin · Mar 15, 2021

The game has been updated to Version 1.1, with the following changes:
1) Fixed a minor tile error (thanks to Tomix9tomix for pointing it out!)
2) Added a solution to the box puzzle which I hadn't thought of, hence preventing players from advancing (thanks to buttjuice & friend for pointing it out!)

Sorry for the oversight!

Armin · Mar 15, 2021

Samdeman123124 said:
Review Time:

Genuinely enjoyed this game. I loved the aesthetic, and as brysoonye, said, it was very cute! It felt kinda Animal Crossing meets Loz meets Pokemon, which I didn't expect at all. I do think it could have used a text skip, custom UI, and/or fast-forward, even running shoes, just some basic conveniences because the slow pace and text got boring eventually.

A good game, and I recommend a playthrough.

Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game, and taking your time to write this review!

If you bought the "Speed Potion" from Hatterene, that's the equivalent of the Running Shoes in the game! You'll be able to go at the same speed as the regular Essentials Bicycle. Press "Z" to toggle it on or off, like in the case of your usual Running Shoes. You can also switch to "Hold" mode in the Options menu.

As for a text skip/fast-forward button... ultimately, I've decided not to include one in this game. Honestly, it was a really tough decision. On one hand, I feel that in a story-focused game like this one, without any additional mechanics like battles, text is literally all it has going for it (and puzzles); it's part of the gameplay whereby players need to read it in order to know what to do next. "Removing" the text (by skipping it) would essentially mean removing a huge chunk of the game itself. On the other hand, I understand the frustration of scrolling through too much text all too well, and I agree with the notion that it's good to give players a choice to skip it or not. Perhaps not this time round, but rest assured, should I make a future game, I'll definitely highly consider implementing that option, as well as take into account the game's overall pace.

Ekat · Mar 15, 2021

Hey, I just finished the game last night, so I wanted to post some of my thoughts.

Aesthetic

The game's tiles, mapping, overworlds, and UI are all solid! I love how each character gets their own distinct area. I think my favourites were Scotty's and Primarina's. I also like how you substituted the typical cliffs in Pokémon for clouds. I also appreciate that you remembered the little details, like changing your game's icon and making a custom screen border. The small and the big things all add up to make an excellent-looking game!

The only map I didn't particularly care for was the underwater one. The paths of the maze were fine, but I noticed many of the decoration tiles were just scattered around inconsistently.

The Writing

I love the conversations between the characters, and even the descriptions for random objects lying around the world. (I love puns, so the incense holders had me snickering. The jar full of air was also brilliant.) My two favourite characters/scenarios were Primarina and Klefki. (They just wanted more keys! ;-;)

However, the game needs some editing to cut the unnecessary fluff out. I understand that the writing is a major part of your game, but the player doesn't need to hear an exchange between Sera and Sylveon every time they open a box. The player doesn't need to hear the chant to reset the strength puzzle. These things are cute the first time, but they become a bit of a pace-breaker as the game goes on.

Editing is ~~hell~~ hard. But, no matter how great a conversation is, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and trim it down. (Or at least be mindful of it in future projects.) You could also break up longer conversations by having the characters do more as they speak. I like the little emote animations you had, but most conversations had the NPCs just stand there, or occasionally turn around.

This isn't a criticism so much as it is a random thought, but I would have loved to learn more about Fairyland and the people. A great example of when you did this was with the paintings Gabriel made. In just a few simple exchanges, you were able to say a lot about the world. (Green grass isn't commonplace, Pokémon battling is confirmed to not be a thing. Or, if it is, not in the same way that we understand it.)

(Side note, I would also have loved to see how Sera and Sylveon would react if they knew the ending of the dream. I get the feeling Sera would be horrified, but Sylveon would be totally ready to throw hands. "If battling was a thing, I'd take out those Impidimp myself!" That being said, I think it's more effective to have the dream not finish, and end on a funny note because of it. I just like speculating.)

Gameplay

Potions
The potions were a cool mechanic. I like what you did with the underwater steps, and with the dazzling gleam attack. It was oddly satisfying to zap the Impidimp wandering across the world.

Game Speed
I know it's already been addressed in the thread, but I feel the game is really in need of a speedup button. You've already explained why you don't want to add skippable text, which is understandable. Adding an instant speed instead might be helpful. Along with that, it would be nice to start with the running shoes, and then change the Speed Potion to be a bike speed instead. I spent the first 30-40 mins of my playthrough wandering around at a snail's pace, because Hatterene's shop was one of the last maps I came to. Mentioning to the player early on that Hatterene is a good idea would also be a helpful way to go about it.

Nitpicky Stuff - The Strength and Tile Puzzles
I noticed a similar issue with both these puzzles - it was possible to complete them in multiple ways, but only one was correct. (I encountered that with the second and third strength puzzles. The flower pot puzzle also had identical corner pieces, and a host of others that were very similar to each other.)
I think the way to fix the strength puzzle issue is to colour code the boxes to a floor space, so that the player knows they have to go there.

With the tile puzzles, it might help the player to show a flash of what they should look like when complete. (Maybe Clefairy says they have a blueprint of what it should look like, or something?)

Nitpicky Stuff - The Music
While I really liked the songs you did select, I wish that there were more tracks to listen to. It became a bit maddening to listen to the same main three or so area themes.

Overall
I really enjoyed this jam entry! The aesthetics were super cute, the music selection was fitting, and I loved the character designs as well. The setting was interesting, too. I know I have some criticisms of the writing, but when the exchanges are good, they're really good.

(Did I also mention that I liked having the progress check in the save screen? That was a handy addition. How did you calculate that, out of curiosity? Was it just a variable you would increase with every task done?)

The game could use some polish in places to make the player's life easier, but it was a super fun experience.

Great job with this!

AnonAlpaca · Mar 15, 2021

Honestly, just looking at it, this game's aesthetic makes me nostalgic for the "Rainbow Magic" stage of my childhood (if anyone remembers that pulp fiction.) Definitely going to check this out, the charm is immeasurable

Armin · Mar 16, 2021

Ekat said:
Hey, I just finished the game last night, so I wanted to post some of my thoughts.

Aesthetic

The game's tiles, mapping, overworlds, and UI are all solid! I love how each character gets their own distinct area. I think my favourites were Scotty's and Primarina's. I also like how you substituted the typical cliffs in Pokémon for clouds. I also appreciate that you remembered the little details, like changing your game's icon and making a custom screen border. The small and the big things all add up to make an excellent-looking game!

The only map I didn't particularly care for was the underwater one. The paths of the maze were fine, but I noticed many of the decoration tiles were just scattered around inconsistently.

The Writing

I love the conversations between the characters, and even the descriptions for random objects lying around the world. (I love puns, so the incense holders had me snickering. The jar full of air was also brilliant.) My two favourite characters/scenarios were Primarina and Klefki. (They just wanted more keys! ;-;)

However, the game needs some editing to cut the unnecessary fluff out. I understand that the writing is a major part of your game, but the player doesn't need to hear an exchange between Sera and Sylveon every time they open a box. The player doesn't need to hear the chant to reset the strength puzzle. These things are cute the first time, but they become a bit of a pace-breaker as the game goes on.

Editing is ~~hell~~ hard. But, no matter how great a conversation is, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and trim it down. (Or at least be mindful of it in future projects.) You could also break up longer conversations by having the characters do more as they speak. I like the little emote animations you had, but most conversations had the NPCs just stand there, or occasionally turn around.

This isn't a criticism so much as it is a random thought, but I would have loved to learn more about Fairyland and the people. A great example of when you did this was with the paintings Gabriel made. In just a few simple exchanges, you were able to say a lot about the world. (Green grass isn't commonplace, Pokémon battling is confirmed to not be a thing. Or, if it is, not in the same way that we understand it.)

(Side note, I would also have loved to see how Sera and Sylveon would react if they knew the ending of the dream. I get the feeling Sera would be horrified, but Sylveon would be totally ready to throw hands. "If battling was a thing, I'd take out those Impidimp myself!" That being said, I think it's more effective to have the dream not finish, and end on a funny note because of it. I just like speculating.)

Gameplay

Potions
The potions were a cool mechanic. I like what you did with the underwater steps, and with the dazzling gleam attack. It was oddly satisfying to zap the Impidimp wandering across the world.

Game Speed
I know it's already been addressed in the thread, but I feel the game is really in need of a speedup button. You've already explained why you don't want to add skippable text, which is understandable. Adding an instant speed instead might be helpful. Along with that, it would be nice to start with the running shoes, and then change the Speed Potion to be a bike speed instead. I spent the first 30-40 mins of my playthrough wandering around at a snail's pace, because Hatterene's shop was one of the last maps I came to. Mentioning to the player early on that Hatterene is a good idea would also be a helpful way to go about it.

Nitpicky Stuff - The Strength and Tile Puzzles
I noticed a similar issue with both these puzzles - it was possible to complete them in multiple ways, but only one was correct. (I encountered that with the second and third strength puzzles. The flower pot puzzle also had identical corner pieces, and a host of others that were very similar to each other.)
I think the way to fix the strength puzzle issue is to colour code the boxes to a floor space, so that the player knows they have to go there.

With the tile puzzles, it might help the player to show a flash of what they should look like when complete. (Maybe Clefairy says they have a blueprint of what it should look like, or something?)

Nitpicky Stuff - The Music
While I really liked the songs you did select, I wish that there were more tracks to listen to. It became a bit maddening to listen to the same main three or so area themes.

Overall
I really enjoyed this jam entry! The aesthetics were super cute, the music selection was fitting, and I loved the character designs as well. The setting was interesting, too. I know I have some criticisms of the writing, but when the exchanges are good, they're really good.

(Did I also mention that I liked having the progress check in the save screen? That was a handy addition. How did you calculate that, out of curiosity? Was it just a variable you would increase with every task done?)

The game could use some polish in places to make the player's life easier, but it was a super fun experience.

Great job with this!

Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game! And really, thank you for taking time to write such a long, detailed and constructive review. I'll try my best to address your concerns.

I admit that I really did go overboard with the writing. But after reading your review, Samdeman's review, and watching LuxDiablo's gameplay, I'm slowly starting to grasp the fact that writing lines for a game isn't quite the same as writing for a story or a paper. It's definitely something I'll have to improve on and keep in mind. As for the concern of NPCs being static... well, eventing is really ~~hell~~ hard and I might have cut some corners in that aspect... which is no excuse, I know, when it comes to ensuring that a game is as polished as it can be.

I'm glad you enjoyed the puns and conversations! The fact that you took your time to interact with these tiny details made me especially happy. And I'm pretty sure that Sera and Sylveon will react to battling in the same way you described as well! ^^

I'm really seriously considering of adding an instant speed button... no promises, but I'm getting more convinced each passing day. The Speed Potion does make you go at a bike speed! The walking speed that the player starts off with is one between the default walking speed and the Running Shoes speed. Funnily enough, in the initial planning stages of the game, I meant for the player to start off with the Running Shoes speed, but eventually decided to slow it down in order to make the difference in speed after the Speed Potion more drastic... which is, I realized today, not exactly the best decision I've made. I was always operating on the assumption that players will get the leaf -> get the potion -> go fast within the first 10 minutes of the game, which clearly and obviously wasn't be the case, due to the "open"-ish nature of the game. Apologies for the oversight, and I'm so sorry you had to crawl through the maps, which are pretty huge.

On a similar vein, I've always thought the tile puzzles to be rather easy, but I realized that I've always been operating with the knowledge of what the final product will look like. For players who don't, it does make sense that they'll need some help, and your suggestion of flashing the complete puzzle will definitely work. Again, an oversight on my part! Sorry about that!

About the box puzzle... I think I might have underestimated the number of times player would refresh the stage (and thus listen to that cheesy chant). The original plan was to have the stage be cleared so long as all the boxes are on orange tiles, regardless of which box lands on which tiles. However, it is highly likely that I've left out some solutions (due to my inability to conceive of them). If you found a way to move the boxes onto the orange tiles and the stage did not clear, would you mind telling me how you got them there, so that I can implement that solution in the game? I would really appreciate that! ^^ I'm aware that it's not the most optimal method of coding the puzzle but it's what I have currently. (Plus, it's always cool to see what methods players come up with!) The issue with color-coded tiles is that, a chunk of the difficulty and challenge of these sokoban-style box moving puzzles is figuring out which box lands on which tiles. Having that aspect removed would mean removing the "essence" of the puzzles, so to speak.

You got the right idea! But instead of a game variable, it's the player's money. It increases (by giving the player more money) after every arbitrary task or event, every gold key, every potion, every Fairy Dust collected and every Impidimp defeated up till a total of 99%.

Ahhh I really do apologize if this reply sounds like a rambly self-reflection thing rather than addressing anything pertinent. Once again, thank you so so much for your feedback!

Armin · Mar 16, 2021

AnonAlpaca said:
Honestly, just looking at it, this game's aesthetic makes me nostalgic for the "Rainbow Magic" stage of my childhood (if anyone remembers that pulp fiction.) Definitely going to check this out, the charm is immeasurable

Oh god wow I actually read those books as a kid! This game isn't directly inspired by them (perhaps subconsciously, now that I think about it?) but I hope it'll relieve some of that nostalgia for you even as you play along. ^^

Ekat · Mar 16, 2021

Armin said:
Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game! And really, thank you for taking time to write such a long, detailed and constructive review. I'll try my best to address your concerns.

I admit that I really did go overboard with the writing. But after reading your review, Samdeman's review, and watching LuxDiablo's gameplay, I'm slowly starting to grasp the fact that writing lines for a game isn't quite the same as writing for a story or a paper. It's definitely something I'll have to improve on and keep in mind. As for the concern of NPCs being static... well, eventing is really ~~hell~~ hard and I might have cut some corners in that aspect... which is no excuse, I know, when it comes to ensuring that a game is as polished as it can be.

I'm glad you enjoyed the puns and conversations! The fact that you took your time to interact with these tiny details made me especially happy. And I'm pretty sure that Sera and Sylveon will react to battling in the same way you described as well! ^^

I'm really seriously considering of adding an instant speed button... no promises, but I'm getting more convinced each passing day. The Speed Potion does make you go at a bike speed! The walking speed that the player starts off with is one between the default walking speed and the Running Shoes speed. Funnily enough, in the initial planning stages of the game, I meant for the player to start off with the Running Shoes speed, but eventually decided to slow it down in order to make the difference in speed after the Speed Potion more drastic... which is, I realized today, not exactly the best decision I've made. I was always operating on the assumption that players will get the leaf -> get the potion -> go fast within the first 10 minutes of the game, which clearly and obviously wasn't be the case, due to the "open"-ish nature of the game. Apologies for the oversight, and I'm so sorry you had to crawl through the maps, which are pretty huge.

On a similar vein, I've always thought the tile puzzles to be rather easy, but I realized that I've always been operating with the knowledge of what the final product will look like. For players who don't, it does make sense that they'll need some help, and your suggestion of flashing the complete puzzle will definitely work. Again, an oversight on my part! Sorry about that!

About the box puzzle... I think I might have underestimated the number of times player would refresh the stage (and thus listen to that cheesy chant). The original plan was to have the stage be cleared so long as all the boxes are on orange tiles, regardless of which box lands on which tiles. However, it is highly likely that I've left out some solutions (due to my inability to conceive of them). If you found a way to move the boxes onto the orange tiles and the stage did not clear, would you mind telling me how you got them there, so that I can implement that solution in the game? I would really appreciate that! ^^ I'm aware that it's not the most optimal method of coding the puzzle but it's what I have currently. (Plus, it's always cool to see what methods players come up with!) The issue with color-coded tiles is that, a chunk of the difficulty and challenge of these sokoban-style box moving puzzles is figuring out which box lands on which tiles. Having that aspect removed would mean removing the "essence" of the puzzles, so to speak.

You got the right idea! But instead of a game variable, it's the player's money. It increases (by giving the player more money) after every arbitrary task or event, every gold key, every potion, every Fairy Dust collected and every Impidimp defeated up till a total of 99%.

Ahhh I really do apologize if this reply sounds like a rambly self-reflection thing rather than addressing anything pertinent. Once again, thank you so so much for your feedback!

No worries about the rambling! I can tell that a lot of thought went into the game.

I would try to help you with the box puzzle solutions, but I honestly can't remember how I did it wrong the first few times, let alone how I solved it. My brain turned to mush.

TechSkylander1518 · Mar 17, 2021

This was super fun!

The atmosphere of this is so cute, lots of nostalgia for the atmosphere of happy, magic cloud-style kids media! I'm especially impressed by how you managed to work the Fairy-types into their own little roles for the world, it's really fun to see a whole Pokemon design repurposed not just into a character that's a Pokemon, but more like a character that's from another franchise entirely!
The characters and tilesets were all really lovely
I love all the little touches put into the atmosphere- changing the SFX was an especially great touch!
The progress % was so useful, and it was really clever how you set that up!

It felt a little awkward opening the first chest from the side- I feel like the first chest should have been opened from the front. (Assuming that you intended players to spot the Royal Garden chest first, of course)

Since Sylveon follows you, she spends a lot of time talking to your back instead of facing the other characters. That'd be tricky to change, though- even if you had a common event that moved Sylveon to your side, you'd have to account for any obstacles blocking her..

This is minor, but when polishing the keys with Clefairy, you have to select the Sparkling Essence from the bag, even though there's only one thing you can use to polish items. It's kind of an unnecessary slowdown, especially if you're like me and your finger slips while selecting, because then you have to go through all the dialogue again.

Near the end of the game, I got into this little loop of being totally lost on where to go, with Swirlix and Klefki still unsolved. It might just be me being bad at the game (I did actually totally forget about the weird flower pot), but that line about how "Rusty Keys are a dime a dozen in Fairyland!" had me convinced that the second Rusty Key was somewhere out in the world or in the underwater map, and I had just missed it. (I ended up getting it into my head that the Mixing Pot must be in the Warehouse, and so if I just found that key somewhere, I'd be able to get done with everything...

The underwater map is a bit choppy for some reason- I think it might be because the fog is set to a Parallel Process event, not an Autorun?

I think the mechanics behind setting up Imogen's puzzle are really clever, but playing through the puzzle itself was kind of a drag. There's a combination of three factors working against it:

It's randomly generated, so there's no way for the player to figure out the solution other than trial and error
With two wrong options and one right option, the player's more likely to pick the wrong one
Picking the wrong one sends you all the way back to the start.

So, that means a lot of the time in the puzzle is spent backtracking the route that does work just to try another tile, with nothing to go on other than blind luck.

Unfortunately, I don't really know how I'd change this- if you're not sent back to the start, then there's not really any punishment for guessing wrong, and it's not like you can make this a 50/50 chance, that's barely a puzzle. Maybe the same variable that sets the path could also set up decorations to guide the player, but then that's practically a straight shot....

I also noticed two little typos-
In the intro, "Is it really now?"- comma after really
When healing Primarina, "Come on Primarina" - comma after on

Armin · Mar 17, 2021

The game has been updated to Version 1.2, with the following changes:
1) Added a fast-forward mode, script courtesy of Marin. Press "F" to toggle the mode on and off!
2) Fixed some typos (thanks to TechSkylander1518 for pointing them out!)
3) Fixed the lag issues in Serene Lake due to the fog
4) Added even more solutions to the box puzzle

Sorry for the oversight!

Armin · Mar 17, 2021

TechSkylander1518 said:
This was super fun!

The atmosphere of this is so cute, lots of nostalgia for the atmosphere of happy, magic cloud-style kids media! I'm especially impressed by how you managed to work the Fairy-types into their own little roles for the world, it's really fun to see a whole Pokemon design repurposed not just into a character that's a Pokemon, but more like a character that's from another franchise entirely!
The characters and tilesets were all really lovely
I love all the little touches put into the atmosphere- changing the SFX was an especially great touch!
The progress % was so useful, and it was really clever how you set that up!

It felt a little awkward opening the first chest from the side- I feel like the first chest should have been opened from the front. (Assuming that you intended players to spot the Royal Garden chest first, of course)

Since Sylveon follows you, she spends a lot of time talking to your back instead of facing the other characters. That'd be tricky to change, though- even if you had a common event that moved Sylveon to your side, you'd have to account for any obstacles blocking her..

This is minor, but when polishing the keys with Clefairy, you have to select the Sparkling Essence from the bag, even though there's only one thing you can use to polish items. It's kind of an unnecessary slowdown, especially if you're like me and your finger slips while selecting, because then you have to go through all the dialogue again.

Near the end of the game, I got into this little loop of being totally lost on where to go, with Swirlix and Klefki still unsolved. It might just be me being bad at the game (I did actually totally forget about the weird flower pot), but that line about how "Rusty Keys are a dime a dozen in Fairyland!" had me convinced that the second Rusty Key was somewhere out in the world or in the underwater map, and I had just missed it. (I ended up getting it into my head that the Mixing Pot must be in the Warehouse, and so if I just found that key somewhere, I'd be able to get done with everything...

The underwater map is a bit choppy for some reason- I think it might be because the fog is set to a Parallel Process event, not an Autorun?

I think the mechanics behind setting up Imogen's puzzle are really clever, but playing through the puzzle itself was kind of a drag. There's a combination of three factors working against it:

It's randomly generated, so there's no way for the player to figure out the solution other than trial and error

With two wrong options and one right option, the player's more likely to pick the wrong one

Picking the wrong one sends you all the way back to the start.

So, that means a lot of the time in the puzzle is spent backtracking the route that does work just to try another tile, with nothing to go on other than blind luck.

Unfortunately, I don't really know how I'd change this- if you're not sent back to the start, then there's not really any punishment for guessing wrong, and it's not like you can make this a 50/50 chance, that's barely a puzzle. Maybe the same variable that sets the path could also set up decorations to guide the player, but then that's practically a straight shot....

I also noticed two little typos-
In the intro, "Is it really now?"- comma after really
When healing Primarina, "Come on Primarina" - comma after on

Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game, and spending some time to write such a thorough review!

That box in the Royal Garden was there because it's the only place I can hide it without it interfering with the opening cutscene. On hindsight, I could've designed the map better. ><

It's something that I'm not too pleased about too, the fact that Sylveon was unable to move about or emote during conversations. Like you said, there're too many things I need to take into account, especially with regards to Sylveon's position relative to the player and the environment. Plus, there are some limits to dependent events that I wasn't able to find a solution to (e.g. the fact that they disappear when you remove them), without making eventing too over-complicated. So, unfortunately, this is how things will have to remain.

The idea behind selecting the Sparkling Essence from the bag, is to ascertain that the player knows that they're supposed to use the Sparkling Essence to polish the keys (rather than, say, Fairy Dust). I guess it's an "I know it's obvious, but I just wanted to make sure" kind of situation. As for the weird flower pot, it seems (from the various playthroughs I've watched) that it's indeed quite easily missable. On my part, I could've made the pot more distinct (like the jam bottle), instead of the regular pots that are seen so commonly in the overworld of so many games.

I've fixed the lag with the underwater map in the latest patch! It wasn't an Autorun vs Parallel Process issue, but an issue with the zoom factor of the fog. Setting the zoom to 100 makes the map lag, while setting it to 200 gets rid of it. Fewer number of animated tiles on the map, perhaps?

And! I'm so happy you managed to get to the bonus puzzle (Imogen's stage)! ^^ The thing is... trial and error is the whole point of the puzzle; rather than blindingly guessing the correct tile, I would expect the player to go to each tile systematically until they find the correct one, all while remembering the path they took previously. It's supposed to be somewhat tedious, and it's supposed to make the player suffer a little (she's the Fairy of Evil after all)... but I guess I made you suffer a little too much. >< Indeed, I agree, there's a limit to this before it gets too frustrating. Perhaps I should've shortened the route (i.e. lessened the number of portals the player has to get correct in the row in order to clear the stage).

The typos have been fixed with the latest patch! Thank you so much for pointing them out!

SomeVulpix · Mar 17, 2021

Completed it today, here's my positives and negatives:

+Adorable!
+Cute characters! Fluffy Dialogue! Tasty looking land!
+Creative crafting puzzles!
+You can talk to pokemon! Even your partner!

-You can get softlocked in one of the Fairy Warehouse puzzles and be unable to get it reset
-This is probably the only time we'll see Serafina and Sylveon...

NocTurn · Mar 17, 2021

Completed a few days ago, I have some positives and negatives but before I get into them at all I'll say upfront that I did have fun with the game.

Positives:

The story was simple enough to not take up too much time but also logical enough to give cause to all of the events in the game purpose
The aesthetic was consistent throughout. Everything was flower-y, glossy... It was a nice place to be, for sure!
The writing style fit the scenery perfectly, everything was cheesy and childish in the best way possible
Most of the characters are fun to interact with, even if they aren't the most fleshed out. But I don't think they needed to be that fleshed out either!
The crafting mechanic with the puzzle pieces was a nice change of pace and I would love to see it used more often in other fangames.

Negatives:

Biggest negative: I wish that the requirements for the "good ending" were more properly communicated. I got all the fairy dust, and then I assumed I was all set, because that was the only thing consistently mentioned by the protagonists. However I didn't realize that I also had to defeat all of the Impidimp before challenging the big bad.. It wasn't mentioned enough and there isn't really any justification as to why not completing this arbitrary requirement led me to this ending.
Some of the quests were rather tedious. In particular, the lake diving was one I took issue with because the step limit wasn't so much of a "challenge" as it was a reason to keep coming up and back down into the lake again to slightly pad the playtime.
Destroying the Impidimps was tedious, the requirement for them to be looking at you was simply unnecessary. I caught myself plenty of times simply staring at the Impidimp while I waited for them to randomly turn towards me, and sometimes with the way they were placed I couldn't even get to them because I didn't have direct line of sight, leading to me having to reset the map multiple times.
Too much running around. Too many of the requirements for quests were simply going between locations and talking to certain people in an obvious way that I feel like could have been condensed easily.

All in all, I think the atmosphere of the game as well as the aesthetics and writing style were nailed, but I'd like to see more refinement put into the different puzzles and quests in the game if you're planning on making another game in a similar style. I can't wait to play whatever you make next!

Armin · Mar 18, 2021

The game has been updated to Version 1.3, with the following changes:
1) Made it such that the piano event in Serene Lake is disabled should fast-forward mode be active. (Otherwise, the event and BGM doesn't sync up)
2) Changed the location of Kiera and Klefki in the final stage of the box puzzle, to prevent players from being unable to refresh the stage. (thanks to SomeVulpix for pointing it out!)

Sorry for the oversight!

Armin · Mar 18, 2021

SomeVulpix said:
Completed it today, here's my positives and negatives:

+Adorable!
+Cute characters! Fluffy Dialogue! Tasty looking land!
+Creative crafting puzzles!
+You can talk to pokemon! Even your partner!

-You can get softlocked in one of the Fairy Warehouse puzzles and be unable to get it reset
-This is probably the only time we'll see Serafina and Sylveon...

Hello! Thank you for playing the game, and sharing your thoughts on it!

I've fixed the box puzzle issue in the latest patch! Thanks for pointing it out! And truly, thank you so much for loving Serafina and Sylveon enough that you'd want to see more of them. Unfortunately, this game is where they shall have to remain, since there're no plans for a sequel or anything of that sort (though, that being said, the resource pack is free for all to download, and the Serafina sprite is free to be used in other projects, so perhaps you might be able to see them somewhere else after all!)

Armin · Mar 18, 2021

Turner said:
Completed a few days ago, I have some positives and negatives but before I get into them at all I'll say upfront that I did have fun with the game.

Positives:

The story was simple enough to not take up too much time but also logical enough to give cause to all of the events in the game purpose

The aesthetic was consistent throughout. Everything was flower-y, glossy... It was a nice place to be, for sure!

The writing style fit the scenery perfectly, everything was cheesy and childish in the best way possible

Most of the characters are fun to interact with, even if they aren't the most fleshed out. But I don't think they needed to be that fleshed out either!

The crafting mechanic with the puzzle pieces was a nice change of pace and I would love to see it used more often in other fangames.

Negatives:

Biggest negative: I wish that the requirements for the "good ending" were more properly communicated. I got all the fairy dust, and then I assumed I was all set, because that was the only thing consistently mentioned by the protagonists. However I didn't realize that I also had to defeat all of the Impidimp before challenging the big bad.. It wasn't mentioned enough and there isn't really any justification as to why not completing this arbitrary requirement led me to this ending.

Some of the quests were rather tedious. In particular, the lake diving was one I took issue with because the step limit wasn't so much of a "challenge" as it was a reason to keep coming up and back down into the lake again to slightly pad the playtime.

Destroying the Impidimps was tedious, the requirement for them to be looking at you was simply unnecessary. I caught myself plenty of times simply staring at the Impidimp while I waited for them to randomly turn towards me, and sometimes with the way they were placed I couldn't even get to them because I didn't have direct line of sight, leading to me having to reset the map multiple times.

Too much running around. Too many of the requirements for quests were simply going between locations and talking to certain people in an obvious way that I feel like could have been condensed easily.

All in all, I think the atmosphere of the game as well as the aesthetics and writing style were nailed, but I'd like to see more refinement put into the different puzzles and quests in the game if you're planning on making another game in a similar style. I can't wait to play whatever you make next!

Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game, and spending your time to provide such constructive feedback!

There was this bit in the beginning of the game about finding a way to take out the Impidimp; plus, the first Impidimp defeated will trigger a message about hunting them down, so I would assume that the need to defeat them was already communicated to the player. However, I do agree with you that the link between the Impidimp and the "good ending" could be made more explicit. Honestly speaking... I did have some trouble coming up with said link; in the end, I chalked it up to the protagonists growing stronger after defeating each Impidimp and hence, having enough strength to defeat Imogen after taking them all out... but I can understand if you felt that it was expressed too vaguely in the game, or that you wouldn't feel satisfied with such an explanation, because I wasn't feeling it too much myself. I guess it all boils down to a writing issue. It's something I'll have to improve on, no doubt!

The idea behind the step requirement of the lake puzzle wasn't so much as to pad the playtime (though, I'd be lying if I said that the thought of it didn't cross my mind at all), but more of me wanting to incorporate some form of "extra mechanic" in an otherwise "normal" maze exploration map to make things a little less straightforward. But given the tedium of it, and the fact that the maze itself wasn't really complicated to start off with, I can see how the concept might feel forced for you.

I can also understand how waiting for the Impidimp to turn towards you would be frustrating, especially if RNG wasn't kind to you on that day. Unfortunately, the reason behind this feature is... my limited scripting skills. The original script for the "Dazzling Gleam" projectile does not account for distance, which means an Impidimp will be considered "defeated", even if it's "off-screen", so long as its event is in the way of the projectile. In other words, the player could fire the projectile randomly and it might very well hit an Impidimp or two unintentionally. I wanted to make the whole process more "purposeful" on the part of the player (i.e. them actually "hunting down" the Impidimp), which means I needed to find a way to set an "allowable range", to make it such that only Impidimp events reflected on the player's screen can be taken out. And the only way I can think of to do that is by running a pbEventCanReachPlayer? check with a set distance between the two, and only way I can make that script work is when the Impidimp faces the player. I hope my explanation makes sense. >< Certainly, I probably could've gone about solving this in a more optimal way, or played around with the script a little more, but that was just what I managed to come up with at that time. With the latest patch, a fast-forward mode is added, so I hope it'll help in alleviating some of the more tedious aspects of the game for you!

As for your final point... well, this game is all about going between locations and talking to people... knowing which locations to go to, which people to talk to, immersing yourself in the atmosphere along the way. And it is supposed to be kind of obvious, because I didn't mean for it to be difficult at all, in a way that even kids can solve it. An extended fetch quest, so to speak. I am aware that this style isn't for everyone, or perhaps it's just my execution of it that needs a lot more work, so please forgive me for that! The fact that you managed to gain some enjoyment out of this game, despite all its flaws, does make me glad. ^^

Once again, thank you for your review! It'll definitely be useful for me moving forward from here.

Joroma · Mar 19, 2021

Just finished the last few minutes up today, with a total time of two hours. I LOVE IT! The whole aesthetic is so cute and adorable, and I like the nice little puzzles throughout. I had so much fun getting to know the characters, and I like all the dialogue. The sprites were fitting and I think the game is a very nice length (although I did get stuck at one point). I also like the music, and the plot and moral were fitting. I did get stuck with the flower pot, which I didn't think much of (even though I talked to it beforehand), which could just be given to the player after repairing the other pot. I also think that centering the player each round of the sunflower minigame would be best since it was hard to see if the player was on the opposite side. I did find all the minigames to be very fun, though. Another minor thing for me was the final part, which I thought could use more differentiation between the areas. Overall, I loved the game so much and I had a ton of fun playing it. I am so glad you included the actual festival and I love the aesthetic. This is a great game, you should be proud of it!

Completed ~~♥Pokémon Fairies♥~~

luxdiablo

Berserk Inferno

brysoonye

Novice

Samdeman123124

Novice

Armin

☆★★☆

Armin

☆★★☆

Ekat

That One Guy's GF

AnonAlpaca

Why Do People Call Me A GOAT

Armin

☆★★☆

Armin

☆★★☆

Ekat

That One Guy's GF

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb

Armin

☆★★☆

Armin

☆★★☆

SomeVulpix

Rookie

NocTurn

Hoothoot enthusiast

Armin

☆★★☆

Armin

☆★★☆

Armin

☆★★☆

Joroma

Novice

Completed *~*~♥Pokémon Fairies♥~*~*

Berserk Inferno

Novice

Novice

☆★★☆

☆★★☆

That One Guy's GF

Why Do People Call Me A GOAT

☆★★☆

☆★★☆

That One Guy's GF

Wiki Dweeb

☆★★☆

☆★★☆

Rookie

Hoothoot enthusiast

☆★★☆

☆★★☆

☆★★☆

Novice

Completed ~~♥Pokémon Fairies♥~~