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Episode 2: Feedback and Thoughts

Started by KatieHal, January 30, 2013, 11:49:27 AM

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KatieHal

Episode 2: The Wise Monkey is out, and we want to hear your thoughts on it! What was new & improved? What could still use some work? Who were you glad to see again, or meet for the first time? What were your favorite (or least favorite) parts?

Spoilers ahead, you've been warned!

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

jen

#1
I played The Wise Monkey all the way through last night and although I found it to be a little tougher than The Hangman (specially the quiz part at the end) I loved it.  ABSOLUTELY loved it.  Sometimes in games, like TV Shows & Movies, I adore the personal connections, and Erica/Sully's connection is one I love


Was I crazy to see Suffer?

snabbott


Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

KatieHal

He HAD to be in the game somewhere! :)  :suffer:

And thanks Jen! Glad you liked it. :) I love the Quiz, I'm particularly proud of coming up with that one, and the execution of it between art, programming, animation, and music, came out perfectly.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

jen

You're welcome :D  I didn't notice Suffer the first time I played (last night)  I played again this afternoon prior/during my post here, I noticed him and I was all "HEY, it's Suffer"

Göran

#5
Hi, I finished the episode tonight! I loved it and it was an improvement over episode 1 overall. Some feedback:

+ Very good plot! You kept me guessing and it all wrapped up nicely.
+ Loved the conversations with Cordelia and Erica's dad (hope we get to see more of him in future episodes!)
+ Clever puzzles, especially the final one! It was deep and challenging in a good way.
+ The new synergy power was a fun puzzle mechanic to play around with.
+ Much improved pacing! The game never slowed down and I always wanted to see what happenend next.
+ I liked how you mixed up comic book art with 3d when Erica shot at the car in the beginning.
+ Funny Ouija board scene! Its nice with a light hearted moment like that sometimes.
+ Music and voice acting is still amazing!

- I saved my game during the final puzzle and when I reloaded I wasn't able to proceed past the "smoking cigarette" question. I couldn't select an answer and had to load a very early save.
- No autosave. Usually I don't care but now I got frustrated when I had to replay almost the whole game due to the bug mentioned. As a Sierra vet I probably should have saved more often but I've become lazy since then!
- Some plot holes: [spoiler]This might be explained in later episodes but how can the killer know what Erica will see with her powers, like the words on the jars? And can you really go to jail for referring students to bad loans in the US? Or was Erica just scaring him?[/spoiler]
- When Erica jumped behind the counter in the morgue she became a midget! ;) That morgue puzzle was silly but as a whole the puzzles improved in quality.
- No way to skip credits. That Kickstarter list is loooong!
- Unintentionally funny sometimes. I find John lovable but he must be the most useless partner in history :)

Keep up the good work and I hope you get on Steam soon <3

HitBattousai

#6
Finished the episode just now.  It was better than the first one in my opinion overall as well.

+ Plot was better on this one, mostly because I feel it built things up better to the ending. 
+ The biggest weakness of the first game in my opinion was the Regression power puzzles, specifically that you usually had to leave and comeback to them to get the answers making them too long and some of the finer details were hard to confirm.  This is handled perfectly in The Wise Monkey, allowing for good use of the power without the headache.
+ The new synergy power was done well.
+ Art style is very good again.
+ The puzzles are clever without being too frustrating.
+ Music is excellent again, and the voice acting is generally good, with Holmes being the standout.

-  A few plot holes, it's a game so you have to accept that, but given their bond in the first episode, it's hard to see why Erica would not have back up from at least one person in particular(John) at the end of the game.  There are ways that he could have been "in there" and then forced to not participate in the end game if necessary.
- Erica's fist pump o' anger comes off a bit silly to me.  That might have been the idea though.
- I do agree there should be a way to skip past the credits to get to the next episode preview quickly, even though I do like the end song.

Favorite and Least Favorite Part: The Ouija board scene.  It adds some needed levity, but also hurts your ears as much as Erica's.

Thanks for making the game, very much looking forward to Episode 3: The Oracle! ;D

KatieHal

Thanks for the feedback guys! Glad you enjoyed the puzzles and storyline in this one. :) Hehe, yeah, Melissa's singing is kind of awful, but I also love it so much. And the reaction the animators did for that one from Erica is priceless!

Quote from: Göran on February 01, 2013, 05:10:36 PM
- Some plot holes: This might be explained in later episodes but how can the killer know what Erica will see with her powers, like the words on the jars? And can you really go to jail for referring students to bad loans in the US? Or was Erica just scaring him?

Oh fun! I finally get to use the Suffer!!  :suffer:

Beyond that, sounds like you run into some unusual bugs there, Goran, especially that one in the last puzzle.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Göran

Quote from: KatieHal on February 01, 2013, 10:41:22 PM
Oh fun! I finally get to use the Suffer!!  :suffer:

Haha, good to hear that me being confused is all part of your grand plan! Oh, and sorry for not using the spoiler box earlier, just discovered it!

Quote from: KatieHal on February 01, 2013, 10:41:22 PM
Beyond that, sounds like you run into some unusual bugs there, Goran, especially that one in the last puzzle.

Yeah, was not able to reproduce that one from the last puzzle, so I must have done something really weird. Other than that I'm happy to report that I found no bugs. Erica jumping behind the counter was more of a scaling issue to me. In that frame the counter suddenly felt very big.


LordBT

A good episode! My first thoughts:

+ Exciting plot with good twists.
+ Synergy was a cool power.
+ In general good voice acting and music.

- Setting of a fire alarm to get an old tape recorder. That just felt unnecessary stupid.
- An agent is captured right after Davies has been killed, and yet seemingly only Erica is put on the case.
- After all she's been through Erica enters the Wise Monkey's lair alone.
- I thought that McAdams was a bad character during the first conversation with him. Just seemed really out of place, like a whiny manager in a suit with a bad pose, not an FBI-director.
- One Rose-visit per episode is enough for me. Don't know why.
- The episode felt a bit railroady. Like "Okay, now I have done this, now i just need to go here and do that."
- Not being able to skip credits


For future episodes i hope to be able to search for old crime cases in the database, and a larger regression puzzle.

stika

thank you for your sugestions lord BT!

And fear not, they will be read by the designers  :)

Cez

Quote from: LordBT on February 02, 2013, 10:27:54 AM


For future episodes i hope to be able to search for old crime cases in the database, and a larger regression puzzle.

Your wishes shall come true in ep4 with regression.


Cesar Bittar
CEO
Phoenix Online
cesar.bittar@postudios.com

stika


KatieHal

Thanks LordBT!

Ohh, yes, the EP 4 puzzles...they're gonna be really interesting & intense.  :suffer:

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Mr_Nabby

Alright, I haven't played the game yet, but I just downloaded the game, and when I unzipped it, I could see all the files unpack. And, unfortunately, I noticed 2 files called "Saving Sully" A and B. And I can only assume that these are cutscenes from the end of episode 2.

So now I know Sully is in danger, and he will live. Try to keep the files spoilerfree next time...
There's so many movies/games/books/comics that I don't know where to start!

Well, better start with the classics and work my way forward...

KatieHal

Yeah, that was something we didn't think of until it was too late. Sorry! But that particular fact is clear early on, if it helps.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

GrahamRocks!


br305893

I personally thought this was overall better than the first episode. The episode did feel somewhat shorter though, and seemed to have a lack of puzzles compared to the first episode. However, I really liked the final puzzle, which was insanely intense and very well done. I also didn't really like McAdams as a character. Also, McCoy seemed to have almost no role whatsoever in this episode. That said, the storyline was excellent and I can't wait for episode 3!
"You Can Feel Good About Hood"

stika

haven't played Episode 2 yet, though I am wondering: Do we finally get to see McCoy stuff his face with Donuts?  :suffer:

KatieHal

It remains a sight too glorious (or horrifying) for the human eye to behold.  :o

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!