This was very entertaining 
can’t wait for more! Seriously tho you should be proud, I really enlisted this so far 
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I love it!
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I really enjoyed playing through it! The dialogue options are fun and the descriptions make everything feel vibrant and lively. The only thing is that it seems that some scenes repeat and overlap, which was slightly confusing. Other than that it’s great and I can’t wait to see where you go with it.
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Thank you! Sorry about the repeating, there’s several scenes that aren’t coded properly yet. Will work on that asap!
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Quick question: what do you mean that we look like fish? To what extent? It’s just I’m having a problem with the concept of a human looking like fish. I haven’t read the demo though, hoping to find my answers there.
Good question! It does get expanded in the game but if you want to learn a little more before you start: your character customization options are limited to colour palettes of actual salmon. So for skin colours for example, the options are dark umber, silver, or reddish-peach. The MC has small residual scar-like gills on their neck (which don’t function anymore, as you’ll find out) and several smatterings of scales on their skin. Aside from that, they look mostly human.
I haven’t decided if I want to take it to the extent of REALLY fish-like features, like a very wide mouth and big round eyes. Of course you’re welcome to imagine your MC that way if you like haha.
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I just played it and I loved the game Also, the scale-like glinting in the sun and silver hair is very beautiful, the way our MC was described underwater was astounding as well. I’m bookmarking this for sure 
Good luck with the game!
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This is pretty sweet, I like it. Look forward to more but enjoyed what I played so far.
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S-sorry for me sounds like an arrogant and ignorant human, I know I ain’t fish and I couldn’t know what’s fish thinking, but, isn’t the MC just being …a fish out of water a moment ago, so, I suppose they shouldn’t have a name yet? Maybe the name is given by the witch (but still give the player freedom to input as they please)?
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Oh that’s a good suggestion! You just gave me some more ideas on how I could lean into MC learning more about individuality as a human when they used to just be a part of a school of fish. Thank you!
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this is just so light hearted, i get a cozy feeling after watching (most) ghibli films and this gives me that cozy feeling. and oh man, i just love that when you meet the fisherman you can just chose to gobble up the herring mid sentence of protesting the fisherman fishing, i vote for being able to just do more weird salmon things which confuse the humans
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I love it nwn
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This seems very interesting already.
I’ll be writing my thoughts as I play.
Comments
The apprentice’s smile fades. “Their life’s purpose is mating?”
It is most animal’s purpose lmao.
I love how she just decided to turn the MC into a salmon because ‘all life has potential’ or something.
“I’m a human?” you cry. “Why?”
I would also cry.
Sleep is new to you. As a salmon, you were never able to completely shut your mind away from the world around you. Your body never gave you the option: you needed to be ever alert of your surroundings, be constantly aware of lurking predators, to be sure that the path you were taking was the one that would lead you home.
Even as humans we try to elude sleep though.
I love Hermes!! All cats are amazing.
“You eat them?!” You drop to your knees and dig into the net, grasping at the slippery bodies. Artur watches you, stunned.
You manage to get a hold of a single fish, which thrashes violently in your grip. “Do all humans have no respect for life in the ocean, or…” Glancing down at the fish in your hand, you slowly recognise the small sleek body of a herring.
Your mouth waters.
Oh no…
“Don’t swim too far out,” Helina calls from the shore. You pause, knee-deep in the water, and look over your shoulder at her.
“I’m a fish,” you call back.
Not anymore dude.
Hermes is the most intelligent being in this story and no one can tell me otherwise.
I love how everyone’s so chill about the MC being (well, used to be) a fish.
I just have to say this was hilarious and I loved it!!! I like how it’s lighthearted and sort of ‘slice of life’. Most CoGs I’ve tried are a lot more ‘hardcore’ and dramatic so this is a nice change.
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Haha he definitely Knows Everything and just doesn’t care to share it. I’ve planned for future interactions to be influenced by your MC’s stats, so Hermes will avoid you if you’ve become cruel or be more protective of you if you’ve become too trusting. I’m glad you like it so far, and thank you for the feedback!
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I love it! I like the atmospher~
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You said “Customizable appearance, to an extent–you still kinda look like a fish” How does that look exactly? I have a hard time picturing it 
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Hey there! Someone else asked this question before, so I’ll just quote myself:
I think since this has come up a few times I’ll spend a bit more time expanding on it in the game. I’m open to suggestions if you have any!
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I’m really looking forward to the next updates! This is greatly amazing 
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Okay so… first thing I HAVE to know… Just WHAT inspired you to create THIS?!
And I don’t mean the fact things like Ghibly inspired you… no no no… this is such a crazy concept, something more must have made your brain generate this…
Keep in mind, I love everything about it! I’m just flabbergasted, for a lack of better word.
And second - it would be nice if you implemented the save plug-in, especially considering the dead ends and so on. It will avoid replaying each time! Especially considering the non-linear narrative, with the quest of collecting all items.
As far as the tone of the story and writing go, at first I feared the story would be too comical for my tastes, considering the premises - while I do like some humor in the stories I read, I’m not a fan of actual comedy. But this is just… sweet and lovely. 
I have checked out some of the older comments too, and I do agree that the MC shouldn’t have a name from the get go - as it is a sign of individuality a salmon shouldn’t have. It would be better if Helina was the one to suggest the names, after explaining what a name is, and the MC would choose. That would also justify the… erm… theme of the names!
Now, as far as descriptions go… I don’t mind the way they are, most of the time. I think you could change things like “you hear a cauldron bubbling” to “the sound of a bubbling cauldron can be heard”. It’s a small change, but that way, the more specific things would be way more descriptive for the players than percieved as something the MC knows. But honestly, even as it is, it didn’t bother me much. It’s such a wacky and sweet fairytale kind of story that it feels fine.
I don’t think a fully third person narrative would serve the story well though. You could make it half third person and half first person if you wanted to, I guess, but eh… Honestly, I think it’s good as it is, even if you could make some tweaks like the one I’ve mentionned, if you wish so.
There is only one little think in the narrative - or rather, the continuity - that bothered me a little bit.
When MC joins the witches in the garden, Saara says: “So you’ve made your decision to live your life as a human. Once we perform the full moon ritual, the change will be made permanent. I’ve informed Helina of what the ritual requires, and we are fortunate to the have this much time to gather the materials.”
But technically, at that point, MC didn’t say he decided anything - to neither of the two witches.
I think it stems from the fact that, when meeting Saara, I’ve selected the option that says “I’m not quite sure what to do with my life now” or something like that, but technically, it’s not an affirmation that MC wants to stay human. Or maybe it stems from the fact my MC was pleased with the situation overall. I mean, it’s obvious from what I just said but do play that route eh! I just mean it’s a bit strange Saara didn’t ask for a verbal confirmation just in case, and just assumed that, even if it WAS obvious MC was pleased.
Speaking of Saara though…
I love how her reaction to her pupil bringing a naked silver man home and telling her he was a salmon before is a calm “Goodness.”… It’s hillarious. 
Also, I’m fascinated by the fact there is romance in this game. Fascinated and overjoyed! You could have decided not to do any after all, considering the plot!
The original post says: “Five romance options, and one hidden bonus one, or don’t romance anyone at all and make some lifelong pals”
I usually want to know about the ROs beforehand, but this game is unique enough for me to be okay with them not having descriptions in the original post. Still, could you at least give some hints about the ROs? Not necessarily the secret one (unless you wish to!), but I’m curious… Are they Helina, Artur, Merit, the girl from the market (sorry, forgot the name) and Saara? I’d be a bit surprised to have only one male option though, and I’m not sure if an older character like Saara counts, so there may be a non-secret character we didn’t meet yet?
Another one about romance, but as a general concept: will MC have a conversation (probably with Helina, maybe Saara) about romance - and how is it different from mere mating? From the conversation with Merit, it was obvious that MC didn’t understand the idea of “liking someone” the way Helina meant it when she said Merit likes him.
I’m curious if MC will learn about these things prior to actually liking someone which would help him identify what’s happening when it happens, or if he’ll start liking someone and he’d ask about these newfound feelings BECAUSE he’d be actually feeling them.
Another question, unrelated to romance!
If completing the ritual, would it be possible to select if the MC will still look… fishy, or if they’ll start looking like a normal human? I would like mine to stay as he is, but I think having the choice would be interesting for some players!
Though seriously… an iridescent and shimmering silver man with golden eyes… how ccould one achieve higher beauty? 
With all of that being said, a small issue with the game:
You’ll have to check the time tracking system so some things are reflected in the dialogues and choices.
For example, my MC met Merit on day 3, yet the third choice when meeting them was “I was a salmon until yesterday”. In this case, “until yesterday” could only be there if going to the lake on day 1. Otherwise, something like “until recently” or maybe “until some days ago” would work if you don’t want to specify the amount of days each time. I’m almost sure some things like that were present during narration too, but I actually only truly realized there since it was a choice option.
Anyway, it was a great experience! I’ll be eagerly awaiting for more. It’s such a charming WIP.
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Oh wow, thank you so much for playing and for the detailed feedback! In all honestly I’ve been losing steam because life’s been hectic, but reading your post has really inspired me to keep going. I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
As for what inspired this, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and watching the salmon return is a popular thing to do here in the fall. I remember learning about the salmon life cycle as a kid and just accepting that they mate and die. As an adult, I thought it was kinda sad haha, but I was also thinking about how humans anthropomorphize and project emotions onto animals who don’t see the world in the same way we do. I also have plenty of other sad and dark writing projects, and I wanted to do something fun!
Adding saves is definitely on my to-do list. Honestly I didn’t think it was a priority because I didn’t know whether anyone was actually going to play it haha but I’ll do my best to get it in the next update.
That’s a good point about the salmon’s name, they definitely don’t have that individuality. I like the idea of Helina suggesting names, it would be a good opportunity for the MC to explore their person-hood. And defining the difference between what the MC knows and perceives is something I want to lean into, thank you for identifying an area where that can be improved!
That morning-after conversation with Saara doesn’t exactly cover all the paths of the conversation from the night before, as you’ve found. I’ll be marking it as a section that needs revision.
I like to think Saara has seen all sorts of weird stuff that magic can do, especially with Helina as her student haha.
I actually started this with the intent of including romances, since the MC’s main goal as a salmon was finding a mate, and then suddenly being put in a situation where they could choose not to at all. I do want to include information about the ROs in the post and I haven’t gotten around to it! I must have made some changes since that original post (or I just typoed), since the ROs are Helina, Artur, Merit, Karolin, two secret ROs, and one RO who is only present for a certain period. I did consider Saara or other older characters as a RO, but it didn’t feel right with the imbalance of life experience she has compared to the MC, considering they’re new to being human and has a lot to learn. In the same vein, all ROs are in a similar age range, and they’ll be fully aware that you used to be a salmon and have a vastly different experience than theirs.
I’m planning to have Saara and other NPCs talk to the MC about relationships, and Helina as well although she’s not very experienced with them. I don’t think it would be fair for someone who’s been human for a short period of time to be expected to be involved in a romantic human relationship without knowing what to expect.
I had planned for the MC to stay looking as fishy as they are, but I think there could be magic to help them look however they want! One of the secret ROs is a powerful magic user, so the sky’s the limit there haha.
Thanks for catching that line in Merit’s scene. I had fixed that in a couple other locations but looks like I missed that one!
I’m really glad you enjoyed it enough to take the time to give me this feedback! Thanks again. I hope to post another update soon.
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