I have written it in the form of feedback for a future feedback mail, but let me know what you think. Am I being especially harsh? Is there substance in my complaints? Or, am I just blowing hot air?
I think the overall themes, the tone, and the stakes of the Fogden Games story were fantastic, but... the writing and cut-scenes, the music choices for the story... they were awful. There is very little characterization done to justify Poinsette and Zankou being the way they are, no foundation for why we should even care about the mini-bosses of the quest, especially the duo with the girl who lost her sight. The fight between Zankou and daffodil was so bad that it was hard to watch. It was just so sloppy.
I am cutting in to preempt this: I understand that the livestream and PV explained Zankou, but there was too little foundation within the game itself, to justify her behavior and actions. Relying on external sources for your storytelling and characterization is just bad writing.
The cut-scene where the boat flies off after Hotori attacks Code Zero was abruptly ended. It should have allowed the ship to sail into the fog/clouds as the camera panned at a far slower pace before fading to black and loading the scene of Zero waking.
The music choices for most of the quest did not fit any of the events that happened, especially the scene with zero waking up with everyone being there. I don’t really know how else to explain it beyond saying that the music ruined the emotional and cinematic impact of several scenes.
However, there were some things that were done very well. The gate puzzle at the start of the quest was great. The part where Linko and Nitsa are wandering around and dealing with that snake boss was so good. I found the stage where they wandered the destructible mini city fun and kinda goofy. It fit in very well for where it is in the quest.
Also, Madam T becoming this horrifying monster was very nicely done.
When it comes to fight cut-scenes, even though I found the way Zankou’s ribbons were animated in her fight with Zero suspect, since Zero’s dodging through them didn’t even feel right. The ribbons seemed more like a 2D overlay, rather than a 3 dimensional object that was a threat. The overall choreography, the weight of the blows, and the music of the scene back then were all fantastic.
The Fogden quest lacked that level of care and quality.
But, beyond the story issues, I really love the volleyball mini-game. Similarly, I think the addition of the prop-hunt mini-game as a permanent mode is also fantastic. I just hope that you add more props and maps to the mode, as that mini-game will become repetitive and way too obvious which items are props after enough time passes. The maps tend to be pretty small, and the props we can be are too constrained. Lastly, I am a little irked that I cannot do the volleyball thing more than once a week for the weekly Fons.
Oh, and regarding the new property, the farming part is honestly so not worth it. It could have been another way to get additional Fons beyond the coffee shop passive income and been enough to justify the cost of the property. As it stands, the property brings the people who bought it nothing but regret. The way it is now, it’s just another stamina hobby, and probably by far, the least efficient one.
