The intro was very good, i really enjoyed it. When i ran the executable a windows warning popped up: "Windows protected your PC", beacuse you are not verified as a microsoft developer. The Run Anyway button is hidden, you have to first click to the more info, and the run button just appear after this. This is not frendly for users, I suggest you to write this to the download instructions.
1. Download Country Quiz 2.zip
2. Right click the zip file and "extract all"
3. Run Country Quiz 2.exe
4. If you see this window: "Windows Protected Your PC" ignore it, click to more info and run anyway
Ah okay, I didn't realize that would happen. I do this process all the time (Windows protected your PC, Run Anyway, etc.) with every game I download, so I guess I didn't see it
Loved the musical intro. it did a great job of setting the tone of the game and was really well made
Trying not to spoil the *character selection screen* but I was blown away. seriously well made and felt very Undertale. I was really enjoying it and enjoyed how none of the game play was repeated.
I think your current intro is a great setup for the game. I lost the first fight at the very end because I did not blind her. The fight had lots of twists and turns that made it very exciting
Some feedback, I cant give much sorry as I simply enjoyed it and dont play these kinds of games often:
An option to skip Rebel girl's fight intro when you retry would be great. You have to go through a dozen text boxes to challenge her again. I am sure it is useful for players who are confused and trying again but I wanted to get right back in there and try again personally.
Your attack option changed to 'FAIL' on the second turn which makes sense after seeing how lame your hero is ;) but I assumed fail meant to surrender rather than you sucking. This made me try status instead which was a nice touch but ate up my second turn, Having it read something like 'FIGHT?' with the question mark could be a fun way to show how uncertain the player is of their hero's attacks while not being misleading.
The itch page, it was hard for me to understand what kind of game this was based on the page. Feels like you put passion and storytelling before selling the product since all the details I can get are story extracts and recommendations. Its great to see a more passionate presentation of the game and how you want to present your game is up to you. I think a quick summary of the game before the story extract would help me press the download button and know what I am getting into. Clearly though you are having no trouble finding players to try the game so this isn't a huge problem.
Overall no bad criticism. I really enjoyed it and am actually interested to see where it goes next. Glad I came across you and this game, Great job!
I can definitely feel the Undertale influence here as well as Pokemon Gen 1 for the visuals.
The battle plays out like a little puzzle and it made me laugh a couple of times. Humor can be very subjective but this is just the right amount of silly to make LOTS of people laugh I feel.
Story based games face the challenge of integrating gameplay early enough and it's good you have the player do something pretty much right out of the gate since the interactivity is what makes you invested in the story.
Here's a couple of things that could be improved on:
When choosing the boy or the girl let a default cursor show up on the screen, with one of them already selected. It only appears once you press left or right and I honestly thought my game game froze for a couple of seconds.
I think I know what you're going for with the .txt files included in the game, but honestly? Your storytelling is strong enough that you can do without them. Additionally, account for hostile users. Some players simply won't open those files or read instructions.
Is the window size a design choice? I usually get grumpy when I can't resize the window, but I can see stuff popping up outside of it during the gameplay so I'm looking forward to seeing what else you got cooking here.
In conclusion: please keep working on this! I'll definitely play more when you release a new version.
I was trying to make the game kind of silly, so it makes me happy that you actually laughed. I really hope people can make gameplay videos of this someday, so I can see them react to the experience.
So you actually saw the .txt files! While not very urgent to read, they were a last-minute decision, to add some extra character to the game. I actually forgot about them myself for a minute, so thanks for checking them out :)
I hope the window size wasn't an issue! I initially was trying to do some kind of gameboy-like size, but I sort of ditched that idea and never really thought about resizing it. Also, what do you mean by stuff popping up outside it?
Thanks again, and good luck to Cruelty is the Point!
This demo of a demo seems quite well executed. I would not be surprised if it actually get recognized by people and gained a cult following some time from now. Most character designs and music/sfx are good. There are a lot of easter eggs, and paths that you can go down, some of which are fun to stumble into (using the lower damage attach after the higher damage one was very cool), but some of which are a bit random (Why can't they just perform the song again? Most performers can perform the same song multiple times so this is a plot hole imo. Why does fullscreening/unfullscreening during the performance ruin their performance? Sure there was a notice at the start, but I did not understand why the change in fullscreen/windowed would effect the performance any way. Probably because I changed the window state, but then they waited till the end of the entire passage to complain about it, so the 'feedback' wasn't localised in time to the behaviour. Maybe fullscreening/unfullscreening should have some visible effect on their universe. Otherwise the gag feels a bit random. Maybe I am overthinking it? I am definitely overthinking it. just forget about everything in these brackets okay?)
I imagine this will be constantly compared to Undertale. The terms "Mercy" and "Pacifist" and endless fourth wall breaks come directly from or feel like references or responses to that game.
Main complaints:
In some screens you use this one calibri looking font. It looks pretty bad imo, because it is inconsistent with every other font. It is possibly the only graphic 'mistake'
I would have liked to be able to navigate the menus with the mouse. I am already clicking on the knives, so I was expecting to be able to click on the "fight"/"check" options with the mouse as well.
The game is too short and well executed for me to find a lot to complain about, so apologies. It looks very promising
- There are lore implications for why they can't perform the song again, which will be explained later in the full game (read my response to Maidelen)
- If you toggle between fullscreen and emptyscreen during the beginning of the song, you will actually delay the music note at the top more and more, until it doesn't match with the song at all (why I came up with the easter egg)
- I am fully prepared for Undertale comparisons, just like every other indie dev who wants to make a new and unique RPG lol
- I still need to flesh out that font... Gamemaker makes it look pretty bad when you scale the words up
- One of the biggest things I'm seeing in feedback is the button control; I'll look into it
- About the cult following thing, you really think so? I've pretty much dreamed of that happening to my game for a while now lol
Good point that you asked the players to use headphone.... I'M ADDICTED TO THE MUSIC and the SFX.
The concept is unique. not for every one who like "normal" RPG that everything must be finished by fight, like me. However, I'm still confused about the connection of between cutscene story and gameplay story.
The Storytelling style is communicative, supple and fluent. it's like chat with your best friend instead formal conversation with boss. and I like how you "plant" the twist. it's trick me until I almost input it as major problem
The battle system is unique and need player to actively press click button so they don't fall asleep :D . However execution of battle command and cutscene in battle system need to be clearer. it's like suddenly move from scene A to scene B to scene C before I can understand what is happening here
my major concern is about the control consistency. I mean that the most of game control use CLICK BUTTON, but in game cutscene, we use a SPACE Button to move from one scene to another one. it's not big problem for some players but maybe confusing for other. my suggestions for this issue are :
Use clearer BUTTON ICON for non-Clickable control, or
Make it Click, or
Make control explanation menu.
The Graphic... no problem for retro gamer like me.
The story seems to be a point of confusion for players, and I had a feeling this would be the case going in. Don't worry about fully understanding it for now! In this early stage of development, the story is meant to not make as much sense at the start, so that it is cleared up later in the full game.
I figured the button control would be an issue... I'll probably clear it up with a menu at the start or something. To clarify:
- Whenever someone is speaking, it's the SPACE button to progress
- You won't have to click unless you're attacking, you're under attack, or you're at the startup menu (or just when there's a mouse icon)
I'm glad you liked everything else, especially the music (the fun part)! Thanks again, and I hope your project(s) are coming along as well!
So many things to say, I don't know where to start. I really liked this.
I didn't like that the concert couldn't be replayed, it was nice the "you restarted" thing but I wanted to see it again so I deleted the save file in appdata. That opening song is so good, so beautiful, it was a joy to watch. What followed after that was spectacle and surprises, though not much that explained or advanced the overall story, but I guess that's the idea of this demo of the demo.
I think I understand the things that the story is going for, they look promising and well grounded. Although I wasn't sold on that thing where it was assumed that the player wants to be a pacifist all at once, I don't think it fits much for other players. By the way, is the beginning some sort of reference to how in anime games sometimes the male avatar looks more boring than the female avatar?
There are a lot of ideas and a lot of creativity, it's short but intense. How long did it take you to make the whole demo? Planning and preparing everything, it's amazing that you did this as your first game, it must have been quite a challenge to program everything you see in the game and make it look good.
I hope you progress well with your project, I want to see it complete, I liked it a lot. Cheers.
Sorry for the inconvenience with the song! I intentionally made the performance play out once (despite it actually being easier to program it playing multiple times) mostly because I was going for the idea that these characters are like real people; They work hard and are passionate (like you!), and would take some time to replicate something they worked very hard on (I imagine it like, if you finally reached a huge fitness goal, and you're out of breath and about to die but you did it, and someone's just like "okay cool now do it again" lol)
There are also lore implications for why it only plays once... stay tuned!
The story will be expanded upon in the next release, the demo! Everything in the Demo (demo) is kind of supposed to go over the player's head; There are definitely players that don't fit a "pacifist" description, but it is (wrongly) assumed that you are one due to your forced inability to retaliate (which will also be expanded upon in the demo)
About the avatars, I didn't think of it that way! I was going for a jab at the trope of how in older JRPG games (like gen 1 Pokémon) there aren't usually female options, but your interpretation also works!
This release took about a year in total to complete; I started conception last summer and now this summer, here it is! Actual development in Gamemaker started in September 2022, I think. It was quite challenging doing this on my own without any experience (I remember the sleepless summer nights lol), but I like to be challenged!
Again, I'm SO glad you and other users are enjoying my game! I'll keep working hard, and I hope Harmful Heaven progresses well too!
Wow, everything is really well thought out and formulated, you just need things to progress well for the game to flourish as it should.
God, a year, a year to make a software whose content lasts about half an hour. A lot of work for something that although it can be great it's going to be very short. I admire you for having gone through all that alone. You should get a programmer, now that you have this as a demonstration of your skills, maybe you can get one.
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The intro was very good, i really enjoyed it. When i ran the executable a windows warning popped up: "Windows protected your PC", beacuse you are not verified as a microsoft developer. The Run Anyway button is hidden, you have to first click to the more info, and the run button just appear after this. This is not frendly for users, I suggest you to write this to the download instructions.
For example this is my download instructions:
Ah okay, I didn't realize that would happen. I do this process all the time (Windows protected your PC, Run Anyway, etc.) with every game I download, so I guess I didn't see it
Glad you liked it!
Yes, its very annoying, can you move your review for my game to my game page please, I just want them in one place.
hello . it's Tarique can you tell the person who want there games to get review to contact me at the group https://tariquegamecompany.wixsite.com/mysite/group/ideas-feedback/discussion
Hey, finally got round to playing your game :)
Loved the musical intro. it did a great job of setting the tone of the game and was really well made
Trying not to spoil the *character selection screen* but I was blown away. seriously well made and felt very Undertale. I was really enjoying it and enjoyed how none of the game play was repeated.
I think your current intro is a great setup for the game. I lost the first fight at the very end because I did not blind her. The fight had lots of twists and turns that made it very exciting
Some feedback, I cant give much sorry as I simply enjoyed it and dont play these kinds of games often:
An option to skip Rebel girl's fight intro when you retry would be great. You have to go through a dozen text boxes to challenge her again. I am sure it is useful for players who are confused and trying again but I wanted to get right back in there and try again personally.
Your attack option changed to 'FAIL' on the second turn which makes sense after seeing how lame your hero is ;) but I assumed fail meant to surrender rather than you sucking. This made me try status instead which was a nice touch but ate up my second turn, Having it read something like 'FIGHT?' with the question mark could be a fun way to show how uncertain the player is of their hero's attacks while not being misleading.
The itch page, it was hard for me to understand what kind of game this was based on the page. Feels like you put passion and storytelling before selling the product since all the details I can get are story extracts and recommendations. Its great to see a more passionate presentation of the game and how you want to present your game is up to you. I think a quick summary of the game before the story extract would help me press the download button and know what I am getting into. Clearly though you are having no trouble finding players to try the game so this isn't a huge problem.
Overall no bad criticism. I really enjoyed it and am actually interested to see where it goes next. Glad I came across you and this game, Great job!
Thank you for playing and for the feedback, super glad you liked it!
I really enjoyed this.
I can definitely feel the Undertale influence here as well as Pokemon Gen 1 for the visuals.
The battle plays out like a little puzzle and it made me laugh a couple of times. Humor can be very subjective but this is just the right amount of silly to make LOTS of people laugh I feel.
Story based games face the challenge of integrating gameplay early enough and it's good you have the player do something pretty much right out of the gate since the interactivity is what makes you invested in the story.
Here's a couple of things that could be improved on:
When choosing the boy or the girl let a default cursor show up on the screen, with one of them already selected. It only appears once you press left or right and I honestly thought my game game froze for a couple of seconds.
I think I know what you're going for with the .txt files included in the game, but honestly? Your storytelling is strong enough that you can do without them. Additionally, account for hostile users. Some players simply won't open those files or read instructions.
Is the window size a design choice? I usually get grumpy when I can't resize the window, but I can see stuff popping up outside of it during the gameplay so I'm looking forward to seeing what else you got cooking here.
In conclusion: please keep working on this! I'll definitely play more when you release a new version.
Thanks! Super glad you enjoyed!
I was trying to make the game kind of silly, so it makes me happy that you actually laughed. I really hope people can make gameplay videos of this someday, so I can see them react to the experience.
So you actually saw the .txt files! While not very urgent to read, they were a last-minute decision, to add some extra character to the game. I actually forgot about them myself for a minute, so thanks for checking them out :)
I hope the window size wasn't an issue! I initially was trying to do some kind of gameboy-like size, but I sort of ditched that idea and never really thought about resizing it. Also, what do you mean by stuff popping up outside it?
Thanks again, and good luck to Cruelty is the Point!
This demo of a demo seems quite well executed. I would not be surprised if it actually get recognized by people and gained a cult following some time from now. Most character designs and music/sfx are good. There are a lot of easter eggs, and paths that you can go down, some of which are fun to stumble into (using the lower damage attach after the higher damage one was very cool), but some of which are a bit random (Why can't they just perform the song again? Most performers can perform the same song multiple times so this is a plot hole imo. Why does fullscreening/unfullscreening during the performance ruin their performance? Sure there was a notice at the start, but I did not understand why the change in fullscreen/windowed would effect the performance any way. Probably because I changed the window state, but then they waited till the end of the entire passage to complain about it, so the 'feedback' wasn't localised in time to the behaviour. Maybe fullscreening/unfullscreening should have some visible effect on their universe. Otherwise the gag feels a bit random. Maybe I am overthinking it? I am definitely overthinking it. just forget about everything in these brackets okay?)
I imagine this will be constantly compared to Undertale. The terms "Mercy" and "Pacifist" and endless fourth wall breaks come directly from or feel like references or responses to that game.
Main complaints:
The game is too short and well executed for me to find a lot to complain about, so apologies. It looks very promising
Thanks for the feedback!
- There are lore implications for why they can't perform the song again, which will be explained later in the full game (read my response to Maidelen)
- If you toggle between fullscreen and emptyscreen during the beginning of the song, you will actually delay the music note at the top more and more, until it doesn't match with the song at all (why I came up with the easter egg)
- I am fully prepared for Undertale comparisons, just like every other indie dev who wants to make a new and unique RPG lol
- I still need to flesh out that font... Gamemaker makes it look pretty bad when you scale the words up
- One of the biggest things I'm seeing in feedback is the button control; I'll look into it
- About the cult following thing, you really think so? I've pretty much dreamed of that happening to my game for a while now lol
Thanks again, super glad you enjoyed!
Hello! I like the game! the unique way of approaching the player with storyline and a core mechanics. felt like a personal approach to a game!
the Sound Effects with Musics were best fit into the gameplay in my opinion, when it’s all mixed with rpg like actions, fighting.
but the only thing that is inconvenient that i was on linux and i had to use other softwares to run this game, but that’s a minor problem.
overall game is good and i loved it, looking for the further updates:)
Hello,
first of all please forgive me for bad English
I just played it and here my feedback:
That's all my feedbacks
I hope your project is going well.
Best Regards,
Mar
Thanks for the honest feedback, Mar!
The story seems to be a point of confusion for players, and I had a feeling this would be the case going in. Don't worry about fully understanding it for now! In this early stage of development, the story is meant to not make as much sense at the start, so that it is cleared up later in the full game.
I figured the button control would be an issue... I'll probably clear it up with a menu at the start or something. To clarify:
- Whenever someone is speaking, it's the SPACE button to progress
- You won't have to click unless you're attacking, you're under attack, or you're at the startup menu (or just when there's a mouse icon)
I'm glad you liked everything else, especially the music (the fun part)! Thanks again, and I hope your project(s) are coming along as well!
So many things to say, I don't know where to start. I really liked this.
I didn't like that the concert couldn't be replayed, it was nice the "you restarted" thing but I wanted to see it again so I deleted the save file in appdata. That opening song is so good, so beautiful, it was a joy to watch. What followed after that was spectacle and surprises, though not much that explained or advanced the overall story, but I guess that's the idea of this demo of the demo.
I think I understand the things that the story is going for, they look promising and well grounded. Although I wasn't sold on that thing where it was assumed that the player wants to be a pacifist all at once, I don't think it fits much for other players. By the way, is the beginning some sort of reference to how in anime games sometimes the male avatar looks more boring than the female avatar?
There are a lot of ideas and a lot of creativity, it's short but intense. How long did it take you to make the whole demo? Planning and preparing everything, it's amazing that you did this as your first game, it must have been quite a challenge to program everything you see in the game and make it look good.
I hope you progress well with your project, I want to see it complete, I liked it a lot. Cheers.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it :D
Sorry for the inconvenience with the song! I intentionally made the performance play out once (despite it actually being easier to program it playing multiple times) mostly because I was going for the idea that these characters are like real people; They work hard and are passionate (like you!), and would take some time to replicate something they worked very hard on (I imagine it like, if you finally reached a huge fitness goal, and you're out of breath and about to die but you did it, and someone's just like "okay cool now do it again" lol)
There are also lore implications for why it only plays once... stay tuned!
The story will be expanded upon in the next release, the demo! Everything in the Demo (demo) is kind of supposed to go over the player's head; There are definitely players that don't fit a "pacifist" description, but it is (wrongly) assumed that you are one due to your forced inability to retaliate (which will also be expanded upon in the demo)
About the avatars, I didn't think of it that way! I was going for a jab at the trope of how in older JRPG games (like gen 1 Pokémon) there aren't usually female options, but your interpretation also works!
This release took about a year in total to complete; I started conception last summer and now this summer, here it is! Actual development in Gamemaker started in September 2022, I think. It was quite challenging doing this on my own without any experience (I remember the sleepless summer nights lol), but I like to be challenged!
Again, I'm SO glad you and other users are enjoying my game! I'll keep working hard, and I hope Harmful Heaven progresses well too!
Wow, everything is really well thought out and formulated, you just need things to progress well for the game to flourish as it should.
God, a year, a year to make a software whose content lasts about half an hour. A lot of work for something that although it can be great it's going to be very short. I admire you for having gone through all that alone. You should get a programmer, now that you have this as a demonstration of your skills, maybe you can get one.
Please don't stop and thanks for the compliments!
Neat experience, I shall keep an eye on this.
I was on the edge of my seat. Genuinely didn't know what was going to happen next. Love the unique battle system idea and really can't wait for more.
this was genuinely a pleasant experience, keep up the good work!
Please feel free to comment, the feedback is really helping!
Epic -flith
This game is beautiful with the humor and helpful dev I hope this game will be more than a demo some day.