The Architects of the Universe: The Orphans

I just started playing the game and I'm really enjoying it so far. I have a few small critiques in terms of event structure, sound, etc: 

1) Transferring between maps during the introductory events is too fast and jarring. To make it more cinematic and professional, you want to do a fade-out before the transfer map and a fade-in afterwards. Make sure the "knock-knock" noise when transferring maps is removed. 

2) I recommend using free for commercial music/sound effects from YouFulca https://wingless-seraph.net/en/ and the Makai Symphony https://makai-symphony.com/9-2/

3) If you're going to be replacing the RTP tilesets with something better, I'd recommend FSM tilesets or those from Kokoro Reflections https://kokororeflections.com/. If you don't have the budget for tilesets, you can customize the existing tilesets to make them more unique using various free textures for commercial use and GIMP: https://freestocktextures.com/

4) One more suggestion? During the intro crawl about the Marianas Trench, instead of scrolling text with the map scrolling down (which makes it a little unsightly while reading), perhaps displaying the text as pictures while the map is scrolling down would be better? In other words, take the text from the scrolling text and cut it up into chunks within pictures, do a fade-out/fade-in per text chunk with a blank text message before the fade-out, so that the player can read as per their own speed as the map is scrolling, and I think those static text pictures would work better for the introductory scene. 

To be brutally honest, I think your game is already something pretty special. I'll be playing it after work when I can (and not working on my own game). I really think once your game has its new soundtrack, more customized tilesets and the eventing structure is a bit more cinematic, you'll have something really nice here. Oh, and while it *is* expensive, there's a fantastic character generator tool in a pretty great style for RPG Maker MV/MZ that I'm thinking of getting for myself where you can create your own field and battle character that's constantly being updated. https://robertpinero.itch.io/8dchars

You got this!

First Impressions

I spent a couple of hours so far and I like the story. It's not too fancy, but it's got a pretty strong forward momentum and the build-up is pretty good so far. What I'm a little disappointed with is the core cast, which lacks a little personality and feels a bit stiff. Again, the plot itself is good, and the backstory is solid.

The pacing is good overall, but having to backtrack the first area is a little repetitive. It would be nice if there's an alternate route back or some sort of fast travel option.

The combat is a bit uninspired and feels broken. It is it intentional that members randomly get extra actions? I don't see it mentioned, so is it a bug?

I'd really like it if start abilities are available right away instead of after leveling once. Only having the option to spam Attack is a bit boring at the start.

Overall, I'm having a good time. The strongest point is the pacing of the story, and I'm looking forward to playing more.

EDIT: Oof, that roof access at the big building in Trill was confusing to find. I think it needs to be more clear. Also, you have to check your collisions. Near the gate where Eiuleen ran off to the lab, I was able to climb into the wall of the building.

I've figured out this workaround for Mac users, so that it's not necessary for creators to export the Mac version at all. Once set up, it only takes 3 quick steps to play any Windows RPGM MV/MZ game. There is no need for a browser version as well, which is actually more annoying to setup for.

Hi, RPG Maker MV no longer supports newer Macs, so your Mac version doesn't work. The good news is that it is very easy to fix that. Please follow the steps below.

All you really have to do is replace NWJS, which is an old engine file, and then change an additional setting in a text file called package.json. 

Update RPG Maker MV for M1+ Macs

1. Before deleting any of the files/folders below, copy them and put them somewhere else as a backup. Should you mess up, you can copy/paste them back.

2. Find the folder for the core RPG Maker engine, then delete nwjs-osx-unsigned.zip. This is wherever you've installed it in your computer. If you use RPG Maker MV through Steam, you can access it via Right Click → Manage → Browse Local Files. You might have to look around a bit for that file.

3. Download NORMAL (Mac ARM64 version) from NWJS.io

4. Unzip NORMAL (it will look this "nwjs-v0.82.0-osx-arm64.zip")

5. Inside the unzipped folder, rename nwjs as Game

6. Select the files inside the folder (not the folder itself), and zip them.

7. Rename it as nwjs-osx-unsigned.zip. Place it where the old file used to be.

8. Find a file called package.json inside a folder called NewData for the core RPG Maker engine. Open it with any simple text editor, and you should see:
"name": "",

Change that to (and save, you can put the name of your game where it says my-rpg. be careful to not remove any other symbols!):
"name": "my-rpg",

9. Find package.json in your game project folder, and do the same.

And that's it! When you export a Mac version, it should be up-to-date and compatible with modern Macs now.

A few areas I don't think I should be able to walk on the first area.