@myeraland thanks for the thoughts, glad you liked it!
Yep, I was originally thinking of releasing it separately, but now I’m bundling two games in one. There’ll be plenty of play modes to try if this comes out, and I’ll have a save system which will allow players to switch between both games.
Here by two degrees of separation from the post in November’s Writer’s Support Thread. I have not had the time to actually read beyond the tutorial and so can’t provide meaningful feedback there (and likely wouldn’t be able to in a timely fashion anyway). But there is one thing that left a strong impression on me going in:
I much prefer the cover art of Dreamwalking Elysium to that of Scarlet Sorceress.
It’s more visually interesting, especially her hair. There’s an immediate emotional hook: there’s wonder and whimsy on her face that matches with the stars and evident magic that’s with her.
I cannot say the same for the main cover, with a neutral face and a red dress that promises…Society, I guess? That red flower and purple pendant could be story-significant but even if they are, a window shopper wouldn’t know or care. I prefer the title art (the cat is cute) but even the cat is devoid of context and emotion beyond involuntary cuteness. Without the words “Scarlet Sorceress” beside it, it could be Warrior Cats fanart.
To not mince words, harshly, I don’t think I’d give the game a second glance if I just saw the cover browsing through a store (as itch’s interface appears to be). But I would for Dreamwalking Elysium.
Which would be a shame because the game does a lot of fun and weird things with ChoiceScript. The Pixabay edits are well-done and atmospheric, and though I’ve not been able to play much with the mechanics, there’s clearly been effort to bring out the “Games” part of Choice of Hosted Games. Not to mention the idea of including a mini side story in general: that’s something I’d be interested in seeing more writers try.
All that and still nothing from me about the prose. 'fraid I can’t make informed comments about that. It’s solid from what I’ve seen, I just haven’t seen enough of it.
From what others have said, the game seems like a cozy, nostalgic romance featuring fire magic.
That’s a strong hook. The cover art just doesn’t sell it (but Dreamwalking Elysium’s does).
So, my feedback. For reference I’ve cleared the main game up to the Grand Bazaar and done the first sidequest (favor for a mutual friend). I plan on going further later on but it’s late where I am and I should get my feedback in before I go to bed.
The good:
The bad:
The “I’m not sure what I should categorize this as but it isn’t straight up bad”:
I hope you read this and I hope you have a wonderful day.
@Azthyme @lovinglydull Thanks for the thoughts, and for taking a look.
Actually, I agree with this point. It was the biggest reason I originally planned to release Dreamwalking Elysium as a standalone game (just so that I could feature the cover art). The one I made for Scarlet Sorceress was inspired by the mystery-ball in the game, although both are largely limited by the art assets available to use on Pixabay.
I was already strongly considering changing the red background to something else… this will likely be a change I can make for my final round of edits.
Agreed, but somewhat intentional given my writing style. But noted. I’ll likely be adding more prose in some sections (along with additional healing checks), since I’m using some vacation days to sweep the game one last time.
Hopefully, if all goes well, I’ll be taking a full week to sweep through the game. Anyway, thanks again for taking a look. No pressure, and no rush. Chances are that this will be up until new year’s day at least if I do submit it.
I just started playing this game. I love the atmosphere and vibes. Wholesome and safe-feeling, instead of the gritty/brutal games that are relatively popular now!
I like the overall pacing and structure. It moves fast, and the day system makes it easy to know what things do.
I also have some typos and continuity issues I’d like to flag:
Typos (you can ctrl-F to find the text probably):
It takes years to training to learn the art of swordplay, and Sofie started at a really young age.
Ari concentrations and makes several hand motions.
Some continuity issues:
Darrin gave me 8000 crowns as a reward (text: The total comes up to eight thousand crowns, which you keep in your purse with a word of thanks.), but I checked my stats screen and it only increased by 800
Quickly and smoothly, you bring your broomstick down right before her. Lady Ashara does not even miss a step, leaping off your broomstick and tackling her to the ground.
“I am Guardian-Commander Ashara Ashdown,” she snaps. “By the authority of the Guardian Order, you’re hereby placed under arrest. Perhaps you’ll start by letting me know why you’ve decided to attack my people?”
With that, Lady Ashara rips off the veil covering her face. But to your surprise, you see a completely unexpected person.
“Amie Whitecastle?” the two of you say in surprise.
Is it supposed to be the earth sorceress who rips off her veil, not Lady Ashara?
Wren quest: The two mages offer the quest to hunt Greywolf to you, and the text makes it sound like you can decline the quest. However, there’s no option to refuse the quest.
At the Celewen manor, it felt like there was a scene skip? Dinner was just starting, and then it went right to
“Welcome to my sanctuary,” Cara says dramatically, placing a hand on the wooden door, before unlocking the protections with her favorite flavor. “Apple taffy treat.”
I’m currently starting on the Spiralkeep section! Having a lot of fun so far!
Thanks. Thought I cleared most of them, looks like this needs another sweep.
Ok. I might have to recheck all the cash payouts in the game. The numbers were revised quite a bit during development, so there are likely some problems.
Thanks for pointing this out. A lot of folks would have missed this one.
Lady Ashara rips off her veil. She wants to know who the sorceress is.
You’re meant to be locked into finishing it, given its personal importance to the MC. But I’ll need to check how it’s written.
Thanks again for pointing them out. I’ll need to check through the money payouts once more.
I finished the game on Easy! I think my main unresolved plot question is why do the villagers hate magic users so much? Just found one more issue:
SCSOart_ForestPath.jpg The trip through the woods feels entirely quiet, save for the chirping of birds and the sound of hoofbeats on dirt. A single dirt path leads all the way to Greystone beach. While overgrown in some places, there are fortunately no serious obstacles before you. At times, you brace yourself, expecting an attack. Yet, your surroundings remain strangely peaceful.
The *image tag is missing here
Very cute game. It kind of feels like those wholesome Japanese RPGs.
I should probably add more exposition about it, but it’s largely that mages have powers which are unknown to them, which in turns breeds mistrust. Cara does talk a bit more about the topic depending on your choices with her, but this might need a bit more prose.
Thanks! I did a sweep of all the image tags. That was the only one, but thanks for catching it!
More work for the final revision, hopefully before I get a final version out.
Thanks again.
Congratulations on finishing and uploading Scarlet Sorceress! It sounds like an incredible adventure with deep storytelling, romance options, and a rich high-fantasy world. I’m sure players will love exploring the Kingdom of Seraphine, customizing their sorceress, and diving into both the main story and the Dreamwalking Elysium side story.
Might be a bit of a stretch, but I’ll try getting some opinions here.
The Amare Games Festival will be hosted on itch in a little over a month from now, and I’m considering adding an update to the game and entering it in the festival.
I’m leaning towards making Cara, Lord Darrin and Ari full romance options. Each will get another sidequest which, on completion, will open them as options for a final marriage proposal. It has been something which I had been toying with for a while, and I did receive some feedback regarding this option.
What are your thoughts? Submit the game to HG or wait for the festival to write an update and showcase it in the festival? (I won’t be able to submit the game this year and enter the festival next year as I’ll lose the right to distribute the game if I submit it to HG.)
Poll responses are non-binding.
Hmm that’s a hard call. How much of an audience does the festival usually get? At the moment it looks like it only has 23 people waiting to enter. If you enter it in the comp then you’ll likely need to update with more scenes before COG’ll let you submit it as an HG. Would you consider Spring Thing instead if you wanted to enter a comp if it might give better exposure?
I’m going to lean on the HG side (but that makes me sad as I really wanted to finish testing it for you! Maybe I can get days off over Christmas.)
I voted to do hosted games, but my answer really depends. You won’t be able to do both if you submit to hosted, but are you able to do the festival and then submit it? If doing both is a legal option, then that’s my vote. Otherwise, I think you should go with hosted.
I believe there were more than 50 submissions last year, although I don’t know how much that translates to an audience. Much more people tend to join in the days leading up to the start of the jam.
This game is already publicly available, so I won’t be able to put it in the Spring Thing. (Plus, doing so means that I’ll need to put a free copy of the game on IFarchive forever.)
Sorry all, just to clarify, submitting the game to the festival does not rule out submitting the game to HG forever. It’s just that if I do, I’ll likely be pushing back the submission date by another few months or so, probably April or May. But, as a bonus, there’ll be the RO update.
So if I submit it to the festival, we do get both options, just that the HG release will come much later.
In that case, then I think doing the festival can only benefit you. You’ll get more exposure, the ROs get an update, and you get more time to look over the final draft. It’s a win win, from my perspective.
I also agree. Even if it delays the game submission, it should all contribute towards making a stronger game.
Ok, from the results, I think we’ll go with writing an update and putting it in the festival. Thanks everyone who voted. I had been toying with the idea of expanding the minor ROs for a while, no better reason to get started now.
I’ll probably submit this to HG around late March or April, but I’m giving everyone more time to play the game for free. 
OMG I am so excited to see that you are entering the festival! I can’t wait to read the update.
Thanks. I’m working on a smaller update first, but once the festival comes around, there will be a total of seven ROs with the update. This game just keeps getting bigger. 
I have added a sidequest update. A three part questline is now available with Cara once you leave the Grand Bazaar. To activate it, you need to pick one of the affectionate options (not just bidding her farewell) when saying goodbye to Cara. Wordcount was increased slightly at about 6k words.
The full RO update will come in February, hopefully.
Yay! Well at least the upside is that we get more Scarlet Sorceress if it’s going in the festival.
