difficult to rate! stylish and memorable on its own, but so inherently deferential to "moon" that it can't help but pale in comparison.
for instance, 24 killers implements daily restraints on time and action in the same way moon did, a meter which you upgrade over time... except while moon's version felt tight, restrictive, and well-considered, only bloating to a non-issue in the endgame, 24 killers' version is immediately vestigial and loose, acting more as a reference than a design choice. a more in-depth example of ineffective inspiration is its npcs, filled with quirky dialogue that reflects love-de-lic's offbeat writing style but each given half-a-personality, a far cry from moon's living, breathing, time-based world and character habits. because of this, dialogue is always brisk and silly, but lacks meaning unless you're in a conversation with one of the 3-4 main characters who matter to the story. and that's not even to mention what you need to do to help them, each npc divided into six groups of four that require you to repeat the same minigames/tasks per category (do some squats, plant a seed, drive a car, etc.), further emphasizing the lack of unique identity across the cast. most of the designs are wonderful when you see them walking about (i loved the speedster cats in particular, of course) but their words feel interchangeable.
the game's most experimental and novel mechanic is the one i know i'll never fully experience, and one i could hardly find discussion of–the save file system. each save file in the game has it's own unique modifier, treated as parallel universes within the world, and reaching a certain point in each save file allows you to transfer and stack those bonuses for each playthrough. it's a really cool idea, but also.. i mean. i'm not playing this game 24 times to completion! it seems like the sort of idea designed for an extremely short playtime, but my first playthrough took me a solid seven hours. i looked through the save file blessings to see what they entailed, but honestly they didn't seem that impactful on their own either. to reiterate: this IS a really cool idea, and i really think it's worth mentioning, but it also applies to such an incredibly niche audience that i basically didn't even experience it. shout out to anyone who plans to get every steam achievement here, though.
and now that i'm done with all my big complaints: this game really is cool! you don't often see love-de-lic-esque games being made at all, and what we have here is one filled with a lot of love and a unique flair. i think the visuals are what'll stick in my mind the most, every character has a sticky design and the clay-mation aesthetic holds up well in all areas. from what i know, this game was made primarily by a solo developer, and it seems obvious they took a lot of care into making the small in-game map and numerous npcs look as visually interesting as possible. while i'm disappointed this game couldn't reach moon's highs, i certainly had a good time playing it.
tl;dr: 24 killers is a quirky ~7-8 hour package that oddly doesn't seem to strive to go above and beyond, and i'm honestly not sure whether to fault it for that.
for instance, 24 killers implements daily restraints on time and action in the same way moon did, a meter which you upgrade over time... except while moon's version felt tight, restrictive, and well-considered, only bloating to a non-issue in the endgame, 24 killers' version is immediately vestigial and loose, acting more as a reference than a design choice. a more in-depth example of ineffective inspiration is its npcs, filled with quirky dialogue that reflects love-de-lic's offbeat writing style but each given half-a-personality, a far cry from moon's living, breathing, time-based world and character habits. because of this, dialogue is always brisk and silly, but lacks meaning unless you're in a conversation with one of the 3-4 main characters who matter to the story. and that's not even to mention what you need to do to help them, each npc divided into six groups of four that require you to repeat the same minigames/tasks per category (do some squats, plant a seed, drive a car, etc.), further emphasizing the lack of unique identity across the cast. most of the designs are wonderful when you see them walking about (i loved the speedster cats in particular, of course) but their words feel interchangeable.
the game's most experimental and novel mechanic is the one i know i'll never fully experience, and one i could hardly find discussion of–the save file system. each save file in the game has it's own unique modifier, treated as parallel universes within the world, and reaching a certain point in each save file allows you to transfer and stack those bonuses for each playthrough. it's a really cool idea, but also.. i mean. i'm not playing this game 24 times to completion! it seems like the sort of idea designed for an extremely short playtime, but my first playthrough took me a solid seven hours. i looked through the save file blessings to see what they entailed, but honestly they didn't seem that impactful on their own either. to reiterate: this IS a really cool idea, and i really think it's worth mentioning, but it also applies to such an incredibly niche audience that i basically didn't even experience it. shout out to anyone who plans to get every steam achievement here, though.
and now that i'm done with all my big complaints: this game really is cool! you don't often see love-de-lic-esque games being made at all, and what we have here is one filled with a lot of love and a unique flair. i think the visuals are what'll stick in my mind the most, every character has a sticky design and the clay-mation aesthetic holds up well in all areas. from what i know, this game was made primarily by a solo developer, and it seems obvious they took a lot of care into making the small in-game map and numerous npcs look as visually interesting as possible. while i'm disappointed this game couldn't reach moon's highs, i certainly had a good time playing it.
tl;dr: 24 killers is a quirky ~7-8 hour package that oddly doesn't seem to strive to go above and beyond, and i'm honestly not sure whether to fault it for that.