Christmas SAGE 2023 B.U.D.D. (Christmas 2.0 Update)

Well dang, this might be one of if not the best game of this year's SAGE, even if it's not complete I can tell a lot of effort, sweat, and blood and it shows, it is no wonder why it is so highly regarded, I was left impressed.

The graphics are very well done, very Sega genesis style and very pleasant to the eye, special effects are used to great effect too, there's a few visual gags here and there and each background looks different from one another, having variety and making them look immersive.

The writing is serviceable, not the deepest plot but I can get into what the characters are doing, and I found the jokes quite funny myself, and I found the characters perfectly likeable. Maybe in some future we're going to get more lore but what we have now is good.

But the crem de la crem, the gameplay, it is extremely solid and very fun, apart from the typical moveset that you have the game boasts a jrpg-like system where you level up and gain new abilities, this does encourage to keep playing the game more as you discover new skills and more BUDDs, oh yeah, and those, they help you on your journey and they are fun to use, I am a sucker for Popful Mail, and this game ticks all those boxes, so the gameplay here is very solid. Level design is not too shabby either, far from it, the aforementioned gameplay benefits from it, as you use your manouvers, you discover new areas, fighting a fun and diverse enemy roster, the boss was though but fair and so are the levels. .

The music I can't say anything, since it's taken from other Sega Genesis,


Overall, I am impressed, I have no complains about this game, very good job.

As a more formal statement on my thoughts about the game, the pre-SAGE playtest was the version I played, and it was captivating and charming enough for me to say "I absolutely want to see more of this." Let that be my disclosure as to where I'm coming from and how my view of it should be treated.

The combat is simple but intuitive, and the feedback from each hit is both visually and audibly satisfying, and gaining moves and stats as you level up is a nice way of easing the player into the system.The BUDDs that are in the game right now feel very snappy and never feel like keys to doors or an all-dominating weapon. They always have a combat presence that makes certain enemies easier, but require you to use them smartly. I didn't experience any major issues in my playthrough, but I have seen others encounter a few, and the creator has been addressing them as they're brought up to her.
The spritework is charming and effective, managing to capture the vibe of two most immediate inspirations very nicely in a way that still feels visually unique despite seeming at odds on paper. Everything feels consistent, and you get a nice sense of what the scale would be past the super-deformed art style of the main game vs the cutscenes.

Sound design is a very faithful yet idealized take on what the Genesis was capable of, and while the game has few unique pieces of music at the time i'm writing this, what's there is an excellent foundation, and the placeholder track choices are used excellently and have their instruments fine-tuned to fit with eachother.
The writing genuinely endears me to what's going on, both in the plot and just the smaller details around the playable area hinting at something menacing on the horizon. You get the sense that this isn't the start of a big journey, but a journey in progress that's about to hit it's crescendo. But at the same time, there's a levity to it all that doesn't make it feel overbearing, with just the right hint of goofballs and freaks to keep things lighthearted.

All of it combines together into an experience that I'm excited to see flourish.

Eris budd stabbed me in irl