DEMO - GENERAL FEEDBACK & SUGGESTIONS

[DOJI Games]

Share your thoughts about the demo. Which parts of the game are unclear or needs polishing? How did you like the experience? What can we do to improve it?

[Darkver]

Game feels really polished. However I'd love to see some kind of conversation log, since when i skipped a dialogue by mistake, I had no option to go back/see it.

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by Darkver:

Game feels really polished. However I'd love to see some kind of conversation log, since when i skipped a dialogue by mistake, I had no option to go back/see it.

Hmmm, that's a good point! We will consider that option!

[36ggz]

1. Negotiations are great, but I;d terrific if you add contextual help over tactics. I needed to google BATNA, I'd prefer to have acronym explained after moving a cursor over the phrase.

2. I'd enjoy few more rounds of doing business and shorter movies with presentaton of new information

[Big Helper]

The dialogue and voice acting could use some work, with it being pretty lengthy and cheesy at times. And I couldn't help but imagine the voice actors reading off a script with their heads facing downwards towards the microphone whenever they spoke. Also I'm American and even I've noticed that the woman was using a fake British accent.

The negotiations were made to feel very in-depth during the tutorial, but when it came down to it, with the part with Haven, it felt just like any old-regular dialogue scene from any RPG.

Other than that, the concept of being a mixed-genre sort of game is pretty interesting.

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by 36ggz:

1. Negotiations are great, but I;d terrific if you add contextual help over tactics. I needed to google BATNA, I'd prefer to have acronym explained after moving a cursor over the phrase.

2. I'd enjoy few more rounds of doing business and shorter movies with presentaton of new information

1. You're right! In the full version of the game there will be a digital textbook/tablet in which you can check out how a particular negotiation technique works. Right now, in the demo version it is blocked.

2. In the full version, if a player chooses to focus more on the business and management part, he or she can spend more time on making money and postpone the story part.

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by Derek:

The dialogue and voice acting could use some work, with it being pretty lengthy and cheesy at times. And I couldn't help but imagine the voice actors reading off a script with their heads facing downwards towards the microphone whenever they spoke. Also I'm American and even I've noticed that the woman was using a fake British accent.

The negotiations were made to feel very in-depth during the tutorial, but when it came down to it, with the part with Haven, it felt just like any old-regular dialogue scene from any RPG.

Other than that, the concept of being a mixed-genre sort of game is pretty interesting.

Good that you're pointing that out. Thanks for the feedback! The first dialogues in the demo are in fact "easy ones" and far less complex then those further in the game. Also the "cheesiness" will be less noticible, as the plot begins to thickens ;)

[duckshaker]

I love the premise, the visuals, and the music. Some thoughts:
1. In the demo I didn't really see any reason for the coffee lore, neo-London, or the 40s aesthetic mixed with modern touches... maybe that's still to be explained? It could be set in the US in the 40s and nothing would really need to change. The american accents and the Chrysler building out the window of one of the offices don't help with this world building
2. Agree with another commenter that the voice acting could be better
3. The text feels a bit sloppy at times... he calls her both Kat and Kath - is that right? Sudden swearing in the description of the killer feels out of place. Not always good use of English e.g. "hanged up" instead of "hung up" I'm guessing this is simply a language thing and will be properly checked at some point.
4. The investigation board contained extra information about the encounters you just had, which felt like the experience had to then be retconned
Anyway hope that helps, it's really promising and feels (mostly) very polished and I (mostly) really enjoyed it :)

[bay_ta]

Early tutorial spelling error: "If you go bancrupt it's game over". Should be "bankrupt".

Also "new tasks may appeard on this board". Should be just "appear"

[Negroleónegraparte]

Just amazing. But please, we need spanish translation.

[Abby-wa]

The art is beautiful, however I think the title or marketing could be changed. It seems 90% coffee salesperson simulator and 10% detective mystery. I didn't mind as I got into the story, but it could cause negative reviews or refunds of the game.

The voice actor of Van Haven could be a bit better, his speech seems stilted. There was also a time in which his speech did not match up with the text. Something about him no longer looking as young as he did in the college photo

I agree with Duckshaker. The timeline doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Why not place it in an alternate 1940s or 50s in the US? Why london? They have vacuum tube computers but also gene editing?

[ShanChan]

Interesting to see where this is going.

I do thought that the tutorial in the coffee cafe, where you talk with the daughter was way too long. Also everything she told me didn't stick with me at all. The part where you get the tutorial in the office is way better. It might be better if she just tells you that 'just go there without a plan doesn't work, there are a lot of things you'll need to manage, but this will be explained in your office'. Something like that, instead of forcing you to click on certain text which doesn't explain me much.

Also I found a lot of typos, missing letters in words, wrong spelled words. You might want to go over the text again and double check it. For example 'Joseph, was written as 'Jospeh' at a certain point. I myself am not sure about the voice over as well, it actually is ok for me if there isn't a voice over, this way you as a player can than just imagine what their voices would be like. Now sometimes the voice feels out of place with the character.

Best of luck with the rest of the development, I do think you guys have an interesting combo of 2 genres. :)

[Collin Ramkay]

Originally posted by Abby-wa:

The art is beautiful, however I think the title or marketing could be changed. It seems 90% coffee salesperson simulator and 10% detective mystery. I didn't mind as I got into the story, but it could cause negative reviews or refunds of the game.

The voice actor of Van Haven could be a bit better, his speech seems stilted. There was also a time in which his speech did not match up with the text. Something about him no longer looking as young as he did in the college photo

I agree with Duckshaker. The timeline doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Why not place it in an alternate 1940s or 50s in the US? Why london? They have vacuum tube computers but also gene editing?

Before I say my review and opinion, I'd like to thank Dev for sharing the demo (as u can see, not all dev is willing to share demo)

I agree with u. Honestly, Im suck at sale simulator game like tropico (went bankrupt only in 1 hour playing tropico) and such and I solely play this game because of the mystery plot as I love VN and I love mystery genre. The difficulty level should be changed into story mode and business mode rather than easy, medium, and hard.

In story mode, player can focus on the story with super easy business deal in which failure is very very low . while those who wants challenge or focus more on the business rather than the story, they can pick the business mode.

Yes, the voice acting needs to be improved. It sounds stiff and unnatural.

I like the story and how dev uses comic drawing style to tell it. It's unique. I havent found any bug yet in the demo.

Thank you

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by Abby-wa:

The art is beautiful, however I think the title or marketing could be changed. It seems 90% coffee salesperson simulator and 10% detective mystery. I didn't mind as I got into the story, but it could cause negative reviews or refunds of the game.

The voice actor of Van Haven could be a bit better, his speech seems stilted. There was also a time in which his speech did not match up with the text. Something about him no longer looking as young as he did in the college photo

I agree with Duckshaker. The timeline doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Why not place it in an alternate 1940s or 50s in the US? Why london? They have vacuum tube computers but also gene editing?

Thank you for your feedback! You're making a good point and you're right, at the beginning the game seems more like a coffee salesperson simulator, and the whole detective story is minor. In fact, in the first chapter the story only begins, and the detective is trying to figure everything out. The early game for the player might be a bit tricky, to figure out the flow the gameplay-loop, but as he progress the focus directs to the clues, gathered informations, connections and exploring the story of Kerseys and their business partners.
Why US and not London :) We didn't want it to be obvious and placing the story there gives us some unique opportunities for the storytelling. The timeline is a bit hard to defend, as it is alternative story, where the fashion and lifestyle is "stuck" in 40-50, the technology is progressing, but in a retro-future way, so it a bit of a mix.

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by ShanChan:

Interesting to see where this is going.

I do thought that the tutorial in the coffee cafe, where you talk with the daughter was way too long. Also everything she told me didn't stick with me at all. The part where you get the tutorial in the office is way better. It might be better if she just tells you that 'just go there without a plan doesn't work, there are a lot of things you'll need to manage, but this will be explained in your office'. Something like that, instead of forcing you to click on certain text which doesn't explain me much.

Also I found a lot of typos, missing letters in words, wrong spelled words. You might want to go over the text again and double check it. For example 'Joseph, was written as 'Jospeh' at a certain point. I myself am not sure about the voice over as well, it actually is ok for me if there isn't a voice over, this way you as a player can than just imagine what their voices would be like. Now sometimes the voice feels out of place with the character.

Best of luck with the rest of the development, I do think you guys have an interesting combo of 2 genres. :)

Thanks for pointing that out! The typos still needs to be polished. Our game is a bit "text heavy" so there was a lot of work with that :)

About voice-acting, we decided to add voice-overs to make our characters more "alive", as we are a small indie team, we couldn't record everything in our own studio (cuz we don't have any:)) or outsource the whole process via professional studio :) Because our game is "text heavy" it gave us quite a challenge. The result: some of the voices are great, some are "just fine".

[DOJI Games]

Originally posted by Collin Ramkay:

Originally posted by Abby-wa:

The art is beautiful, however I think the title or marketing could be changed. It seems 90% coffee salesperson simulator and 10% detective mystery. I didn't mind as I got into the story, but it could cause negative reviews or refunds of the game.

The voice actor of Van Haven could be a bit better, his speech seems stilted. There was also a time in which his speech did not match up with the text. Something about him no longer looking as young as he did in the college photo

I agree with Duckshaker. The timeline doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Why not place it in an alternate 1940s or 50s in the US? Why london? They have vacuum tube computers but also gene editing?

Before I say my review and opinion, I'd like to thank Dev for sharing the demo (as u can see, not all dev is willing to share demo)

I agree with u. Honestly, Im suck at sale simulator game like tropico (went bankrupt only in 1 hour playing tropico) and such and I solely play this game because of the mystery plot as I love VN and I love mystery genre. The difficulty level should be changed into story mode and business mode rather than easy, medium, and hard.

In story mode, player can focus on the story with super easy business deal in which failure is very very low . while those who wants challenge or focus more on the business rather than the story, they can pick the business mode.

Yes, the voice acting needs to be improved. It sounds stiff and unnatural.

I like the story and how dev uses comic drawing style to tell it. It's unique. I havent found any bug yet in the demo.

Thank you

Another great and complex feedback! Thank you! I've answered some of your points above. I'm glad you didn't found any bugs!