Released Pokémon Labyrinth

Hawluchaislive · Mar 17, 2021

dont sweat it dude im sure itll be fine if u spend a lil more time on it

Ekat · Mar 17, 2021

Played what you have in the entry so far!

Aesthetic

First of all, I really like the music in this game. I think my favourite themes were the ones for the Commando HQ, the mart, and the route. All of them were excellent.

However, I noticed that this game had many tiling and other little errors as I played. I did my best to point them out as I found them.

I can appreciate the task you underwent, trying to make custom tiles for you game. I thought I'd just give some basic feedback on what you do have. One thing I noticed is the inconsistencies. Take your outdoor tileset, for example. The cliffs with rock tops and the cliffs with grassy tops have different outlines. The trees and other objects also have a different darkness of outline, which sort of makes things stick out. I also noticed that some of the objects in your game just didn't have outlines, some used different shading styles, different perspectives, etc.

If I were to make a suggestion, it would be to work on the game's pallets to fix some of those issues. Pick a consistent outline style, pick a consistent set of hues, etc.

The Gameplay

I'm interested where this project will go, if you plan to continue it. I like the idea of there being a hidden island, and the job system seems neat. I just wish there was an opportunity for me to try any of these things. The NPCs keep taunting me about the jobs!

I found the standard Pokémon part of this game a bit frustrating, once I reached the lass out front of Wet Forest. Her Pokémon were far stronger than my one Eevee. At the same time, I didn't have any way to earn money to buy Poké Balls. I think it would help to have the player start off with some base money, as well as a few items to help them along on their way. I also noticed that the Pokémon selection (as well as their levels) wasn't too great. All the routes seemed to have the same sets of Pokémon, and they were oftentimes level 1. This made level grinding to get past that pesky trainer even more difficult.

The Writing

Again, I like the premise of this game. I like that, even though there isn't much gameplay, I get to learn more about the area. Plenty of NPCs have lore, or things to state about the general area. I'm also curious to know more about the leaders of the island...

Bugs

1. Didn't catch it in a screenshot, but the uncle calls me his nephew.
2. Not a proper sentence. It would also be nice to have some sound effects as the ship is going down.
3. Tiling error
4. Tiling error.
5. Collision.
6. Collision.
7. Priority not set.
8. Collision.
9. Collision.
10. Priority. The TV screen's bottom left corner is also cut off. In addition, I noticed that the town's music would reset when I left the Pokémon Center.
11. Priority.
12. Corners don't align.
13. Collision.
14. The trees in the south part of the map don't match up where the maps connect
15. I assume this is placeholder, but it's unreadable.
16. This youngster's loose text was something akin to ~[2]
17. You can run off the stairs from the side
18. Tiling error.
19. There is no music in these houses, and the bottom is visible.
20. Priority.
21. Priority.
22. Priority.
23. Tiling error.
24. Visible void and tiling error.
25. Transition again.
26. Tiling error.
27. Collision error.
28. Tiling error.

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Overall
There isn't much else for me to comment on, and the game is in definite need of some polish. However, I do like the ideas behind the project, so I hope you'll try to do something with them outside of the jam!

Falcon · Mar 21, 2021

Really enjoyed this entry! Some amazing things in here. Sure there are some boundary problems and a handful of eventing things, but it was an enjoyable experience and romp. The Lass at the start of Route 2 destroyed me consistently though and it was a bit annoying. I also wish we started with a bit of money to purchase more items/PokeBalls. Love the concept, if there were a few side quests in the cafes would be great too, I’m sure that’s what the end goal is but some early quests for money or items would be fantastic.

In short: Fun game! Levels should probably be looked at, clean up boundaries and some events and it’ll be a great entry. Looking forward to the whole thing! Again, accept your mistakes but do NOT let them defeat you.

Aldo · Mar 23, 2021

Ekat said:
Played what you have in the entry so far!

Aesthetic

First of all, I really like the music in this game. I think my favourite themes were the ones for the Commando HQ, the mart, and the route. All of them were excellent.

However, I noticed that this game had many tiling and other little errors as I played. I did my best to point them out as I found them.

I can appreciate the task you underwent, trying to make custom tiles for you game. I thought I'd just give some basic feedback on what you do have. One thing I noticed is the inconsistencies. Take your outdoor tileset, for example. The cliffs with rock tops and the cliffs with grassy tops have different outlines. The trees and other objects also have a different darkness of outline, which sort of makes things stick out. I also noticed that some of the objects in your game just didn't have outlines, some used different shading styles, different perspectives, etc.

If I were to make a suggestion, it would be to work on the game's pallets to fix some of those issues. Pick a consistent outline style, pick a consistent set of hues, etc.

The Gameplay

I'm interested where this project will go, if you plan to continue it. I like the idea of there being a hidden island, and the job system seems neat. I just wish there was an opportunity for me to try any of these things. The NPCs keep taunting me about the jobs!

I found the standard Pokémon part of this game a bit frustrating, once I reached the lass out front of Wet Forest. Her Pokémon were far stronger than my one Eevee. At the same time, I didn't have any way to earn money to buy Poké Balls. I think it would help to have the player start off with some base money, as well as a few items to help them along on their way. I also noticed that the Pokémon selection (as well as their levels) wasn't too great. All the routes seemed to have the same sets of Pokémon, and they were oftentimes level 1. This made level grinding to get past that pesky trainer even more difficult.

The Writing

Again, I like the premise of this game. I like that, even though there isn't much gameplay, I get to learn more about the area. Plenty of NPCs have lore, or things to state about the general area. I'm also curious to know more about the leaders of the island...

Bugs

1. Didn't catch it in a screenshot, but the uncle calls me his nephew.
2. Not a proper sentence. It would also be nice to have some sound effects as the ship is going down.
3. Tiling error
4. Tiling error.
5. Collision.
6. Collision.
7. Priority not set.
8. Collision.
9. Collision.
10. Priority. The TV screen's bottom left corner is also cut off. In addition, I noticed that the town's music would reset when I left the Pokémon Center.
11. Priority.
12. Corners don't align.
13. Collision.
14. The trees in the south part of the map don't match up where the maps connect
15. I assume this is placeholder, but it's unreadable.
16. This youngster's loose text was something akin to ~[2]
17. You can run off the stairs from the side
18. Tiling error.
19. There is no music in these houses, and the bottom is visible.
20. Priority.
21. Priority.
22. Priority.
23. Tiling error.
24. Visible void and tiling error.
25. Transition again.
26. Tiling error.
27. Collision error.
28. Tiling error.

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3.

4.

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9.

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14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Overall
There isn't much else for me to comment on, and the game is in definite need of some polish. However, I do like the ideas behind the project, so I hope you'll try to do something with them outside of the jam!

Falcon said:
Really enjoyed this entry! Some amazing things in here. Sure there are some boundary problems and a handful of eventing things, but it was an enjoyable experience and romp. The Lass at the start of Route 2 destroyed me consistently though and it was a bit annoying. I also wish we started with a bit of money to purchase more items/PokeBalls. Love the concept, if there were a few side quests in the cafes would be great too, I’m sure that’s what the end goal is but some early quests for money or items would be fantastic.

In short: Fun game! Levels should probably be looked at, clean up boundaries and some events and it’ll be a great entry. Looking forward to the whole thing! Again, accept your mistakes but do NOT let them defeat you.

Thank you both! I appreciate your feedback very much and will definitely take it into account!

ThatWelshOne_ · Mar 24, 2021

Hey there! I just played your game. A short and sweet entry with lots of potential. It was the first time I've played a PSDK game, so thank you for the introduction. I'm intrigued to see where you take this game if you decide to continue with it.

I think Ekat already caught most of the things I saw with tiling. Here are a few more I noticed:

1. The PCs in both Pokémon Centres were passable.
2. This sign has no text.
3. Male protagonist transforms into Lucas when giving/receiving Pokémon from Nurse Joy.
4. RIP this little girl's pink DS .
5. Typo.
6. This lady has no dialogue + if you go upstairs then back downstairs, the player is sent to a different house.
7. The man just wants to read his book without it being trampled.
8. The void can be seen.
9. Low level wild Pokémon on Route 2.
10. You can pass through the bridge and run all the way up to the void.

And things I didn't get screenshots for:
In the first town, if you leave the Mart, you actually come out the house next door.
There are 2 youngsters in Timeview City that have the exact same dialogue about Magikarp.
No BGM on route 1 or 2.

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Overall, a nice entry. Well done!

luxdiablo · Mar 26, 2021

Hi! I played through Labyrinth, and I have some thoughts on the game. First of all, congratulations on releasing something! I know it's especially hard and daunting to pick up a new medium like PSDK, so the fact that you were able to pull it off is impressive in and of itself.

I think that I would've appreciated some sort of varying BGM. A lot of places used the same BGM, which was weird because the Cafe has it's own music, but the PMC didn't.
I enjoyed the use of a custom tileset! I think pretty much every passibility error that I caught has been addressed by someone else above me, so I won't waste your time with that.
I think the levels were a bit wonky. I was able to demolish everything with my Eevee, and then I randomly encountered a Lv. 11 Spewpa which threw me for a loop. There was also one Lass that was particularly hard, which confused me considering the game had been extremely easy up until that point.
I was very confused on where I had to go after talking to the Commando, and I wandered around the HQ and the city for about 10 minutes before realizing that I was expected to go onto Route 1.
I think the trees were probably my biggest issue graphics-wise. I'd recommend studying Pokemon tilesets and seeing how they work in terms of shape, shading, and depth before tackling a huge thing like a custom tileset. The buildings were all totally fine, but the trees looked a bit off to me because of all of the things I mentioned earlier.

Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I think the game has potential, should you choose to expand on it in the future! Kudos!

TechSkylander1518 · Apr 1, 2021

The player designs are really neat!

I really like the setup to the story, both for the player/Uncle's dynamic and the region itself. On the family's end, I think it's really interesting to see a Pokemon journey started not because of any grand goals, but just to brighten life a little bit, and I hope we get to see the player's Uncle again! And on the region's side, a closed-off civilization is ripe for all sorts of interesting ideas, and you've clearly got a timeline set up for its development, so I'm very interested in seeing more! And even though we haven't gotten to the Labyrinth yet, the fact that this landmark is so important as to even be the title of this game has me intrigued! It'll be really cool to have a whole location be the center of the main mystery!

Luth's personality is fun! I don't know why I'm so enthralled with the idea of a grumpy little solo mailman, but I like him lol.

That letter display was a neat display- I dunno if it's your own making or just a feature of PSDK, but I hope it comes up some more times in the story, considering Luth's job- it's fun to have exposition in ways other than just the standard text box, even though it's hard to find opportunities to do it lol.

V/Alt isn't really as intuitive for the menu as Esc, especially when Esc doesn't do anything else. (Might just be default PSDK, though) I looked up French keyboards and saw why QSZD was used instead of WASD, but I'd suggest having an option to change the keybinding, because QSZD is super awkward on a QWERTY keyboard lol.

The idea that you're a stranded trainer and the region you're in is largely unknown sets up for a really neat story, but NPC dialogue kind of seems to revert to just typical Pokemon NPC lines, as if they've forgotten the current situation.

One NPC in the HQ says "If you're looking for a Quest to do, you won't have any luck here." But like, I just got stranded and I came to the HQ in hopes of getting help to find my way home, not looking for employment.
One NPC in the clock town mulls that "Even in Emalia, there are places no one has ever seen..." But like, of course? It's this region secluded from most of human society that's only been inhabited for a hundred years, it'd be much more surprising if everything had been found.
Adruel has to look at the player to confirm that they're not native to Emalia, despite the fact that Luth just brought them there after learning they were shipwrecked. Not only that, a trainer in the first cafe is immediately able to tell you're new to the region, and the Mart clerk later says people often talk about the player, implying the region is small enough for everyone to know one another- it seems like Adruel should have been able to see you were new right away.
Adruel says that "there's a town just nearby, and I suggest that you stay there for a while," and specifically instructs you to stay in the town. But there's no place prepared for you to rest, and the plot only continues by directly disobeying his orders. It'd be one thing if it was just a standard adventure, but within the context of suddenly losing your family, it's weird for the player to choose to wander off, especially when we're initially told that they seem to have very little energy these days. I think the idea was that the main character was beginning to perk up at the prospect of adventure, so maybe just include some lines about how they seem to be interested in going out and exploring, so that we can see them developing and understand why they're out looking for quests and Pokemon and not just waiting around for help.
The clerk says that they "hear you've been doing good" and "people will hear about you often since you're on a journey", but a child being stranded and alone is definitely not doing good, and they're not supposed to be on any sort of journey, they just washed up on shore on their way to another journey.

A lot of your maps have these little patches of clear space in the grass.

I think the idea was to put items there? But I never found any, not even any hidden ones, so it just struck me as odd.

Rich Boy Rodney's Vivillon is weirdly hard for someone who's just supposed to be another random route trainer.

Vivillon's BST is 411. The player's options for Pokemon are Eevee (325), Pancham (348), Flabebe (303), Skiddo (350), Rattata (253), or Spewpa (213), so that's already a big disadvantage there.
Eevee's only attacking move is Swift, a special attack. Vivillion knows Light Screen and Struggle Bug.
As a Bug/Flying, Vivilon has a double resistance against Grass and Fighting, so neither Skiddo's Vine Whip nor Pancham's Arm Thrust are much use. You're basically left with only Tackle and Quick Attack as viable options, unless Light Screen wears off and you can get Swift/Fairy Wind in.
And when I think I'm being clever and using Sand Attack to lower its accuracy, Rodney's AI is high enough that he can think of switching it out to remove that effect.

Running the game, I get this message that some project files are missing?

There's a moment just before the ship scene where the player is in the void facing down.

In the cutscene where you meet Luth, your footprints face the wrong way.

Trainer card displays Lucas' trainer sprite. (and Dawn's if the player is female)

Adruel says that "I heard the mail boy showed up with a strange boy", regardless of whether the player is a boy or girl.

NPCs can block the exit

This line break is odd

This ledge is passable from the right

This cushion isn't passable

Exiting the mart took me out the door of this other house

Line break is weird

Passable here

Passable here

The counters in the PMC and mart don't have increased priority, so the nurses/clerks clip through them

My trainer turns into Lucas for the giving/taking back Poke Balls animation

Trees clip into this house

This sign had no dialogue when I interacted (I tried from the front too, I just took the screencap on the side lol)

My Flabebe's front sprite has a white flower, but its back and menu sprites have a red flower.

Pretty sure this is an error.

Tile error on the right

I can see the other rooms on this map

Nothing happens when I interact with her.

TV's passable from here. (only in the clockwork town, though, weirdly)

I don't think this was intentional?

Passable

Passable

Player clips through the trees, and some void is visible here.

Protect plays the animation on the foe. (This might be a base PSDK error)

Didn't nab a screencap, but this trainer in Route 2 says [~6] as her losing dialogue. Also, if you talk with her after battling, she says "Isn't it a nice day?", which is exactly what the other lass said after battle.

The background for Rich Boy Rodney's battle is just a grey blur, and Vivillon clips into the Poke Ball display. Also, his battle portrait has him blonde in a blue suit, but his overworld sprite has purple hair and a white suit. Here's a quick little recolor to fix that!

Foes vanish when using Quick Attack (might be a PSDK error)

Skiddo's backsprite seems pretty small compared to its front sprite in battle

Parenthesis kind of get cut off on the level-up display (probably a PSDK error)

Someone already pointed out that the bridge was passable at the one corner, but let me add onto that that all the bridge corners are passable.

Multi-strike moves will say "Hit 2 time!" instead of "Hit 2 times!" (probably a PSDK error)

The ledges that go up look to just be a reflection of the ones that go down, but the trouble with that is that the darker part is supposed to be the soil underneath the shadow of the ledge, so it looks off being on top like that.

The Winter Jam didn't do anything?

Two youngsters in the clock town have identical dialogue about Magikarp being the strongest Pokemon

Luckily you and him were stranded together- I'm not positive if it's supposed to be "you and him" or "he and you" or what, so I'd personally suggest just making it "the two of you" lol
Ah, so you're the one.Hmm... - missing space after .
But there's rarely any mission so I do nothing- comma after mission
I hate that the Commando is blocking the entrance though- comma after entrance
It's just a folklore- "folklore" isn't really synonymous with "myth" or "legend"- folklore is a group of legends, so it'd be either "it's just folklore" or "it's just a rumor" or something like that.
Have y'gotten used to town, folks?- The clerk is only talking to the player, so it doesn't really make sense to call them "folks"
And so we lost most of the antique- I don't really understand what "the antique" is?
Did you know?Magikarp can just really high distances. - missing a space after the ?
In the clock town's cafe- "Most come back with themselves and their covered in bruises"- I think you forgot the "Pokémon" in there
Doesn't it excite you the thought of travelling to the unknown?- comma after you

Released Pokémon Labyrinth

Hawluchaislive

Rookie

Ekat

That One Guy's GF

Falcon

Local Robot

Aldo

Adventurer

ThatWelshOne_

Champion

luxdiablo

Berserk Inferno

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb