I agree with JoseNt, there certainly are parts of the game that appear rough and unpolished, however, that doesn't stop it from being an admirable, albeit small, project. There is undeniable potential in this game, and if you ever feel up to the task, I know that I would be very interested in seeing this game expanded upon.
For such a short project, I admit that I was stunned by the pixel art of the backgrounds, However, the quality of the yokai seemed rather lackluster, especially Hayami. She has personality, but for what appears to be such a vital character in this game, her design does not stand out as much as I would have liked it to possess. That being said, the Tengu you meet at the beginning of the game in front of the castle is stunning. I would be very happy to see such quality expanded to the rest of the cast.
Overall, the game is short, sweet, and to the point. I adore the obvious Japanese influences in the narrative and would love to see this game fleshed out properly to make the story less choppy.
Reviews for "The Sword and the Fox"
For now I'm only at the Tanuki part. But here are my impressions so far.
First of, although you talked about it in your description, the text is unfathomably slow.
Secondly, is this even a game or just some story with an almost non existing choice of answers? So far I have more the impression of the latter. I will not judge it as good or bad regarding that, but that makes the "guide Junko" kind of false, its more "accompany" or "witness" Junko.
Thirdly the transition from scene to scene is kind of done poorly. First I was talking to Hayami, then suddenly without having any choice or notion of what I'm up against, I'm talking with Nana or whatever the fish-octopus-girl-thing is, without me even understanding how I went from the castle to the pound, and then bam, brought to the Tanuki without any choice.
Lastly, there seems to be some minor errors in the text. Like some punctuation where a coma should have be used instead of a period which therefore cuts in half a sentence that should be one and only.
Apart from this, the art-work is good, and the music serves its purpose well, being not to repetitive, varied, and with loops long enough to be enjoyable.
I will refrain from giving it any definitive rating until I go further on.
Thank you for the honest feedback. Like I said before the text is so slow due to a script I used. I may update this version of the game to be more HTML 5 friendly and fix the pacing. I also plan on remaking the game in my engine of choice RPG Maker so I can do more of what I wanted such as more choices and battles.