Ranked #4199
25 Points
this is the sort of game i view through the lens of wasted potential in the sense that you've clearly constructed a mechanically well put together jrpg hybrid experience where battles and encounters can happen in a variety of ways suddenly and smoothly, but you've dressed it all up in miserable writing. utterly, utterly miserable, and this point cannot be emphasized enough: cat powered ufo's sense of humor is crawling along the ground with both legs broken and limp, begging for a passerby to end its misery quickly. it's very tiring writing, in that every dialogue box read darkened the purple of my eyebags further. unlike the protagonist's spaceship, not a single joke once landed--and this isn't even covering the multiple times in which jokes were so badly communicated to the player that reading their deliveries only resulted in head scratching. there is such an unfortunate case of spork based random access humor going on here that it destroys any attempt to invest in cat powered ufo's world, which you should absolutely consider a failing given your earthbound based inspiration.
in any case, this point about the game's writing must be hammered in if only to emphasize how competent the mechanics and general gameplay of cat powered ufo otherwise is. there are definitely niggling aspects--battles generally take too long, incurring too much of the yiik problem, and a lot of the sudden zooming in and convulsing of pixels following a roll can only best be described as revolting--but the game shows remarkable promise for what exactly it is. with the right tweaks, gameplay could generally captivate and entertain. with the right writer, your systems and mechanics could genuinely shine. with the right art (ie not low effort gross out), your players might leave the experience charmed. with the right music... actually, the music's pretty great.
if you wish to succeed with this type of game or any game at all for that matter, i suggest you heed this roast well. you show absolute competence in your game developing chops, but writing dialogue could not be any further away from your career prospects than it truly is. partner with the right person or people, and your games will find their audience.