Rosenklan

Very glad I got around to playing this! It's a total crime that Rosenklan hasn't gotten more attention. 

Despite its simplicity, the art in Rosenklan is extremely evocative. It's always dark, but never lacking color or definition. My favorite details were the zoomed-in illustrations. For example, the cold glint of the tools which speak. The progressive 'roses' screen was also an effective choice. I recommend playing with this CRT filter for an authentic retro experience: https://github.com/mausimus/ShaderGlass?tab=readme-ov-file

Rosenklan's fairytale writing style is well executed, even dignified. Characters are distilled to archetypes with simple motivations. Do not mistake this assessment for blandness, however. Alice Gristle orchestrates these moments with care, and each character stimulates the imagination. 

The gameplay is almost a point-n-click adventure. Interestingly, goals can be addressed in any order. Depending on your focus, your path through the experience could be completely different from mine. Indeed, there were multiple ways to address some puzzles. I get the impression multiple endings are also possible, depending on your choices. 

I hope to see another polished game like this from you in the future! Great job!

Hello,

As you already know, I streamed your game last weekend. Overall, I really thought this was an enjoyable experience - which is quite rare for these streams 😂

It has that typical "Alice Gristle" charm to it, which has become a recognizable part of your style: The most obvious part to that style is the 8-bit, low color palette art, and chiptune tracker music, but there is also a notable game play style that seems rooted in classic NES game design, with clear influence from the original NES Legend of Zelda.

This is by far one of the parts I appreciated about the game the most; there is little in the way of fluff. You get a brief story introduction and then you are set loose upon a small, but effective open world for the player to explore freely and discover the solutions to the various puzzles on their own terms. It's simple, yet very effective.

Coming up with critcisms towards the game is difficult, but there were 2 things I think could have improved the game: First, and foremost is adding additional keyboard controls. Not everyone enjoys playing games with arrow keys, so being able to use WASD or (more preferably) rebind keys to a preferred layout would have improved the game's accessibility greatly. Second, and more opinion based, is the flute item. The flute item is the only item the player gains that neither has a nearby tutorial entity for the player to test out their new found equipment, nor does it make intuitive sense for what it can be used for. Eventually the solution was found, but finding the solution didn't feel like an "Ah-ha!" moment, but more like a "point-and-click adventure moon-logic" moment.

Regardless, you're one of only a few games that have gotten a high score on my grading system, and it was a delight to play this game. Good job, Miss Gristle!

If you'd like to watch my experience with your game, I've linked the archive below. You can click the timestamps to jump to when I start playing your game.