The Year of Luigi

[risefromtheashes]

RISEFROMTHEASHES'S INFORMAL ENTRY FOR THE "YEAR OF LUIGI" COMP

(Sunny, they/any)
Before the next review goes up: we documented our three main case ideas for this comp that never ended up getting off the ground (mainly for personal/IRL issues, but also because they would be difficult to accomplish on an objective level even if we had the resources to dedicate).

If you want to read about "Super Magical High School Prom Adventure!", "May Your Memory Be a Blessing", or "LotHronpa", see here!

[GuardianDreamer]

Anima De Machina
by that1stickman

Spoiler : Screenshot :

Insert Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse joke here.

Spoiler : Audio Review :

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/f ... vxdz0&dl=0

Spoiler : Synopsis :

Brett Fusher is a very well regarded lawyer who's just recently moved to the big city and manages to get hired for a homicide case involving a reclusive tech CEO's death. Except Brett Fusher is well regarded as a civil lawyer, not a criminal one, and thanks to some crossed wires it seems he's stuck with a job he's ill-equipped for...

Spoiler : Review :

Story/Characters: The story of Anima De Machina has a core conceit that is difficult to talk around, but that I absolutely want people to go in not knowing about so they can be just as surprised as I was. For the most part, the cast serves their roles just fine, though the real highlight is the unique way in which the story is told. Admittedly, it did make it so that I found some of the setting's details sort of hard to follow (even by the end I only felt like I sort of kind of got the story), but that didn't matter as much for the story that Anima De Machina is trying to tell.

Presentation: Anima de Machina takes a lot of cues from the Investigations games in terms of its presentation, with a lot of the sprites being edits of sprites from the Investigations games. I'm unsure if these edits are by that1stickman or not due to the lack of a proper credits screen (at least when I played), but it all works together really well and cohesively. All the music used is in-editor stuff but fits pretty well and feels fresh due to the unique setting. There is the occasional typo to be found, but nothing major.

Gameplay: This case is basically all investigation with no trial gameplay to speak of. Much of it involves examining specific objects in the background and figuring out the right triggers to progress. With that said, the investigation is given a bit of a twist that gives the case a lot of flavor. While the game is mostly linear except towards the very end, I found the way the investigation worked to ooze with style and I greatly appreciated it. While it has AAI-style presentation, the gameplay is very distinct from AAI's as well, showing how the investigation template can be used in a creative way. If I had a complaint here, it's that the very last examine is something I had to break out a guide for since I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to examine, but considering how much trouble I've had when a case demands that I find something in a background thus far in this competition, perhaps this is a me problem.

Theme Relevance: Our protagonist ends up being the most creative use of this theme I've seen thus far and that's REALLY saying something considering what this competition has brought to the table. Brett Fusher starts off seeming like a fine enough Luigi who is extremely out of his depth due to not being a criminal lawyer while being expected to be used to dead bodies and murders, but that1stickman surprised me with Brett quite a lot. I don't do numerical ratings especially since I said everyone would probably pass theme relevance, but this is genuine 10/10 theme relevance and easily the highlight for me.

Overall: Make no mistake here, the comparative brevity of this review should not be taken as a sign that I don't have a lot to say about Anima De Machina. Instead, keep in mind there is so much I want to say here but that I'm refraining from so that people can be as pleasantly surprised as I was. This is a case where my "real review" might have to wait for when this gets a showcase thread. While this case took me around an hour to finish, I was quite impressed by the end of it and the concise way it was able to tell its story.

Spoiler : that1stickman pro photo legit :

[Dylan Dog]

this review couldn't have made me more hyped about this case

[GuardianDreamer]

Prayers a Thousand-fold
by Puppy Dance 9

Spoiler : Screenshot :

You're cutting my heart like paper...

Spoiler : Audio :

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/f ... a80bx&dl=0

Spoiler : Synopsis :

In a world where everything is papercrafts, local sheriff Zakkar has been away from field work for a very long time instead doing boring deskwork he's apathetic to. But left with no other options, his higher-ups task him with investigating a murder out in the woods.

Spoiler : Review :

Story/Characters: You mainly get three characters here who have significant amounts of dialogue, though the standout here so far is the dynamic between Zakkar, our lead, and Gartze, who works as a coroner, with the two having a lot of banter while investigating the murder. The way it currently ends is very abrupt, however. I really want to find out more about this setting since there's a lot that's currently unexplained.

Presentation: Easily what stands out the most about this entry, to the point that I was so overwhelmed by how this was even made in the AAO editor that I had to go through this a second time to more properly evaluate everything. There's a lack of music, with the only song playing during a brief gameplay section, but the lack of music actually works really well due to the animation style and the strong direction with the sound effects. As you may have seen in the screenshot, this entry utilizes papercrafts for just about everything. I took a peek in the editor and there's a truly ridiculous amount of assets in this with very carefully considered GIF timings and such. I'm a little out of my depth here since I know very little about papercrafts, but it made me think of stop motion animation. Every character so far is also made out of a different type of paper with the exact type being listed in their profile. For example, Zakkar is made using sugar paper, while Gartze utilizes surgical tape. I can't begin to imagine how much effort this must have taken and I really applaud Puppy Dance 9 for making this presentation work.

Gameplay: Prayers a Thousand-fold is more of an interactive experience where you just click to proceed, sometimes with the game taking control away from you while you watch the papercraft animation happen. There is one very brief gameplay section, but there's not much to it. However, considering what this entry is going for, the lack of gameplay works just fine.

Theme Relevance: This entry takes the approach of having our Luigi be the hero not because he's the most fitting person for the job, but because the most fitting person for the job is no longer around so our hero's higher-ups just go "I mean???? I guess???" and let him handle the investigation. It's a fun take. I like it.

Overall: Papercrafts are so cool. In their entry PM, Puppy Dance 9 described this as a finished case experiment so I'm unsure if they plan on doing more with this or not (or perhaps the wording is just confusing me), especially since in-game this is described as a "prelude" (maybe they meant they had finished the prelude, I'm not sure) but whatever form it takes, I hope we get to see more one day.

Spoiler : Puppy Dance 9 Artful Photo :

[Puppy Dance 9]

thanks for the review! i'm still debating whether to showcase it now or later, i still got a few frames i wanna put in :P

Spoiler : :

i called it an experiment because i really didn't want to submit something traditional with my first competition entry. and also because i realized i hadn't planned far ahead enough when the aao player struggled to load 80 or so sprites for a single character. oops. i'll learn for next time!!

[GuardianDreamer]

The Third Wheel
by skyem

Spoiler : Screenshot :

I think skyem knew exactly what screenshot I'd choose to use. I must oblige.

Spoiler : Audio :

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/f ... 698tr&dl=0

Spoiler : Synopsis :

Our beloved scrunklo, The Judge, talks to us about how it feels often being overlooked in favor of the defense and prosecution. Side note: Hilariously enough, The Judge is actually the most represented character in this competition, appearing in 7 out of the 10 entries so far. The next closest is Phoenix Wright who's in three of them, less than half that number. He's also the only character who's been our Luigi more than once.

Spoiler : Review :

Story/Characters: So I should mention that this is a very short entry, less than 100 frames long, with the Judge as the only real character of note. It is a pleasant read, and it is nice to see this sort of character study of the Judge that showcases both his serious sides and silly sides. I can't help but feel like there's more that can be done with this concept, but I understand that skyem has other projects she's more focused on.

Presentation: The presentation is well done, with a clean script free of typos and making good use of canon assets.

Gameplay: This is basically a linear visual novel without any interactivity or gameplay. It works fine for what it's trying to be. I get the feeling even a hypothetical expanded version of this wouldn't have any interactivity. It works for what it is. Just advance the text and read the words.

Theme Relevance: The Judge serves as our Luigi who feels very overlooked, and this feels very much like a study of how skyem views the Judge both in canon and in fan works and how he's treated in them. As someone who's written the Judge once before, I appreciated the closer look into his character.

Overall: A bit hard to judge due to being over in a flash, and I'd like to see what an expanded version of this would look like. Then again, these sorts of micro cases should probably be encouraged since they lead to neat ideas. I know that skyem rushed to get this in just before the deadline, but I hope she had fun making it. It felt like reading a short story by her, and I'm always up for reading more of skyem's writing.

Spoiler : skye pro photo real :

[DJJ6800]

All the Luigis have been shown off!

[Dylan Dog]

Already?! Wow, time flies.

[Spongesonic]

Now the Luigis can have a party!

[CodingAnt]

double judge luigi real

[DeathByAutoscroll]

Best of luck to all entries and entrants! I've got my own guesses as to who will win the competition but the real winners are the players who get to play all these wonderful cases either right now or in the future once they're ready to be shown to the world.

[DJJ6800]

Best of luck to all entries and entrants! I've got my own guesses as to who will win the competition but the real winners are the players who get to play all these wonderful cases either right now or in the future once they're ready to be shown to the world.

The real winners are the Luigis we made along the way

[DeathByAutoscroll]

Best of luck to all entries and entrants! I've got my own guesses as to who will win the competition but the real winners are the players who get to play all these wonderful cases either right now or in the future once they're ready to be shown to the world.

The real winners are the Luigis we made along the way

Spoiler : :

[GuardianDreamer]

Hi everyone.

With all the reviews now posted, the next question that's probably on your mind is "when is the awards ceremony going to go up". Here's the post where I talk about my hopes for when it goes up, my back up date, and any plans if all of that falls through.

The plan is currently to try to have the ceremony finished and posted by March 24th. My back-up date for the ceremony in case I need more time is March 31st, just before Mario Month ends. If I don't have the ceremony done by then, I will release a forum post with the awards and winners instead for the sake of moving things along. While this hopefully isn't what ends up happening, if it does, I'll see if I can release the ceremony in some form afterwards for people to enjoy.

Thank you all for participating in the Year of Luigi. As a reminder, I have very loose restrictions on editing once reviews are up, so feel free to continue working on your entries if they're currently unfinished. If you're worried about making any major changes, don't be: I've decided on winner stuff now, so you can just do whatever and I won't stop you (if you want to be safe, you can just have a temporary frame that says something like "everything after this made after the YoL deadline" and then continue working, then delete it when appropriate).

Best of luck to everyone. In between now and the ceremony, I do have one more bonus thing planned to go up so we aren't starved of YoL content. Alright that's all I've got, thanks for reading.

[risefromtheashes]

HYPE!!!
Good luck everyone!