Released DISCARDED

StarWolff · Feb 22, 2023

oh this game looks really good!

Cuprite (Kyu) · Feb 23, 2023

If the download isn't working for a bit, I reuploaded the game cause I fixed the credits, and then realized I forgot a step in the uploading process so I'm reuploading it again. This should be the last time, I swear.

RegalSword · Feb 26, 2023

Just started the game and I have to say that the setting has me hooked!

Cuprite (Kyu) · Feb 27, 2023

RegalSword said:
Just started the game and I have to say that the setting has me hooked!

Glad to hear that! I hope you end up enjoying the rest of the demo. ^-^

(Also, general update: I updated the screenshots since one of them had playtest stuff in it and the new one actually shows something implemented for this game specifically)

Cuprite (Kyu) · Mar 4, 2023

Important update: v0.2 has been uploaded to fix a game-breaking bug. Thanks for finding that during your stream, Thundaga. Lmao.

Tomix9tomix · Mar 4, 2023

Hello! I finished the demo!

I gave pretty much all my thoughts on stream so honestly there isn't a whole lot to say. But great game, I loved the puzzles and I loved how many small details were put into the game. In particular I'm really looking forward to uncovering more lore!

Hey you! Person who likes fangames! Yeah I'm talking to you! Give this game a try!

AenaonDogsky · Mar 8, 2023

Hey, playing through the game atm, will provide a review when done - posting a potentially progression-halting bug (if you save): the way jumping rocks have been implemented enables the player to get "inside" the swamp and go out of bounds.

Cuprite (Kyu) · Mar 8, 2023

AenaonDogsky said:
Hey, playing through the game atm, will provide a review when done - posting a potentially progression-halting bug (if you save): the way jumping rocks have been implemented enables the player to get "inside" the swamp and go out of bounds.

Ah, I see what happened. Touching the event from the north side still activates it. I thought I fixed all instances of that but I guess I didn't.
Welp, time to make v0.3! Lmao.
In all seriousness, thank you for letting me know about this.

Edit: v0.3 is being uploaded now. v0.2 has been removed since it's redundant. (I hope I didn't accidentally leave any new content in there, but I think I got rid of it all. Pretty confident I did)

AenaonDogsky · Mar 9, 2023

Here is my review of Discarded:

“Discarded” has been crafted with a lot of care and attention to detail, with a unique setting intimate with its gameplay segments. The story bears emotional weight without any kind of unnecessary dialogue – characterization and cutscene direction only serve to compliment the more pure game-y style of storytelling. There is a good amount of lore whose bits and pieces are sprinkled throughout menus, dialogue objects, and overall presentation. It never feels forced, or out of place. Exposition is limited to the bare minimum, and textboxes are adjusted to proper length. The prologue hook grabs your attention successfully, without dragging on more than it should.

Mapping is very tight and carefully planned, with only minor details left to address in order to polish it up. The gameplay loop is satisfying, and indicative of a good level of experience with eventing, and RPG Maker in general. There are many, many small details everywhere, that speak for the developer’s love for the craft. I haven’t played any of the PMD games (assuming this has also been inspired by them), so I am unsure if what I say here is inaccurate, but “map edge borders” is something I haven’t associated with most RPGs - and for me, it subtracted from the experience. The maps felt as if they were contained inside literal boxes, taking the immersion away. Puzzles utilize the conventional map mechanics in a very novel way – you can traverse certain terrains based on your point of entry to said terrains. Boss battles work like puzzles themselves, making the usual boring Pokemon boss fights much more interesting. Environmental storytelling is prominent in this game, something that should be applauded.

OST choice is great for the most part, and quite emotional, but I can’t say for sure it fits the world to a T. There is a lot of familiarity on part of the developer with JRPG soundtracks, and sometimes these tend to have an overly emotional melodic expression inappropriate for certain situations – battles have a feel of childish wonder and “celebration” to them, when the game takes place in a similar to a post-apocalyptic setting, with unknown dangers around the corner. (This is a general problem with JRPGs, presentation of tension and violent encounters is happy-go-lucky in a very naive sense; nothing to do with the Developer’s preferences, it’s kind of a tradition in the genre.). The Bravely Default theme was just made that way, and while I love it a lot, it doesn’t feel like the best choice for “wild” encounters.

The implications of the lore and the setting, along with the interplay between gameplay and its other elements, are delivered in a coherent manner, in such a compact and consistent way, that the game feels more like a professional or indie attempt, than a hobbyist work. Graphical presentation, while also carefully approached (UI, tiles), falls under the necessities of a game jam game and a solo dev endeavor – inconsistent pixel densities and usage of assets from later engines. This isn’t a criticism given jam and “team count” limitation, but it’s something that a dedicated artist can quickly solve in the future. Addressing this will make for a game greater than the sum of its parts.

“Discarded” is above all a love child, perhaps the only thing to consider when playing a game in the first place - so give it a go and you won’t be disappointed!

- Nice little details like SFX, compact dialogue, highlighted text, tile details (eg that one students desk, chairs) flavor text in battle, sprite animations, jukebox functionality, even the ribbon (though the summary still says "pokemon" but I can see where this is going), overall UI, the shiny mark to indicate that the model is special, the names of the original owners. Possibly deprecated models have the shiny mark if Noctowl is to be taken as such. Indirect hints about intractable objects like Bannete's before leaving the dumpster are a also nice touch. Waterfall, pot warning, the flood, the gym doors taking twice to open

- custcene direction is great

- the focus based battle system is an interesting addition that doesnt stray too far from expected mechanics, while also being unique enough, caveat below

- It's kind of ironic when I chased after the shiny trubbish only for the battle system to say "trubbish attacked, you retaliated" xD xD

- very interesting 3-party battle system

- should replicas have genders?

- no special item if you bought everything from kecleon?

- magmortar boss can be hit or miss (literally) if it chooses the smog attack, then deli go bye bye, otherwise you can win pretty easily (normal mode). This feels random, unless I missed something

- missed chance to use Crystal Chronicles music in the desert (jk Im biased)

For some of these, accompanying screenshots below. Screenshots are titled as bugs or suggestions

- there is no clear indication that you can progress through certain areas when the map has borders (see south part of first dumpster map, and many more) - you should use different colored tiles that imply a transition to another area.

- likewise, it isnt easy to tell you can jump on rocks without a small transition (like a darkened grass patch)

- the ledge with the red switch, likewise, breaks the consistency of the expected jumping distance. Suddenly, you can jump two tiles farther

- See included screenshots for 1) expected tile jump distance, 2) need for indicators tiles to jump to 3) tiles obstructing view of passages

- you can remove the "player character" in the loading screen, since it usually results in showing deli as a protag and deli as a pokemon/replica

- I didnt get to use the focus system much in wild battles, and it only activated once in a boss segment. It felt like a good addition thematically, but gameplay-wise, it practically made no diffrence. That said, battles are fun and they can get strategic, but that seems to depend on the “stupid” vanilla AI. You may have carefully placed ally moves and abilities for them not to become impossible, but still

- BF3 of swamp can get tedious since you dont have the choice to let go of the pots. especially during the section when you might have picked the pot only to find out that the 3rd of the 2 doors you opened was still blocking you. I understand you can barely see those gates if you stand in one specific tile - but I realized that too late

- backtracking for extra stuff after completion of a level, is a bit tedious, though rewarding

- I understand the “BF” marking convention is a PMDthing, but it doesn’t make sense for woodlands to have underground floors… it’d be better if you had unique names for each area

- better provide a reading module for the gym text etc. because some players might have difficulties getting the big picture from broken words. Likewise Unown leetspeak may cause problems for some

- move relearner somewhere? or from menu?

- tile error

- unsure if the transparent textbox used an intractable wait command for the dumpster overlook scene should show an arrow

- unsure if consistent, but the prompt asking you if you named baltoy correctly, is enveloped in two brackets

- unsure if bug, but stones can be uncovered only if you look towards them from a particular angle. I realize this is part of the riddle, but it might make some players believe there’s nothing there, upon initial reading of the riddle

Cuprite (Kyu) · Mar 26, 2023

HEY SO v0.3 STARTED YOU IN THE DEBUG AREA AND CONTAINED HEAVILY SPOILERY ASSETS THAT WERENT SUPPOSED TO BE IN IT SO IM DELISTING IT FOR NOW WHILE I FIX IT HAHA PLEASE TELL ME NOBODY PLAYED IT LIKE THAT IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS I AM FREAKING TF OUT-

Edit: 17 minutes later ive fixed the issue it shouldnt be a problem anymore. im going to ask the person who had originally made the video that pointed this out to me if they can redo it or something because i dont want that out there. its still called v0.3 despite being a new upload.

Haunted Ditto · Apr 16, 2023

Hi, I just finished your game!
Here are my thoughts:

A very interesting story (probably my favorite one so far)
The use of the future paradox Pokemon felt were organic (I-Bundle, because Delibird went extinct and I-Hands for hard labour)
The two custom "Replica-Pokemon" were really cool
The focus-mechanic adds extra depth to the battles
I liked the choice to only do 50% of the puzzle to continue or 100% to get a special reward
Big fan of Hope's dialogue
Shop which only sold helpful items (and cool teleporting MD Kecleon)
Perfect difficulty

There seems to be a few changes on the type effectiveness chart. Those could be elaborated a bit imo. Though idk the expanse of those changes (Poison seems to be very effective against Water now)
The "focus" mechanic is a neat addition, but rarely effects the battle. During my playthrough it only happened during the second boss fight. Every other fight ended before the bar was filled.
The boss fights are kinda luck based. If the AI picks the perfect moves, there is 0% chance to win. So most of the time I had to restart until the AI did a bad play.

Overall a very good game jam entry!
Question: Does the Gracidea Nectar have a purpose in the demo?

Cuprite (Kyu) · Apr 16, 2023

Haunted Ditto said:
Hi, I just finished your game!
Here are my thoughts:

A very interesting story (probably my favorite one so far)

The use of the future paradox Pokemon felt were organic (I-Bundle, because Delibird went extinct and I-Hands for hard labour)

The two custom "Replica-Pokemon" were really cool

The focus-mechanic adds extra depth to the battles

I liked the choice to only do 50% of the puzzle to continue or 100% to get a special reward

Big fan of Hope's dialogue

Shop which only sold helpful items (and cool teleporting MD Kecleon)

Perfect difficulty

There seems to be a few changes on the type effectiveness chart. Those could be elaborated a bit imo. Though idk the expanse of those changes (Poison seems to be very effective against Water now)

The "focus" mechanic is a neat addition, but rarely effects the battle. During my playthrough it only happened during the second boss fight. Every other fight ended before the bar was filled.

The boss fights are kinda luck based. If the AI picks the perfect moves, there is 0% chance to win. So most of the time I had to restart until the AI did a bad play.

Overall a very good game jam entry!
Question: Does the Gracidea Nectar have a purpose in the demo?

Thank you for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it. ^-^

To address some of the criticisms:

- There's a ReadMe file that lists all the changes, but there aren't a ton. In terms of types, the only changes are that Water is weak to Poison, and Ice resists Flying & Ground. Outside of that, I just adjusted the stats of the Pokémon that would be in the party so they would be more balanced (And also made Banette Ghost/Normal).

- Yeah, the Focus system ended up being underutilized. I gotta figure out how to make it more prominent in the final version. Not 100% sure how to go about it yet though.

- I plan on giving the player access to revival items in the final version (There'd be one or two Revival Herbs early on and an optional renewable source of Revives later. I might also give the player access to a new Revival Herb after every cleared dungeon? Not 100% certain), so I hope that does something to help. I also gotta adjust that last boss fight since I slapped it together close to last second and had balanced the entire game around fighting everything you come across. So, ye, some more balance tweaks are required. Lol.

Edit: Oh, yeah, and the Gracidea Nectar has no purpose yet. It will later on tho.

bobdog · Jul 24, 2023

Really looking forward to the hermit's story, I was able to understand most of the notes and am kinda invested in the lore.

Edit: Finished the demo,

and there is a way to grind in the forest by abusing the hut(Grind all pp, go to hut, leave hut, full heal). I wouldn't say remove it, because I felt it was a fair time investment(I only went up to 50 and 46 to match the boss). However, I did end up with like 10,000 dollars. Overall, I loved the game and the story, but a run button would be nice, especially bc I must have wiped on the first boss like 4 times. Also I didn't really understand the focus. Maybe have a guide that can pop up at any time?

Probably not the best reviewer, but keep up the good work!

Released DISCARDED

File folder on MEGA

Attachments

StarWolff

Cooltrainer

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

RegalSword

Pokemon Itinerant Developer

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

Tomix9tomix

The beetle is waking up

AenaonDogsky

Arbiter of Doggos

Attachments

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

AenaonDogsky

Arbiter of Doggos

Attachments

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

Haunted Ditto

Creator of Pokemon Pandora and Pokemon Climate

Cuprite (Kyu)

Novice

bobdog

Novice