ok now that I've played the game I get to come back and leave an intelligent comment
(spoilers ahead!)
First of all, I love the sound design! The first thing that caught my attention was the soundbyte voices of each character - I thought each one was really fitting and it made me want to sit and 'let them talk' so to speak, rather than speed through text like I normally might. The music is so nostalgic! I used to be a big fan of the old-school Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series and the choice of soundtrack brought the same feeling back (I haven't played many other jRPGs but I imagine that's what the vibe was based off of?). Also the game-over sound effect when Aelfric passed out at the beginning of the game actually made me cackle lmaooo
Speaking of Aelfric!! My beloved!! What a lad! A beautiful man with only a half a braincell left in his head! He is the perfect combination of a shoujo manga love interest and a RPG protag but somehow cannot be both at the same time. Except most of the time he's just a goofy silly guy. I do love that he's a very moral guy though, even when it comes to love...
Which, the scene between him and Conrad in the barn broke me. Actually though all of their scenes are so good. I love how put-together Conrad seems until after the barn scene / at the scene afterwards with Edmund, and then it's just like, oh, he's as much of a fool in love as Aelfric is. Just the way you write too - you are incredible at the art of characterization through dialogue and I love the banter between characters as much as the story itself.
Speaking of scenes, I f*cking love the fight at the end. Such an interesting twist on the shining angelic noble hero! I think Bloodbane being the way it is gives a lot more depth to Aelfric's character than if it was just a simple sword, and also is a really good illustration of both his strength and the responsibility he shoulders. It's like a very small glimpse into what the job of being a legendary hero is actually like that the demon fight on its own wouldn't have revealed. If that makes sense.
I did donate the $5 for the artbook and it's so worth it!! I love all the art + the character bios, and the INCREDIBLE AMOUNT of bonus art was adorable. I always like seeing people's sketches and seeing that little insight into their creative process. If u are reading this comment and ur like 'should I get the artbook?' yes you should get the artbook
And I could go on and on and on about the art in this game honestly. The character designs are immaculate, the backgrounds are so lively and beautiful, the CGs are masterful, just all of it is so incredible to look at. I could tell just by looking at the preview pics how much love went into this game.
Anyway I'll shut up here because this is already becoming an essay. But thank you for an amazing game :)
- Walt