Super Scary

[Sonnie Celanna]

Mine won't be immediately publically released but should be within the week of the awards being released. Just have to look into the bug Eerew experienced first

[applekitty]

Dylan & Trybien's case takes extra time to be reviewed/played, so in the mean time we will post other reviews.

[applekitty]

Spoiler : Screenshot :

I sure hope nothing spooky happens. TimeAxis said this is a normal trial.

Halloween Hero
TimeAxis

Spoiler : :

You’re a child. You don’t get any candy on Halloween, because you’re stuck in a tower there may or may not be scary beasts within that wait to beat you up. Thankfully, you get a sword and innate a willingness to delve its depths.

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

Channeling old-school video games, Halloween Hero is very dead-center on the more goofy light-hearted side. There is a brief moment implying actual horror, but aside from that, there’s nothing genuinely scary about the game other than the work that’s gone into however the hell TimeAxis has manipulated the engine this month.

Spoiler : Characters :

Characters are unimportant.

Spoiler : Presentation :

A fantastic presentation of retro graphics and high-quality sprites ripped from somewhere. I was very impressed with the opening and the game itself, with how everything looked really added to the atmosphere of the game. If you’ll excuse me for peeking into the editor, this case has 16 backgrounds, one of which is the main screen of the game. This main screen has dozens upon dozens of custom assets all handled in each frame, and however the hell TimeAxis accomplished this beyond mind-breaking manual labor is beyond me. It is a testament to what one crazy person can do when they’re given a two-screen game with the ability to click on one of those screens and not the other. Like, holy crap dude.

Spoiler : Story :

The story is minimal for the sake of the gameplay. The synopsis I gave at the start is basically it.

Spoiler : Gameplay :

TimeAxis seems to enjoy making cases that break the limits of the AAO engine. Being a dungeon-crawling game, this entry shows its strength through the sheer ability to produce a adept RPG with a level up mechanic, a working battle system, and a map that remembers if it’s been revealed. I might’ve broken it (due to saving and reloading, even though I was warned against doing that) but even still, it is essentially bug free (so long as you don’t save and reload.) The act of leveling up was enjoyable, and getting a grasp on the game’s mechanics was very fun. I thought the idea of blocking to get more candy was very good. The magic system is also very cute, and I enjoy the idea of trading this game’s version of EXP for the sake of destroying a monster.

Spoiler : Overall :

A cute, halloween-y demo at the moment, the promise of what’s to come is astounding. TimeAxis seems to have a lot planned for this game (sorry for peeking in the editor) and has built, from the ground-up, a perfectly capable dungeon-crawling game. I believe if or when this game comes out, that it will be one of his most enjoyed AAO games— even if it has nothing to do with AA. It’s a testament to what is accomplishable in the editor, and hopefully will inspire others to try out something new.

[applekitty]

Spoiler : Screenshot :

My life is quite like a video game, trying hard to beat the stage, all while still collecting coins.[/size]

The Blood Valley Massacre
Young_Englander

Spoiler : :

Some kids are out on a weekend trip into the woods for a get-away. There’s some shenanigans (mostly just arguments) as we get to know the friend group. However, trouble stirs in the shadows…

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

The narrative focuses on a typical slasher plot setup. A group of people in a isolated location for a certain amount of time, with little to no contact to the outside world (other than their cellphones.) The no-music jumpscare of a certain character was a little silly, but I liked it.

Spoiler : Characters :

All the characters are OCs here, and of school age (presumably). This is probably a good time to mention that the case is not very long, and cuts off rather abruptly, so we don’t get to know a lot about the characters before the demo ends.

For what was set up, I think the characters presented were good for what Englander has set up. However, it’s hard to remember all the characters (though the cast isn’t that large) when the Profiles part of the game engine hasn’t been utilized— though I figured it would be used later in the game when the Killing Started. Personally, I wanted to know more about the slasher’s motives, so hopefully if this case is continued, it’ll be given a nice conclusion.

Spoiler : Presentation :

The case is a combination of OCs grabbed from the Random OC thread as well as real life background images. I think the consistency of the background images is fine and suitable, but there’s not much to comment on here graphics wise.

Spoiler : Story :

The story is a little thin given the short length of the case presented, however, I did like what it set up in its short time. I only wish I could see more!

Spoiler : Gameplay :

The game offers a few split paths that makes me believe that even the most minute choices will matter. If this is expanded on (if Englander decides to keep working on this after the comp) then I think it will be a very enjoyable playable slasher case.

Spoiler : Overall :

I think this case has a lot of room to grow. Due to its length not a lot can be said for many of its aspects, but I think it’ll be something really enjoyable if it’s finished and released to the public. For what’s done at the moment, I think it’s good at setting up at what’s to come.

[applekitty]

Spoiler : Screenshot :

I was storing something in Manfred’s walls last night if you catch my drift.

Turnabout at Castle Karma
Bannedfrom7 & Khepri

Spoiler : :

While Phoenix copes in a hotel room with Edgeworth after losing his badge, Maya, Franny, Kay, Sebastian, and Phoenix’s new adoptive kid head over to Castle Karma for the royal treatment.

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

This is very heavily a halloween-y case rather than a genuinely spooky one. It’s centered around vampires and the spookiness of an evil video-game-like spooky castle.

Spoiler : Characters :

One of the few entries that even has canonical characters in it, it’s focused on the few I talked about in my synopsis as well as Von Karma and the circumstances of his death. I’m not a big fan of the AAI crew so I don’t know their personalities very well, but they didn’t annoy me. I don’t know if Seb is as big a baby in the games as portrayed in this, so you’ll have to forgive my ignorance on that side of his character.

Spoiler : Presentation :

Used an AI generated image for one background, the rest are custom, and one is specially-made for this case. I liked the specially-made background the best, I thought it looked pretty cute. The torch on the wall is my favorite. One thing of note was the missing bell sound effect, but I’m sure once this case is finished, that’ll be remedied.

Spoiler : Story :

Due to the case ending after a short investigation sequence, there’s not much to say story-wise. I like what’s set up and what’s gotten into, and it doesn’t seem like there’s many wasted frames or filler due to its length. We get to the main conflict (assumedly) of the story before the case cuts off. I’d like to see more and see where Banned and Khepri take it, considering the note we’re left on.

Spoiler : Gameplay :

Not much to say. Just one investigation scene with the rest being text to click through.

Spoiler : Overall :

A game with two jumpscares (EEK!) and generally a nice setup for something that could be taken anywhere. I assume this’ll progress into a case with a full-blown trial considering the set-up of the castle havings its very own courtroom. It does make me wonder what sort of crime or use the courtroom will have, as the case did not get far enough to propose when/why it’d be used. A cute hook for a (so far) cute story.

[eerew]

Halloween Hero
by TimeAxis

Spoiler : Screenshot :

When I saw this I literally dropped to the floor and started convulsing from fear.

Spoiler : Synopsis :

It’s Halloween night, but you can’t go trick or treating because you’re too busy being stuck at the top of a tower. If you want out you’ll have to descend all the rooms of the towers, but there may be creepy and scary monsters in them maybe…

Spoiler : Review :

Story: The core of this case is the gameplay, most of the story you get is the initial premise. Though there are cryptic cutscenes at the beginning that might become relevant in the finished product.

Characters: You play as the kid stuck on the top of the tower, of course. The only other companions in this hellish place are spooky and scary monsters… and a familiar looking witch that heals you.

Presentation: The game is mostly in black and white, with the exception of the 2d pixellated characters/monsters, which are colored. The artwork and UI is clean. The music consists of 8-bit versions of tracks from AA-adjacent games and other sources you may recognize. This really feels like a genuine old game, everything goes together and makes a cohesive aesthetic. All of the coding stuff Time did must’ve worked well, too, because I didn’t notice a single graphical error or bug.


Gameplay: Poker wasn’t enough to sate him. TimeAxis made a freaking 80’s/90’s style first person dungeon crawler in AAO. There’s an entire map you can navigate by choosing a direction to face and then moving forwards. You have stats that you can check at any point outside of battle, and that you can actually increase upon level ups. That’s right, he coded in a level-up system.

You level up and use magic by expending candy, something dropped from monsters. There’s a guarding system where you can block different elements, and blocking the one that’s attacking you will make the attack do less damage (though as of right now there’s only one element). YOU CAN INPUT A NAME INTO THE GAME, mine was meower.

The only downside to this whole case is that it’s very short, basically a proof of concept, and I beat the whole thing in 10 minutes. I hope TimeAxis finishes this…

Theme Relevance: The case is plenty theme relevant. It takes place on Halloween. There are scary monsters you have to fight. The P. Goblin got me. Need I say more?

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS
-It’s a freaking fully functional dungeon crawler in AAO
-Art and music choice successfully gives the aesthetic it’s going for
-IT’S A FREAKING FULLY FUNCTIONAL DUNGEON CRAWLER IN AAO

CONS
-Very short, just two levels as of the demo
-seems like a cool case but there is some features that could make the case even better like being able to date characters if you want maybe buying houses

[eerew]

The Blood Valley Massacre
by Young_Englander

Spoiler : Screenshot :

My honest reaction when I saw the P. Goblin last entry.

Spoiler : Synopsis :

Some teens go to a cabin to party over the weekend, where nothing will soon go wrong. Ignore the title.

Spoiler : Review :

Story: Most of the game so far is from the perspective of one of the teenagers as they prepare to do crazy madlad things over the weekend like eat snacks and watch movies in BLOOD VALLEY! The narrative is periodically interrupted by the thoughts of a scary scary person writing in their diary about how their prey is coming… ehehehehe *licks lips* sorry…. BLOOD VALLEY!

There’s some random conversations that go on for a while and don’t seem to have any relevance to the plot. Like what is this, an eerew case or something? Since it isn’t finished I don’t know what information will and won’t become relevant later, so we’ll see just have to wait and see how important the insect burgers are.



Characters: I originally thought the main character was gonna be the scary guy and you were gonna be hunting teenagers down mercilessly, but as of right now the only controllable character is Michael, one of the teens. You’re with 5 other teenagers, and unfortunately due to the short length, there isn’t a lot of time to develop their characters and their dialogue comes off as samey. I’m sure as the game goes on and things get a bit stressful we’ll get to see who they truly are, especially considering that I peeked in the editor and every character’s profile had walls of text in their profiles. I’ll avoid reading those for now so I don’t get spoiled.

Presentation: Presentation is pretty simple, the backgrounds seem to be entirely stock images, but despite that limitation they look fine in the game and don’t feel out of place. All of the characters use oc sprites, which seem to fit their personalities, but again, we haven’t seen much of them yet. There’s also a few typo/weird punctuation things I noticed, but nothing too sinful.

Gameplay: Gameplay is mostly just you reading text, as if the game is some sort of novel with visual accompaniment. I’ll refer to this concept as a optical book for now. Despite being an optical book, there are choices presented to you every now and then, and after looking at what they do it seems like this is a game that’ll be choice based and have multiple endings. There are only two choices right now, but one of them looks like it will affect how the rest of the game goes. As the game is cut off short, though, I can only speculate how much choices will be in the final game, and I'm really really excited to see what Englander's final product will be like.

Theme Relevance: Some dumb teens at a party with a scary scary person bound to show up at any time? Erm, this is a classic horror movie..

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS
-Has a classic scary premise... EEEK!
-Was able to incorporate stock images naturally
-Choice-based gameplay seems promising


CONS
-Some seemingly pointless discussions go on for a bit too long
-Characters don’t get enough time to shine, and feel samey

[applekitty]

Spoiler : Screenshot :

Who needs Slenderman and Jeff the Killer?

Turnabout Of The…?
Super legenda

Spoiler : :

You’re a detective and have been called to a castle, on the hunt for a guy who likes to dress up like a bird. When you get there, things are a little spooky…

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

We’re in a spooky castle, but that’s all the case has to offer of any theme relevance any which-way. As it is right now, the spookiness is open-ended and I could see it trying for a genuine horror aspect or for a halloween aspect.

Spoiler : Characters :

This case is focused on a particular tragedy that happened between all the characters. I liked the particular thing that linked everyone together and thought it was cute considering the setting. However, we don't really have enough time with them to know them much outside of the tragedy and how it's affected them. They are strong enough as archetypes, but I feel if this case were longer I would get to know them a little bit better.

Spoiler : Presentation :

All backgrounds except for one are AI generated. This is a determent due to the game's aspect of being a detective— one who isn't able to investigate his environment very well because of the blurriness of AI art. However, it's understandable, because not everyone has the time or ability or money to get the proper backgrounds they need.

Spoiler : Story :

As the story is just starting out, there’s not much to say explicitly about which way it’s going. It’s setup is alright as we get introduced to our main cast of weirdo theatre kids and their weird house, but outside of that there isn’t much to say. I hope to see more of the case in the future, if SL finishes it up and polishes it off.

Spoiler : Gameplay :

It’s all investigation, with a few examines but not many. You spend them just talking to characters and then progressing, so examining is not really necessary. Granted, all the examine-able backgrounds are AI generated, so there isn’t much to specifically point at in the first place. I do wonder what kind of climatic investigation-related battle the protag will have with our 'villain', as SL has done something akin to a mind battle before. Even though it was a lot more literal.

Spoiler : Overall :

Due to the case’s length, not much can be garnered. Knowing SL’s previous case— Turnabout of the Final Day— it’s promising that they cobbled together something that may turn out to be just as crazy by the game’s completion. At the moment, it seems like the case is setting up for its remaining acts and the conclusion is far off in the distance. Whatever SL makes at the end of the day, I'm sure to play, though.

[applekitty]

Spoiler : Screenshot :

You wouldn’t cross the picket lines, would you?

Snippets (working title)
skyem

Spoiler : :

After turning on a computer, you put in floppy disks to discover the inner workings of a truly scary college student’s mind…

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

Existential dread can be seen as horror I suppose.

Spoiler : Characters :

There is one character, and it is the author themselves.

Spoiler : Presentation :

Nice, hand-drawn backgrounds proliferates the scenes. Based off real life photos and off real-life video in one case, it’s very nice and I appreciate the hard work that went into them. The rotoscoping for one of the backgrounds is very nice and a good step forward in learning how to animate. It must’ve taken forever to rotoscope that one sequence, even though it was in black and white. One nitpick I have is the blurs for the fogs are plain gradients rather than like, pixel ones, as suggested by the rest of the game’s aesthetic. I don’t know how to explain this in text, so here’s a picture. I’d recommend doing this to fit with the rest of the aesthetic, but it’s kind of a minor thing and doesn’t really matter.

Spoiler : Story :

The story is minimal and does not reach a definite conclusion. As this game is more of a self-exploration endeavor, it doesn’t really have an ending nor does it really need one. I don’t really have a lot of thoughts to share, because it seems like more of a vent-case than a case I can comment on the story aspects of.

Spoiler : Gameplay :

Gameplay revolves around presenting evidence to a main screen, which allows you to play or replay any previous scene that has happened. I like the idea and I think it’d be a very good way for non-linear storytelling to flourish. Though that is not the case in this game, I hope Skye reuses the idea in any future case she decides to make.

Spoiler : Overall :

An intriguing method of telling a story, but a little heavy handed in terms of the fact that it is about the author themselves. I'm not sure what to make of it as a game, but I do think it was probably a good outlet for Skye so she could get her thoughts out in a way that made sense, with help from visual and audio cues, to get across what a bad day looks like for her.

[TimeAxis]

Glad the judges had fun with my dumb experiment. It's barely a slice of the final thing, and there were some pretty theme-relevant parts I never got a chance to implement, but hopefully it gave a decent enough idea, and I can finish it at some point.

[Trybien]

No cap, TimeAxis's entry literally looks amazing to me. I am so excited to see it finished.

[GuardianDreamer]

Was nice seeing what everyone seems to have come up with, really hope that the unfinished stuff gets finished and showcased eventually, though I understand that a lot of effort goes into these. Lots of creativity on display here.

[DeathByAutoscroll]

These cases look great from the reviews, can't wait to be able to play and/or experience them after the comp

[eerew]

Turnabout at Castle Karma
by Bannedfrom7 and Khepri

Spoiler : Screenshot :

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RIN

Spoiler : Synopsis :

Phoenix goes on a brocation with Edgeworth after making the most easily avoidable mistake in his entire law career. In the meantime, Maya and her minorful posse consisting of AAI characters and Franziska go to Castle von Karma to babysit Trucy for a few days.

Spoiler : Review :

Story: The case ends before things can really begin to pick up, and is mostly spent talking to the owner of Karma castle and exploring it. Since it’s Turnabout at Castle Karma, there’s probably gonna be a trial, but no crime has happened as of yet.

Characters: You play as Maya the whole time. Most of the cast is canon, and they’re all written in character. They aren’t members of the cast I usually simp for though, so don’t take it as an expert opinion. Each character in this case is distinct from each other, including the new additions, who each have their own quirks. The bottom line is that this case did a good job at establishing the cast in the short demo.

Presentation: The backgrounds are all custom and are mostly photos/photorealistic art that fit what they're supposed to represent. Apparently one of them is ai-generated but I didn’t notice, and only know because the credits mentioned it. One of the backgrounds is clearly original, but I don’t know which creator made it. It’s very nice and eekiful though… Also, there are also some sound placeholders which will probably get filled in later.

They use the wrong "your" at one point and there’s some double spaces which does unfortunately negate all the positive things I’ve said so far.

Gameplay: All that’s done of the case so far is an investigation segment that builds up to something scary… but I don’t think the investigation is done yet. There’s not much more to say about this, there’s one AA investigation scene where you can examine and present a bit, and that’s the extent of the gameplay.

Theme Relevance: Perfectly theme relevant. Scary castle. Sebastian going EEEEK! And the ending? Heh, I’d rather not tell you unless you have your brown pants on…

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS
-Canon cast is in character and the new characters are distinct
-The custom background looked nice
-Whatever happens next will probably be quite scary

CONS
-Ended right when it got good
-Minor grammar mistake lol B)
-Jumpscared me…

[Bannedfrom7]

TimeAxis did WHAT

Spoiler : Screenshot :

I was storing something in Manfred’s walls last night if you catch my drift.

Turnabout at Castle Karma
Bannedfrom7 & Khepri

Spoiler : :

While Phoenix copes in a hotel room with Edgeworth after losing his badge, Maya, Franny, Kay, Sebastian, and Phoenix’s new adoptive kid head over to Castle Karma for the royal treatment.

Spoiler : Theme Relevance :

This is very heavily a halloween-y case rather than a genuinely spooky one. It’s centered around vampires and the spookiness of an evil video-game-like spooky castle.

Spoiler : Characters :

One of the few entries that even has canonical characters in it, it’s focused on the few I talked about in my synopsis as well as Von Karma and the circumstances of his death. I’m not a big fan of the AAI crew so I don’t know their personalities very well, but they didn’t annoy me. I don’t know if Seb is as big a baby in the games as portrayed in this, so you’ll have to forgive my ignorance on that side of his character.

Spoiler : Presentation :

Used an AI generated image for one background, the rest are custom, and one is specially-made for this case. I liked the specially-made background the best, I thought it looked pretty cute. The torch on the wall is my favorite. One thing of note was the missing bell sound effect, but I’m sure once this case is finished, that’ll be remedied.

Spoiler : Story :

Due to the case ending after a short investigation sequence, there’s not much to say story-wise. I like what’s set up and what’s gotten into, and it doesn’t seem like there’s many wasted frames or filler due to its length. We get to the main conflict (assumedly) of the story before the case cuts off. I’d like to see more and see where Banned and Khepri take it, considering the note we’re left on.

Spoiler : Gameplay :

Not much to say. Just one investigation scene with the rest being text to click through.

Spoiler : Overall :

A game with two jumpscares (EEK!) and generally a nice setup for something that could be taken anywhere. I assume this’ll progress into a case with a full-blown trial considering the set-up of the castle havings its very own courtroom. It does make me wonder what sort of crime or use the courtroom will have, as the case did not get far enough to propose when/why it’d be used. A cute hook for a (so far) cute story.

Turnabout at Castle Karma
by Bannedfrom7 and Khepri

Spoiler : Screenshot :

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RIN

Spoiler : Synopsis :

Phoenix goes on a brocation with Edgeworth after making the most easily avoidable mistake in his entire law career. In the meantime, Maya and her minorful posse consisting of AAI characters and Franziska go to Castle von Karma to babysit Trucy for a few days.

Spoiler : Review :

Story: The case ends before things can really begin to pick up, and is mostly spent talking to the owner of Karma castle and exploring it. Since it’s Turnabout at Castle Karma, there’s probably gonna be a trial, but no crime has happened as of yet.

Characters: You play as Maya the whole time. Most of the cast is canon, and they’re all written in character. They aren’t members of the cast I usually simp for though, so don’t take it as an expert opinion. Each character in this case is distinct from each other, including the new additions, who each have their own quirks. The bottom line is that this case did a good job at establishing the cast in the short demo.

Presentation: The backgrounds are all custom and are mostly photos/photorealistic art that fit what they're supposed to represent. Apparently one of them is ai-generated but I didn’t notice, and only know because the credits mentioned it. One of the backgrounds is clearly original, but I don’t know which creator made it. It’s very nice and eekiful though… Also, there are also some sound placeholders which will probably get filled in later.

They use the wrong "your" at one point and there’s some double spaces which does unfortunately negate all the positive things I’ve said so far.

Gameplay: All that’s done of the case so far is an investigation segment that builds up to something scary… but I don’t think the investigation is done yet. There’s not much more to say about this, there’s one AA investigation scene where you can examine and present a bit, and that’s the extent of the gameplay.

Theme Relevance: Perfectly theme relevant. Scary castle. Sebastian going EEEEK! And the ending? Heh, I’d rather not tell you unless you have your brown pants on…

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS
-Canon cast is in character and the new characters are distinct
-The custom background looked nice
-Whatever happens next will probably be quite scary

CONS
-Ended right when it got good
-Minor grammar mistake lol B)
-Jumpscared me…

Spoiler : :

Also, thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you both liked our little preview for what's to come! Hopefully you aren't scared of the rest of it in the future!