Pros:
* As an artist myself, I really dug the visuals. It’s a pretty cool art style.
* The 3D graphics look decent too. I'm not sure what kept the developer from making the whole game in 3D, though—the cutscenes and UI are 2D, while the overworld is 3D. Alternatively, you could have gone with flat 2D billboard sprites that always face the camera, like in classic Doom.
* An interesting take on the "potion brewing" concept. As far as I can remember, this is the first game I've seen do something quite like this.
Cons:
* The game is quite short. I brewed as many as 4 decoctions, but ended up drinking only one. Even then, I just sprinted to the rabbit, chopped the cat's hand off, reached the kids, and the game was already over. It feels like the brew you get at the very beginning is more than enough to beat the game, which makes the whole brewing mechanic feel redundant.
* This brings me to the next point—the lack of context/exposition. It would have been fine if there were at least subtle clues about what those piles of trash are or who the rabbit is, but there aren't any hints at all. You're left to figure it all out on your own. At first, I assumed the protagonist was so dependent on his "potions" that he loses his mind without them, but by the end, it turned out that it's just the forest affecting him.
* The dialogue text needs some proofreading. In one line, the protagonist has an issue with verb tenses when telling the kids to stay home. Punctuation is also inconsistent—some lines end with a period, while others don't.
* There is no real incentive to keep the campfire burning. It never goes out, even on standard difficulty. At most, you only need a single stick in your inventory to brew a concoction and restore sanity, and after that, you can just run around on the power of that miracle brew.
I'd rate this game a 5/10. Overall, you can tell it's made by a beginner developer. The concept is solid, but it feels underdeveloped. As a game jam project it would pass, but as a standalone experience it feels rather bare-bones and brief.
By the way, it's pretty bizarre how fragile the creatures in this world are—almost as if they're made of glass. The cat chops his own paw off, and the rabbit dislocates its leg out of nowhere just by bumping into a rock. It really reminded me of Happy Tree Friends, where characters are essentially made of paper.
Wishing the developer the best of luck on her creative journey!
Since I don't know English very well, I never understood what drink the dark yellow cat-girl wanted in the end.
