Falling Star

Oh, it was a great game!

First of all, THE ATMOSPHERE? THE VIBE? THE ART??? It felt indeed retro, and very reminiscent of the 90s? Even the main menu, gosh!! It was also all wonderfully crafted, the sprites, the CGs and the backgrounds all looked gorgeous. The GUI was also wonderful!

I also want to highlight the music: eh, it was important considering the theme of this game, but TWO SONGS?????????? IN FOUR DAYS???????????? AND THEY SOUND AMAZING??????? THE OST SOUNDS GREAT TOO????? I'm honestly in awe!!

Now, writing-wise, can I say I adored it? Because I really did! I feel like it really respected the theme of the jam, but also, it was very interesting on its own? Without spoiling, just seeing alternate scenes depending on the lyrics that speak to us (excellent narrative design by the way), and shaping Willow's views on his band thanks to them made this game an engaging experience. But of course, the "finale" really helped setting the tone: no accomplishment is a completely selfless one, and achieving this always leads to give up on other things (at least, when you use such a way of achieving something lol), or to betray people you once cherished, at least, in Willow's case. So it really sold the whole "morally ambiguous promise" theme, and I really enjoyed this!!

Honestly, this is frequently an amazing game! I don't think I can rate it as I didn't participate to the jam, but if I could, it would be five stars!!!! Congrats on the whole team on making all this IN THE SPAN OF FOUR DAYS LIKE GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best short games I played this year for sure!!

OHHHHHHHHH this was so great??? I am actually in awe of just how MUCH there is here to only have been created in 4 days! Like the level of polish??? Between the beautiful sprites and BG, to the gorgeous (AND FITTING) GUI, to all the effects and animation and coding and the music and the CGs and GUHHHH. It's so well done I shall sob 😭💕

The story was so lovely yet heartbreaking?? I went with Heart for this first playthrough maybe because I couldn't resist and also it somehow felt less selfish(???) except then after I chose it it still felt selfish at least from the side of the bandmates, so probably it wouldn't matter which choice it is, they both have this element of making one side unhappy in a way. Which is sad but... unfortunately life in many instances sigh. I liked the realism of it being an actually difficult choice with real repercussions. I think in particular this type of choice (even if not exactly like this ofc but similar types of sacrifices??) are so common in any type of environment where there's an element of fame or success involved. Like sometimes finding that success does require sacrifices. And there are those who are willing to accept those sacrifices and those that aren't, and they both lead to vastly different paths.

The whole vibe and style and aesthetics of this was just fantastic. HAVE I MENTIONED LITERALLY HOW POLISHED IT FEELS??? Guhh. Also the parts with the Devil and the memories and then the Devil IN THE MEMORIES MAKING SNARKY COMMENTS kind of sent me a bit. It was a really clever way to handle those scenes in a way that felt quite surreal and ominous. AND ALSO I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER IF THERE'S LIKE... SOME OTHER KIND OF UNDERLYING THING GOING ON HERE?? Like to just be offered this choice by the Devil who is a fan. It really got my brain cogs cogging thinking about like, underlying reasoning we don't know about to further explain everything that's happening jkjfads which just adds to kind of that lingering ominous feeling.

Sob at any rate I enjoyed this so much!! A fantastic character piece with a big choice, fun character designs, beautiful writing, and a killer aesthetic. AND ALL CREATED IN JUST 4 DAYS MY GODDDDDD.