something about this game reminds me of "i have no mouth and i want to scream", mostly the post apocaliptic world where everybody turned savage and those "altars"
Reviews for "RED: A Demo"
To the other reviewers, when he says this game will never be finished, I'm sure he means that this game will never be finished. It's his choice to let it go, so let's not bother him about it.
To AwkwardSilenceGames, I played until the end and was pleased by what I saw. The graphics greatly reminded me of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, although they could conceivably been inspired by something else I'm not familiar with. The sound felt unbalanced--the beeps when you cycle through conversations were noticeably louder than the first sound effects you encounter in the game, but I'm really fond of the atmosphere set by the absence of music.
As for gameplay, the point-and-click was well-utilized, although it was incredibly disconcerting to discover that you can't always go back to a previous screen, yet sometimes it's required to advance the plot. I also was bothered by the inconsistent interactivity with other townsfolk and objects; you can only talk to a few people who look just like everyone else, there are many buttons you can click on that don't do anything, and you can't enter most of the doors.
I thought the battle system seemed out of place, since the beginning of the plot never put me under the impression that this game was an RPG, and neither the turn-based battles nor the healing mushrooms were given a proper, timely introduction. (I also thought it was pretty strange that the spiders were more powerful than the snakes.) Though I did get used to them, and I'm sure the battles were intended to get more complicated as you progressed.
Overall, the game is also pretty slow-paced--not to a frustrating extent for this demo's purposes, but it had potential to be irritating if it went on for too long. I'd have really hoped for a double-click-to-run option if this was completed.
The story is the main appeal of this game, and that aspect of it is superb. Just by the short bursts of dialogue and the desolate setting of the game, I could tell this was meant to flesh out into a significant message of sorts. The attention to detail accentuates the tone of the setting, too, like the faded roads and the smashed television in the dirt. I particularly loved the concept of the Hole in the World, for some reason.
It's entirely understandable to me why you didn't pursue this project to completion, because it's admittedly full of little flaws that sort of take away from the experience, but you crafted Red's world masterfully, so even though you're never going to finish this particular project, I'd love to see what other engaging works of art you hold for the future.
It's funny, my favourite thing about these graphics is how fast they can go, yet the slowness of this game killed it for me.
It doesn't even fit in with the plot:
Villager: "RED, COME QUICKLY! A messenger's got important news about your grandmother, but he's been hurt and there's not much time! He'll only speak to YOU, Red!"
Red: "Oh, okay." [Shuffle shuffle shuffle]
Stopped me wanting to explore or talk to people, which apparently lost me a weapon, leading to my death by second foe. I won't be playing again.
I'm stuck in the cave, can't see anything!! Where is the door Red is talking about??
cool