IMO, the shapes of the bodies of your characters seem to call too much attention to themselves (long arms and legs).

Really liked the macabre vibes with the choices of color, textures and shades.

Think the N64-like animations were on point, with those ever so slightly truncated or skipped frames (as I'd describe it) and somewhat lack of smoothness, in this case intentional as I see it; those polygons with many flat surfaces and limited use of curvature (baring exceptions) were also pretty recognizable + the pixelated texts and other details like the aesthetics of the "user interface".

For the writing and the story, I really liked Nancy's personality (e.g. her taste in chocolate and the way she often has her eyes half-closed) as well as the other characters' and how that was expressed, plus the pacing of the narrative and the whole 1st-person camera fits well with a video-game vibe again, IMO.

A lot of this animation seemed to be a homage or inspired by N64 games (although still with its own identity), but I wouldn't mind a bit of straying away from that just so to make it something even more unique; perhaps more exploration with the camera angles instead of the either 1st person or the "expository cutscene" one (as I'd call it), or maybe showing different ways of how Nancy advance through the environment instead of always 1st person walking; I realize changes like these could make it less recognizable as a game/homage, so I suppose it's about what choices you want for the throwback and which ones you want when it comes to expressing your own identity (when deciding that, I'd advise you to follow your heart, naturally).

Also, loved the disguised kid, hehe.

Overall awesome, solid stuff, I would love to see more.

It was fun, gets a bit repetitive with the same moves, but the different stages and uh, game modes, added some thrills. Ok voice acting IMO, I appreaciated the diction, pacing of words, accents and speech idiosyncrasies; I'd have enjoyed some more tension or highened emotions a bit besides the quips, but that's alright (maybe that relates more to the dialogue writing I guess). Also I suggest other music genres besides EDM, maybe trying to tie that to the stages, you did it for the Mario stage so stuff like that to add more diversity. Also, Chandler got me, heh. And my favorite girl was the eyeball one. Overall, enjoyable.

Really liked the shapes with a lot of smoothness and straightness and the limited choice of color, both of which I think work together for a simple aesthetic that's pleasing to my eyes by demanding less focus on detail (exception being the intricate pattern on the text box but I think it's fine since it's on a separated area, close to the text. I'd still say it has a different visual appeal but I'm thinking on the whole here).

I also really appreciated the symbolism constructed from many uses of visual effects and a number of sound effects (e.g. the heartbeat or the moment of rage during the reunion with the mother, or the series of camera flashes also on the reunion), that was a nice device of communicating/expressing many different things on different parts (emotions, ideas, events...). There were also sfx with less symbolism and merely realism, like the bell ring at the store or the car drift when the deer appears, they were nice and all but just trying to make clear what are the ones I'm talking about here.

The "photography" was also very nice (as in the angles you portrayed the images, lol), I thought they were in general clear and representative/meaningful, many of them could have worked well if this was a comic, IMO. The smooth and varied/deliberate image transitions also complemented this and in a way befitting of your chosen media.

I also liked how the color limitation, the very subtle image filter and the music often worked together, I'd say. On the first and last parts of the visual novel the slower rhythm and "isolated" notes (as I'd describe it) + the color and filter evoked in me feelings of sadness; the filter + the faster paced song on the scene preceding the reunion evoked something of turmoil/unease/anxiety; and the stretched out notes + filter + color evoked something of relief and sadness on the hotel scene. Speaking of the music, it also evoked in me the notion of something delicate (like feelings, which matter a lot in this story, let's just say) in the title screen in conjunction with the pattern.

I think the introspective 1st person narration was a good fit for this story, including the narrator's personal views and value judgements. Speaking of writing, the different small sounds for when either Clara or her mother was talking was a nice touch.

And finally, let me say why I'm not voting 5/5. On the funeral scene, after the baby starts crying, Clara smiles to herself; considering the funeral context, the whole mood stablished by the song and story so far and everything, it felt really out of place to me, as if she was enjoying the couple's misfortune sadistically for no clear reason (or at least that's what I thought at first); my guess is that it was intended as some brief comic relief, if that's the case any additional clues to stablish contrast or something would've helped IMO, a brief stop in the music as the baby cried louder and then a quick chuckle animation played out, some short remark in addition to "I smiled to myself" in the narration, just anything to prevent a misinterpretation.

A somewhat similar thing happened when Clara smiles during the otherwise heartbreaking phone call when her mother says "Okay then. It'll be nice to see you."; it was kinda subtle and I could understand if that's just showcasing the joy of her mother saying those words, so it didn't bother me as much, but I might as well mention it also as feeling out of place (maybe I'd suggest have it as a quick smiling animation before returning to the frown, idk).

One last thing, I felt like the ending was cut too short, either there could've been some more tension build up before Clara gets to the stand, or maybe the way her relatives react to her speech could've been shown (even if they wouldn't react much, like her brother on a previous scene), or maybe the story could've ended with Clara's lament and reminiscence of her father on the hotel room...it's almost as if it ended on a cliffhanger (specially when her father used to give out good speeches) since so much of the story's conflict lies on the way Clara and her close ones relate and treat each other and we are left without knowing how'd that go after the speech. Would they approve her speech despite everything else? Would their attitudes to Clara's life choices tarnish their views on her contribution? Etc. Think you could either give us that or build up some tension a bit before if her presence there was the thing in itself you wanted us to focus on.

That was basically why the 4.5/5 (I mean, still great, right?), now I just want to mention some things extra. Think you could've made either the visuals have more details or the text box pattern have less and much of what I said would still be achieved (if adding more details maybe a more descriptive writing would also be a good fit, think it'd be possible without sacrificing the introspection). Don't think any of these would've been better or worse than how you made it or than each other, but I just wanted to share these ideas for...options for next time? Reflections on the work process? I don't know, hope it's useful, lol.

Well anyway, thank you for making this and may good tides come about in your life story and this review got so long @_@

Pretty cute and simple aesthetics, pretty reminiscent of old flash games, so I call that a plus for the nostalgia (I surmise that's intentional because of the jam, if somehow not, the perfect color gradients, solid colors and use of perfectly straight lines in contrast randomly with very curvy ones on drawings lack harmony and cohesion IMO; but that's exactly the kind of construction that reminds me of old flash games, so I'm calling it a positive here).

Would have appreciated some animation to transition between places, maybe just Tracie walking, anything to smooth a bit the experience, let's say.

Little details like the idle animations and the effects for when you get an item give the game charm, IMO.

I feel like the idea was for this game to be short and simple, but I can't help but to think about stuff like the girl in the library or Tracie's reactions to things, both of which I thought would have some impact on the ending/game (at least I couldn't notice anything special while paying attention to them on multiple playthroughs); although I suppose maybe it's an intentional subversion, considering how the ending goes, in contrast to what the game suggests will happen...

I'd say maybe the girl was missed potential for, say, more endings while the reactions...if I'm correct on this subversion idea, I'd suggest some added dramatic effect on the ending, maybe a sound or cutscene, anything just to strengthen it and make it look like the reactions tip was "useless" on purpose (again, if I got things right about all this).

And yeah, all in all a fun game. You only had two weeks but I'd say you had many goods ideas for it. Thank you for making this!

Very cute game!

I think the amount of colors and of details in the shapes, plus limited use of lines and lights/shadow work together for a cohesive and simple aesthetic (which I could guess that was your vision, if that's the case, bonus points).

I'm impressed by the smoothness of animations and camera movements, made for a very pleasant visual experience to me.

I also liked the soft/relaxed mood of the song yet aluding to the western/cowboy theme through the instruments and melody, I believe.

The cereal boxes buildings were also a cute idea, heh.

I thought it was fun to shoot the enemies in slow motion as if conveying the toast shoots with the speed of a gunslinger (I've seen that in other games before but the implementation here was well done and fits well with the game IMO without being cliché or anything).

My beef with this game is that I felt a number of shapes lacked smoothness, specially at the beginning and end cutscenes, which felt purposeless, uncohesive (including with simplicity) and a bit unpleasant to look at, for me.

The stages could have a bit more of variety also IMO, in background, colors, theme, etc, the train one was a good exception.

And I could have appreciated some lore into the bandits, one small cutscene or clue in the stage would be enough, anything to explain why they caged the dude's sweets (I surmise that's the link between them and the initial cutscene?). I guess there was a bunch of pro-cereal propaganda in the buildings, which could mean that was their motivation; when I first played I thought the bandits probably were occupating the place illegally rather than own it so maybe the problem was on my end, but I hope all of this is still helpful feedback, anyway.

By the way, good choice on the words' font, aluding to western movies posters(?) but "Los Tostadores *here* to save..." instead of "are here" felt like a needless typo rather than some casual/relaxed use of language (unlike "went zzz" at one of the ending cutscenes).

Also, small stuff, I believe some small elegant details could add a bit of clarity while maintaining the simple aesthetic (e.g. on the bed on one of the endings, is the white a pillow?).

Well in any case, nice job! It was a really fun game, looked like a lot of care was put into it and I saw it in the things I praised. If you guys enjoyed making it, make more! Thank you for your work!

The music peaks so hard in volume and pitch sometimes, would have appreciated some moderation there.

A bit repetitive on the pitch (of voice), would have enjoyed some variety through the speech.

I felt the tension went kinda in a stable level through the whole thing, I'd probably suggest a rise or fall somewhere, but it was still nice to listen to! I could feel the strain in the voice of the VAs, pretty dramatic. The music and sound effects also worked well with the whole, IMO, even if a bit stereotypical for something that felt different than a parody or homage to me (I guess, to change it, you'd need to stray a bit from telenovelas tropes though, so maybe it's fine as is). I also think the plot developed slightly too fast, would've appreciated a longer build up before the big revelations or some sort of nods to "previous episodes" (which would have done the build up, let's say). But whatever the case, pretty nice, pretty fun to listen to! Hehehe, enjoyed it a lot.

Thought the lights and shadows full of realism were a bit incohesive with the cartoonish shapes.

I think some thicker lines would've been better.

I feel like some more vivid colors or shades would be nice.