Feedback on Neyyah Demo

[Kiran Müller]

I absolutely love the visual style of Neyyah, and the sound design is fantastic. However, what bothers me the most is the narrator constantly talking, often discouraging exploration. In my opinion, the 'phone' should be removed and replaced with a book or a more subtle hint system, as the frequent interruptions disrupt the experience too much.

[Chadlton]

I disagree! I found that to actually be hilarious! As a MYST player my first instinct is to go exploring. So, for the game to say, HEEEEY hold the phone! (Yeah, I went there) was very funny. Will it stop me from exploring???? Oh no, no, no! It had the opposite effect. ;)

[Defy Reality Entertainment]

Originally posted by Kiran Müller:

I absolutely love the visual style of Neyyah, and the sound design is fantastic. However, what bothers me the most is the narrator constantly talking, often discouraging exploration. In my opinion, the 'phone' should be removed and replaced with a book or a more subtle hint system, as the frequent interruptions disrupt the experience too much.

Thank you for the feedback! Interesting point for sure. There is the 'Traveller's Guide' which provides hints / observations throughout the game. You can enable it in Options too, as a Traveller's Guide Notification, or if you don't want any visual / audio notification, you can look into the Traveller's guide at any time!

[Defy Reality Entertainment]

Originally posted by Chadlton:

I disagree! I found that to actually be hilarious! As a MYST player my first instinct is to go exploring. So, for the game to say, HEEEEY hold the phone! (Yeah, I went there) was very funny. Will it stop me from exploring???? Oh no, no, no! It had the opposite effect. ;)

Glad you enjoyed this!

[bixlers2002]

What an awesome surprise to get an email earlier that the demo is available! Can't wait to try it out, downloading now...been anticipating your release a long time now. Thank you for all your hard work!!!

[Jontk]

is the resolution 1080p only? looks blurry on 1440p

[Raspy]

I enjoyed the demo. The visuals are great. It's cool that image transitions are used instead of a 3d environment. The puzzles weren't too involved - I hope there's gonna be more in the full game.
One thing that bothered me was the intrusive plot and light handholding - I prefer to uncover the story at my own pace. At one point it seemed like there were 10 or more names that I should keep track of.
Already wishlisted. Can't wait for the full release.

[mystman12]

Yeah I haven't finished the demo, but I've got similar feelings about the character interactions so far. I get teleported into this strange new world, this guy shows up and barely gives me any instructions or info about what's going on, and then he essentially calls me a moron for not following a riddle he spouted without any context while I'm just trying to get a feel for my surroundings. If he wants me to do something specific, it doesn't make sense for him to not just tell me what to do since he also states that the communication device should be secure. I feel like the riddle would make way more sense if he was concerned about the communications being intercepted. That could be a pretty valid excuse for turning simple instructions into a puzzle to be solved whereas currently there is no excuse, he just forms his instructions as a riddle and doesn't elaborate (Unless I'm missing something here).

I do realize that having characters you can interact with in a puzzle adventure game such as this is a big challenge since, if they behave realistically and tell you everything, then you spoil the game, but if they don't tell you enough then the experience becomes frustrating because you can't help but wonder why the heck no one will tell you anything important. I hope you're able to find a good balance here!

[zachboy82]

This brings back fond memories of when I played Myst and Riven with my Dad. My only critique is I get a slight lag on the cursor and it feels very sluggish. I also have a very strong desire to keep attempting to use the arrow keys to navigate the world or use the "wasd" keys rather than use the cursor to move my character.

[Montigny]

I can't DL the demo... :( When i click on "Download" button , nothing happens

Ha ! It's good , after relaunching steam -_-

[joridiculous]

Originally posted by Chadlton:

I disagree! I found that to actually be hilarious! As a MYST player my first instinct is to go exploring. So, for the game to say, HEEEEY hold the phone! (Yeah, I went there) was very funny. Will it stop me from exploring???? Oh no, no, no! It had the opposite effect. ;)

That was one of the best parts of the demo. Got a chuckle out of me.

People getting offended for being told of is even more hilarious.

[Pharap]

Originally posted by Chadlton:

I disagree! I found that to actually be hilarious! As a MYST player my first instinct is to go exploring. So, for the game to say, HEEEEY hold the phone! (Yeah, I went there) was very funny. Will it stop me from exploring???? Oh no, no, no! It had the opposite effect. ;)

I have to agree, I thought it was hilarious, and didn't deter me in the slightest from continuing down the path.

I even wiggled the lever a few times, both as an act of rebellion and to appreciate the irony of actually doing what he criticised doing hypothetically.

Originally posted by Jontk:

is the resolution 1080p only?

Yes. It's all prerendered to 1080p.

Originally posted by mystman12:

I feel like the riddle would make way more sense if he was concerned about the communications being intercepted.

He actually says precisely that:

"Smollax won't be able to find you, as long as you're on Neyyah. But I'm on Olujay, where secure communication is only guaranteed, in theory. The contents of this call if intercepted by enemy ears - could spell the end of Fezalta"

[CaliLulaLo]

At first I was perturbed by being berated by the dude, but then I realized he’s just an A-hole and proceeded to pull that lever by the door 50 times just to spite him.

[Defy Reality Entertainment]

Originally posted by CaliLulaLo:

At first I was perturbed by being berated by the dude, but then I realized he’s just an A-hole and proceeded to pull that lever by the door 50 times just to spite him.

haha love it :P

[bixlers2002]

Originally posted by CaliLulaLo:

At first I was perturbed by being berated by the dude, but then I realized he’s just an A-hole and proceeded to pull that lever by the door 50 times just to spite him.

Same thing here! Pulled that lever a bunch of times! I was shocked at first but then saw the humor in it and thought "this is great!". I'm loving the demo and I'm really looking forward to the release, and to the future of this game. Those that have been playing this kind of game longer can better appreciate what this is all about. I really hope It'll be possible to get you to render this in 3D sometime in the future but still keep the option to use point-and-click, so there's a choice of how to play the game. Don't know if this is possible or not, I know nothing about programming so it might be an impossible ask...

As I've mentioned before, thank you for the incredible amount of time, effort and obvious passion you've put into this so far. And thank you for continuing to listen to suggestions to improve this in an on-going manner

[Defy Reality Entertainment]

Originally posted by bixlers2002:

Originally posted by CaliLulaLo:

At first I was perturbed by being berated by the dude, but then I realized he’s just an A-hole and proceeded to pull that lever by the door 50 times just to spite him.

Same thing here! Pulled that lever a bunch of times! I was shocked at first but then saw the humor in it and thought "this is great!". I'm loving the demo and I'm really looking forward to the release, and to the future of this game. Those that have been playing this kind of game longer can better appreciate what this is all about. I really hope It'll be possible to get you to render this in 3D sometime in the future but still keep the option to use point-and-click, so there's a choice of how to play the game. Don't know if this is possible or not, I know nothing about programming so it might be an impossible ask...

As I've mentioned before, thank you for the incredible amount of time, effort and obvious passion you've put into this so far. And thank you for continuing to listen to suggestions to improve this in an on-going manner

Thanks for that! Definitely been valuable getting demo out there :) Lots to consider, and general development still to do. Would be cool to look at a real time version one day! Much easier to develop in this point n click prerendered style, however, especially for what is essentially a solo dev project - myself having created most of the core elements of the game such as artwork, part music, sound, puzzles, story, world design etc.