Completed Concealed

hyenaglasses · Aug 1, 2022

Ohh I'm excited for this! The plot sounds interesting and following pokemon heck yeah!

Quinn · Aug 12, 2022

Very fun game, I really hope you add more to it in the future! :)

Astefia · Aug 14, 2022

I'm completely lost and out of healing items )x Where am I supposed to go now? In the Fo.Hills, it should be up and into the cavern, but inside Surf is neede to continue.

Nandthesword · Aug 14, 2022

Astefia said:
View attachment 11806
I'm completely lost and out of healing items )x Where am I supposed to go now? In the Fo.Hills, it should be up and into the cavern, but inside Surf is neede to continue.

That's an area not available rn. You're close to the exit though! You just have to head over to the right of that cave entrance and enter from there. Then you can get to Fortecenil City from there.

Hope you're enjoying Concealed!

Porygon2 · Aug 21, 2022

Hi, I downloaded the game and when I tried to play 1.1, I got this error:

I also noticed that the game title is still Pokemon Essentials rather than Concealed. Several years ago, I remember having difficulty playing a couple fangames that were still titled Essentials because I had Essentials downloaded too which I think made my save file from Essentials load in the fangames and cause errors due to different maps, events, etc. I wonder if something similar is happening here.

Nandthesword · Aug 21, 2022

Porygon2 said:
Hi, I downloaded the game and when I tried to play 1.1, I got this error:

I also noticed that the game title is still Pokemon Essentials rather than Concealed. Several years ago, I remember having difficulty playing a couple fangames that were still titled Essentials because I had Essentials downloaded too which I think made my save file from Essentials load in the fangames and cause errors due to different maps, events, etc. I wonder if something similar is happening here.

That makes a lot of sense! Someone else tried downloading the game about a week ago and experienced the same issue, but I just brushed it off as it being an issue with different computers.

I just uploaded Version 1.2, which should (hopefully lol) fix this. Lemme know if you have anymore trouble with Concealed!

ashiapro22 · Aug 23, 2022

does this game have gyms and if so how many

Porygon2 · Aug 23, 2022

Thanks, I was able to play 1.2!

My favorite scenes in the game were when Onylle went into the Unknown Woods to save Penny and standing up against her teacher and mom, and at the end when the group of friends all came to support her. What I especially liked about the friend support at the end is that it was a contrast to earlier after she first ran away and her head was filled with nasty thoughts from the people of Presadi City.

It was also a pretty realistic depiction of the kind of mental health issues that result from the kind of situations people like Onylle are trapped in. Many of the classic traits were there: Blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault. Pretending you're fine when you're not because you feel like you'd be burdening people if you told them the truth. Thinking you deserve everything that happened to you, even though you believe others in the same situation as you are valid and didn't deserve what they went through. Finding people who accept and support you, but still having thoughts that either they're secretly just like everyone else or the other extreme, that you don't deserve their kindness.

I still wonder whether Val really was mad at Onylle or not. The ending scene with the friend support circle seems to imply that she cares about Onylle just as much as Luke, Ethan, and Sam do. But there were things that made me wonder. Seeing that Chapter 2 was called Envy, my immediate speculation was that it would be about Val being envious of Onylle. While Val was nice at first, there were later lines where she seemed snappy, like being impatient with how long it takes Onylle to get from place to place. To be fair, she was like that with everyone, not just Onylle. But it seems inappropriate to act that way with someone who just ran away into the woods away from a controlling place that gave her trauma, so the equally dished out attitude didn't completely eliminate those thoughts. It was the friend support circle that swayed me the other way.

I'm also wondering if the reason Onylle doesn't have an eye is because her mother took it

One critique: Sometimes I felt like the pauses in scenes, like when other characters left and Onylle was about to talk to herself about the current situation and where she needs to go, went on for a while. Because it would be a noticeable amount of time since dialogue was on the screen and characters had left, I would try to move not knowing the scene wasn't over yet. It eventually became something I expected, so I would wait longer until trying to move, and I also understand the thematic reasons for it, but from a gameplay perspective, there isn't anything you can do while you're waiting for Onylle's thoughts and to be able to explore again.

I liked the solution to Cut trees. It was an interesting way to overcome HM obstacles that I've never seen done in a fangame before. Onylle received an explanation on how to remove them and was able to do so from that point on.

With the ending point of the game, there's a lot of speculation that could be made, and if it's planned to continue, a lot more to look forward to.

Random side note: For some reason, my brain keeps misremembering the name of the game as "Clearance". I'm not sure why. Clearance isn't even a word I use or hear commonly.

Bugs below, listed by the type of bugs:

Exiting these caves puts you one tile below it above the cliff:

Period missing in Mr. Adams:

The m in meet shouldn't be capitalized:

overflowering should be overflowing:

I'm guessing the c[1] was supposed to be a font color, and due to a missing or different key being used, it shows c[1] instead of the color?

I think the words kind and powerful should be switched around to be "powerful and kind towards everyone"; otherwise it could look like it's saying she's powerful towards everyone and I'm not sure what that would mean:

damnet -> damnit (unless he's making a net pun, since nets are sometimes used to catch fish)

As this is a book title, I feel like most words should be capitalized to be "How to Kill Three Pidgeys with One Stone"

The g in Grass should be capitalized:

The p in Psychic should be capitalized:

The r in Rock and the w in Water should be capitalized:

Poké Balls should be two words:

contains should be is:

Poké Balls should be two words:

Poké Ball should be two words:

All shouldn't be capitalized:

Take shouldn't be capitalized:

"willing in trading it" should be willing to trade it

It's shouldn't be capitalized:

The shouldn't be capitalized:

You'll shouldn't be capitalized:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

Missing apostrophe in seat's:

The g in Grass should be capitalized:

You're shouldn't be capitalized:

Pick shouldn't be capitalized:

Let's shouldn't be capitalized:

apart should be a part:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

Yesterday shouldn't be capitalized:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

loose should be lose:

Due to the quotation marks, there's not a space between "Val:" and the start of her dialogue:

The period should be a question mark:

Nothing shouldn't be capitalized:

The boards in the classrooms kind of look like they're positioned lower than intended? Instead of looking like they're on the wall, it looks like they're below the wall:

These bookcases in a house in Napi Town can be walked on; I think maybe because of bed tile passability:

Can walk on this picture in a house in Fortecenil City; I think maybe because of bed tile passability:

Can walk on this plaque and also the wall tile to the left of the bed in two houses in Fortecenil City:

Can walk on this window and the wall tile to the right of the bed in a house in Fortecenil City:

This NPC has no dialogue:

The NPC who trades you a Ralts in exchange for a Tympole refers to the Ralts as him ("Take good care of him"), but the Ralts I got from the trade was female:

This NPC goes to his second page of dialogue even if it's your first time talking to him. This is because although Control Self Switch A is turned on at the end of the first event page, the second event page doesn't have Control Self Switch A set as an activation condition. If two event pages have the same activation conditions (in this case, both have no conditions) the highest numbered event page will activate:

You can do this trade infinite times:

Nandthesword · Aug 24, 2022

Porygon2 said:
Thanks, I was able to play 1.2!

My favorite scenes in the game were when Onylle went into the Unknown Woods to save Penny and standing up against her teacher and mom, and at the end when the group of friends all came to support her. What I especially liked about the friend support at the end is that it was a contrast to earlier after she first ran away and her head was filled with nasty thoughts from the people of Presadi City.

It was also a pretty realistic depiction of the kind of mental health issues that result from the kind of situations people like Onylle are trapped in. Many of the classic traits were there: Blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault. Pretending you're fine when you're not because you feel like you'd be burdening people if you told them the truth. Thinking you deserve everything that happened to you, even though you believe others in the same situation as you are valid and didn't deserve what they went through. Finding people who accept and support you, but still having thoughts that either they're secretly just like everyone else or the other extreme, that you don't deserve their kindness.

I still wonder whether Val really was mad at Onylle or not. The ending scene with the friend support circle seems to imply that she cares about Onylle just as much as Luke, Ethan, and Sam do. But there were things that made me wonder. Seeing that Chapter 2 was called Envy, my immediate speculation was that it would be about Val being envious of Onylle. While Val was nice at first, there were later lines where she seemed snappy, like being impatient with how long it takes Onylle to get from place to place. To be fair, she was like that with everyone, not just Onylle. But it seems inappropriate to act that way with someone who just ran away into the woods away from a controlling place that gave her trauma, so the equally dished out attitude didn't completely eliminate those thoughts. It was the friend support circle that swayed me the other way.

I'm also wondering if the reason Onylle doesn't have an eye is because her mother took it

One critique: Sometimes I felt like the pauses in scenes, like when other characters left and Onylle was about to talk to herself about the current situation and where she needs to go, went on for a while. Because it would be a noticeable amount of time since dialogue was on the screen and characters had left, I would try to move not knowing the scene wasn't over yet. It eventually became something I expected, so I would wait longer until trying to move, and I also understand the thematic reasons for it, but from a gameplay perspective, there isn't anything you can do while you're waiting for Onylle's thoughts and to be able to explore again.

I liked the solution to Cut trees. It was an interesting way to overcome HM obstacles that I've never seen done in a fangame before. Onylle received an explanation on how to remove them and was able to do so from that point on.

With the ending point of the game, there's a lot of speculation that could be made, and if it's planned to continue, a lot to more to look forward to.

Random side note: For some reason, my brain keeps misremembering the name of the game as "Clearance". I'm not sure why. Clearance isn't even a word I use or hear commonly.

Bugs below, listed by the type of bugs:

Exiting these caves puts you one tile below it above the cliff:

Period missing in Mr. Adams:

The m in meet shouldn't be capitalized:

overflowering should be overflowing:

I'm guessing the c[1] was supposed to be a font color, and due to a missing or different key being used, it shows c[1] instead of the color?

I think the words kind and powerful should be switched around to be "powerful and kind towards everyone"; otherwise it could look like it's saying she's powerful towards everyone and I'm not sure what that would mean:

damnet -> damnit (unless he's making a net pun, since nets are sometimes used to catch fish)

As this is a book title, I feel like most words should be capitalized to be "How to Kill Three Pidgeys with One Stone"

The g in Grass should be capitalized:

The p in Psychic should be capitalized:

The r in Rock and the w in Water should be capitalized:

Poké Balls should be two words:

contains should be is:

Poké Balls should be two words:

Poké Ball should be two words:

All shouldn't be capitalized:

Take shouldn't be capitalized:

"willing in trading it" should be willing to trade it

It's shouldn't be capitalized:

The shouldn't be capitalized:

You'll shouldn't be capitalized:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

Missing apostrophe in seat's:

The g in Grass should be capitalized:

You're shouldn't be capitalized:

Pick shouldn't be capitalized:

Let's shouldn't be capitalized:

apart should be a part:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

Yesterday shouldn't be capitalized:

You shouldn't be capitalized:

loose should be lose:

Due to the quotation marks, there's not a space between "Val:" and the start of her dialogue:

The period should be a question mark:

Nothing shouldn't be capitalized:

The boards in the classrooms kind of look like they're positioned lower than intended? Instead of looking like they're on the wall, it looks like they're below the wall:

These bookcases in a house in Napi Town can be walked on; I think maybe because of bed tile passability:

Can walk on this picture in a house in Fortecenil City; I think maybe because of bed tile passability:

Can walk on this plaque and also the wall tile to the left of the bed in two houses in Fortecenil City:

Can walk on this window and the wall tile to the right of the bed in a house in Fortecenil City:

This NPC has no dialogue:

The NPC who trades you a Ralts in exchange for a Tympole refers to the Ralts as him ("Take good care of him"), but the Ralts I got from the trade was female:

This NPC goes to his second page of dialogue even if it's your first time talking to him. This is because although Control Self Switch A is turned on at the end of the first event page, the second event page doesn't have Control Self Switch A set as an activation condition. If two event pages have the same activation conditions (in this case, both have no conditions) the highest numbered event page will activate:

You can do this trade infinite times:

Yooo! Tysm for checking out Concealed! It means a lot to me.

Honestly I'm really glad that you thought that Concealed depicted mental health pretty well! One of my main goals was to accurately portray how depression can sort of rot into a person and make them feel like every single thing they do is a mistake. It did help since I've experienced depression before, and honestly I'm still kind of fighting through it.

Val's quite a confusing character, though I hope she becomes more clear with the next few chapters I make (Since I eventually do plan on finishing Concealed.) I honestly hope that I can manage to portray the rest of the story in a way that's really powerful, and that it doesn't really leave too many questions unanswered.

I definitely need to find a better way to substitute for the long pauses. I'm glad you know it's for a thematic reason, though.

I'm really happy with how I made HMs work! The only issue with how I'm doing it is that I have absolutely no clue how I'd do that for Surf (which would be the next taught HM), so I'll definitely have to work on that lol.

I'll work on fixing the bugs and typos. I didn't realize how often I use semicolons in my dialogue, since I forgot an entire grammatic rule every time I'd use one lmao. Once again, thank you so much for playing through Concealed!

Nandthesword · Aug 24, 2022

ashiapro22 said:
does this game have gyms and if so how many

Concealed doesn't have gyms since it's story-based, but it does have two chapters if that helps. Around 2-3 hours.

Porygon2 · Aug 24, 2022

Nandthesword said:
Yooo! Tysm for checking out Concealed! It means a lot to me.

Honestly I'm really glad that you thought that Concealed depicted mental health pretty well! One of my main goals was to accurately portray how depression can sort of rot into a person and make them feel like every single thing they do is a mistake. It did help since I've experienced depression before, and honestly I'm still kind of fighting through it.

Val's quite a confusing character, though I hope she becomes more clear with the next few chapters I make (Since I eventually do plan on finishing Concealed.) I honestly hope that I can manage to portray the rest of the story in a way that's really powerful, and that it doesn't really leave too many questions unanswered.

I definitely need to find a better way to substitute for the long pauses. I'm glad you know it's for a thematic reason, though.

I'm really happy with how I made HMs work! The only issue with how I'm doing it is that I have absolutely no clue how I'd do that for Surf (which would be the next taught HM), so I'll definitely have to work on that lol.

I'll work on fixing the bugs and typos. I didn't realize how often I use semicolons in my dialogue, since I forgot an entire grammatic rule every time I'd use one lmao. Once again, thank you so much for playing through Concealed!

The portrayal of mental health definitely gave the impression of someone who either knows what it's like to be in those situations, is close to other people who are, and/or studies mental health for a living.

I'm happy to know that Concealed is planned to be continued!

For Surf, maybe it could be like learning how to swim? Maybe Onylle can't swim and someone teaches her how.

Words not being capitalized after semicolons is actually something I learned from playing the game! I wasn't 100% sure, and I looked it up because I had never seen the word after a semicolon capitalized before, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't a "both are correct" deal before reporting those as typos.

Jerry’s Smelly Servant · Aug 28, 2022

I love story based games and this game was amazing! Keep up the great work in dev, and I look forward for to seeing more of your work in the future.

InsaneGamer · Aug 29, 2022

Porygon2 said:
The portrayal of mental health definitely gave the impression of someone who either knows what it's like to be in those situations, is close to other people who are, and/or studies mental health for a living.

I'm happy to know that Concealed is planned to be continued!

For Surf, maybe it could be like learning how to swim? Maybe Onylle can't swim and someone teaches her how.

Words not being capitalized after semicolons is actually something I learned from playing the game! I wasn't 100% sure, and I looked it up because I had never seen the word after a semicolon capitalized before, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't a "both are correct" deal before reporting those as typos.

That was what I was thinking. You could also have it as they work together teaching you. Later you could do the same for other hms and making scenes where they bond so that we can learn about the other characters.

Tomix9tomix · Sep 21, 2022

Just finished the game on stream!
Some thoughts:

I had a really great time playing this game, and I enjoyed the focus on the narrative, honestly the most disappointing part of this game for me was finding out that it isn't complete. There are still some threads that feel unsatisfying being left loose while we wait for an update. But I think that is a testimony to how invested I got into the story.

I think you did a good job with the characters, and the beginning felt really well set up, just slowly realising how fucked up everything was. It wasn't just that our mum was horrible. It wasn't just that the school kids are assholes, it isn't just that the teacher in insane, THE WHOLE TOWN IS MESSED. And the experience of being in that town worked well, because for every cutscene after it, I felt on edge and stressed that something dastardly wrong was going to happen. Just like how the main character felt on edge!

So yeah! I really enjoyed the game!

I do have a couple criticisms, but please keep in mind that they did no dampen my enjoyment of the game, I was strongly invested in the narrative enough that I still have a great time. I simply feel like the balance could do a bit of work, at some points it feels like the level curve is far too harsh, and on top of that, most of the routes in the game are very complex and long. They are honestly great maps in how they feel so connected and explorable, it's just that they feel like victory road when still we are in early-game territory.

But yeah! Great job, and I hope you continue working on the game, I'd love to find out more about the story!

duskshinelover · Sep 29, 2022

how to play the game i want to play it on my phone

Ott · Sep 29, 2022

duskshinelover said:
how to play the game i want to play it on my phone

You'll need to use joiplay since this is an rpg maker xp fangame. Unexpected bugs may occur from playing the game on unsupported software, so beware of those. It's best to play it on supported hardware, aka on PC

duskshinelover · Oct 9, 2022

Ott said:
You'll need to use joiplay since this is an rpg maker xp fangame. Unexpected bugs may occur from playing the game on unsupported software, so beware of those. It's best to play it on supported hardware, aka on PC

Ah ok and also please make it a full game soon it is AMAZING!!

KennyCatches · Oct 30, 2022

Hey! I played this game and thought it was great. The writing was the best part. You managed to build the world and the characters really well. The people in the starting town made me so mad, and I felt super bad for Onylle for the whole game. I'm very excited to see where the story goes next, especially after that cliffhanger at the end! Good work!