Amazing game! I can feel sincerity during the game, which impressed me most. The interaction between the two protagonists is sincere ( among the routes that the two became friends), although Oggie initially appeared somewhat passive due to his own limitations, it can be seen that they are all making efforts to maintain friendship. And the game itself is also very sincere, it's not difficult to gather all the endings, the main gaming experience is to enjoy the story, and the story is also written quite well!
Also, at first I thought the background setting of this story was more like fairy tales, but in reality, it's quite realistic and scientific! It can be seen that the author has a rich knowledge reserve, which is really a surprise!
[Spoilers]
I really like the conversation between the two after Oggie accidentally discovered that Harmonia was still eating meat! Harmonia appeared quite candid, and because there was a foreshadowing in the map scene interaction before this event, it was very smooth for him to say that he had tried other foods. Oggie's acceptance of Harmonia as a carnivorous animal is also very good, and he even remembers the larva he once helped and worries about him... such a kind guy.
Thank you so much for such a kind comment!!! I really love your art over on tumblr, so it means a lot to me that you took the time to check out my game and play it ;w; <3 I really love biology, and bugs especially, so a lot of the story was based off of more scientific knowledge of the various species and their relationships in nature. And I'm really happy that the story and characters felt sincere, since that is something I tried very hard to capture and convey, so I'm glad it came across that way! Thank you again for playing Life Cycles, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it ^^ <3
Life Cycles was such an interesting game! First and foremost, I am a huge fan of anthropomorphic insects (obviously) and I really enjoyed that the actual lives and habits of these insects were incorporated into a more human-like society.
[Spoilers]
Obviously, the best part of the game was Oggie and Harmonia and their friendship. Although, I loved how both routes explored the friendship in different ways.
The Kidnapped Route, while a bit more intense in the way that Oggie and Harmonia actually get to know each other (at first), seemed more laid-back over all. Save for the bad ending, the interactions between them were just really sweet and it was delightful to see how Harmonia matured emotionally as he tried to care for Oggie. Although, the neutral endings had such a... hollow feeling to them. It hurt to see the two of them start to become friends, and then abruptly drop everything to go back to their old lives (whether out of lingering mistrust imnthe first neutral ending, or in the 2nd neutral ending where Harmonia thinks that he failed to protect Oggie at all and decides to send him back home.) Needless to say, I was most fond of the True Ending because they got to stay together and explore their relationship from there.
The Secret Friends Route, on the other hand, had so much more of a "forbidden" feeling to it. Which, in turn, really brought out Oggie and Harmonia's chemistry (and to show how Oggie had to accept Harmonia for his nature.) It also brought the stakes a lot higher for when they get caught. The bad ending was... traumatizing. While in the other route, there was a chance for Oggie to still end up living a better life in the bad end, in this route there was no such chance. It also made me wonder just what Harmonia got up to in that ending. The neutral endings, however, were a lot sweeter and left me with much less of a hollow feeling than the ones in the other route. It was nice to see that Oggie and Harmonia actively stayed friends. Although it was probably a little hard on Oggie to leave everyone else behind, at least he could explore a life of adventure with someone he truly cared about. And, of course, the True End was a lot of fun! I liked the implications of an aphid uprising, and it would be really cool to see the aftermath of that. For now, I suppose, I'll just have to imagine what happened.
Beyond the fascinating story, I was absolutely enthralled by the character designs. They are so cute! Oggie, Bean, and Harmonia just have wonderful designs and it was cool to see how they were anthropomorphized from their respective insect types. (I love the ants too. They vaguely made me think of Agent Smith from the Matrix or something.)
Overall, this was a great game! I'm surprised it was your first game because it's so well put together. The story is cohesive, the character designs are fantastic, and the mapping was well done. Keep up the good work! I'm truly excited to see what other ideas you have for games, and I'll have to try out your visual novels at some point.
Gosh... first of all, I just want to say, thank you so much for taking the time to play Life Cycles- it means a lot to have someone take interest in it to the point that they do a let's play, I can't describe how excited I felt when I saw your post on tumblr ;w; I've wanted to make games for a long time, and I've played/watched a lot of let's plays of RPG Maker games over the years, so even though this was my first game, I've had a lot of time to mull over how I wanted to make a game if I ever figured out the program haha. I also had some wonderful friends to help playtest it and make sure it was ready to release. I'm glad that it felt like a cohesive story though, and that you liked the art! It's really wonderful to get feedback, and to know what people liked about the game, so I can make sure my future projects are of a similar or higher standard!
I'm really glad that you were able to get all the endings and enjoyed them! I'm a big lover of horror games, so I couldn't help adding some horror elements to the story, but I was a little worried about how they'd be received ^^; I'm glad that they were properly scary, but not so bad that it ruined the experience.
Thank you again for taking the time to play my game, and leave such a lovely comment ;w; I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content in the future too!! ^^
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Amazing game! I can feel sincerity during the game, which impressed me most. The interaction between the two protagonists is sincere ( among the routes that the two became friends), although Oggie initially appeared somewhat passive due to his own limitations, it can be seen that they are all making efforts to maintain friendship. And the game itself is also very sincere, it's not difficult to gather all the endings, the main gaming experience is to enjoy the story, and the story is also written quite well!
Also, at first I thought the background setting of this story was more like fairy tales, but in reality, it's quite realistic and scientific! It can be seen that the author has a rich knowledge reserve, which is really a surprise!
[Spoilers]
I really like the conversation between the two after Oggie accidentally discovered that Harmonia was still eating meat! Harmonia appeared quite candid, and because there was a foreshadowing in the map scene interaction before this event, it was very smooth for him to say that he had tried other foods. Oggie's acceptance of Harmonia as a carnivorous animal is also very good, and he even remembers the larva he once helped and worries about him... such a kind guy.
Thank you so much for such a kind comment!!! I really love your art over on tumblr, so it means a lot to me that you took the time to check out my game and play it ;w; <3 I really love biology, and bugs especially, so a lot of the story was based off of more scientific knowledge of the various species and their relationships in nature. And I'm really happy that the story and characters felt sincere, since that is something I tried very hard to capture and convey, so I'm glad it came across that way! Thank you again for playing Life Cycles, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it ^^ <3
Link to the playlist with both videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlN8vAkzsnt18J6FhmSiHf2QWhHqpX4hq
Life Cycles was such an interesting game! First and foremost, I am a huge fan of anthropomorphic insects (obviously) and I really enjoyed that the actual lives and habits of these insects were incorporated into a more human-like society.
[Spoilers]
Obviously, the best part of the game was Oggie and Harmonia and their friendship. Although, I loved how both routes explored the friendship in different ways.
The Kidnapped Route, while a bit more intense in the way that Oggie and Harmonia actually get to know each other (at first), seemed more laid-back over all. Save for the bad ending, the interactions between them were just really sweet and it was delightful to see how Harmonia matured emotionally as he tried to care for Oggie.
Although, the neutral endings had such a... hollow feeling to them. It hurt to see the two of them start to become friends, and then abruptly drop everything to go back to their old lives (whether out of lingering mistrust imnthe first neutral ending, or in the 2nd neutral ending where Harmonia thinks that he failed to protect Oggie at all and decides to send him back home.)
Needless to say, I was most fond of the True Ending because they got to stay together and explore their relationship from there.
The Secret Friends Route, on the other hand, had so much more of a "forbidden" feeling to it. Which, in turn, really brought out Oggie and Harmonia's chemistry (and to show how Oggie had to accept Harmonia for his nature.) It also brought the stakes a lot higher for when they get caught.
The bad ending was... traumatizing. While in the other route, there was a chance for Oggie to still end up living a better life in the bad end, in this route there was no such chance. It also made me wonder just what Harmonia got up to in that ending.
The neutral endings, however, were a lot sweeter and left me with much less of a hollow feeling than the ones in the other route. It was nice to see that Oggie and Harmonia actively stayed friends. Although it was probably a little hard on Oggie to leave everyone else behind, at least he could explore a life of adventure with someone he truly cared about.
And, of course, the True End was a lot of fun! I liked the implications of an aphid uprising, and it would be really cool to see the aftermath of that. For now, I suppose, I'll just have to imagine what happened.
Beyond the fascinating story, I was absolutely enthralled by the character designs. They are so cute! Oggie, Bean, and Harmonia just have wonderful designs and it was cool to see how they were anthropomorphized from their respective insect types. (I love the ants too. They vaguely made me think of Agent Smith from the Matrix or something.)
Overall, this was a great game!
I'm surprised it was your first game because it's so well put together. The story is cohesive, the character designs are fantastic, and the mapping was well done.
Keep up the good work! I'm truly excited to see what other ideas you have for games, and I'll have to try out your visual novels at some point.
Gosh... first of all, I just want to say, thank you so much for taking the time to play Life Cycles- it means a lot to have someone take interest in it to the point that they do a let's play, I can't describe how excited I felt when I saw your post on tumblr ;w; I've wanted to make games for a long time, and I've played/watched a lot of let's plays of RPG Maker games over the years, so even though this was my first game, I've had a lot of time to mull over how I wanted to make a game if I ever figured out the program haha. I also had some wonderful friends to help playtest it and make sure it was ready to release. I'm glad that it felt like a cohesive story though, and that you liked the art! It's really wonderful to get feedback, and to know what people liked about the game, so I can make sure my future projects are of a similar or higher standard!
I'm really glad that you were able to get all the endings and enjoyed them! I'm a big lover of horror games, so I couldn't help adding some horror elements to the story, but I was a little worried about how they'd be received ^^; I'm glad that they were properly scary, but not so bad that it ruined the experience.
Thank you again for taking the time to play my game, and leave such a lovely comment ;w; I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content in the future too!! ^^
really interesting premise! i'll get is as soon as i can 👀
Thank you very much! I hope that you enjoy it if you get the chance to play it ^^