This is still in demo, so this review is purely for the devs, as I'm 100% sure things will be different once it's released as a full game. Do not take this as a reason to pass this game up, as it does look like it will be a wonderful game once the whole thing is finished and the last bit of tweaking is done. I can already tell once the bugs are known and fixed, this will be one of my favorites.

That said:

- Movement is awkward and getting stuck is a common problem. This seems to be a game mechanic and not a bug, though. If possible, and to avoid a tsunami of bug reports, it might be a good idea to implement a key combination that will roll movement back a tiny bit, just enough to get unstuck. I ended up stuck in a wall during the ||race in the penguin's cave|| and the only way to fix my issue is to simply start over at the beginning and hope it doesn't happen again. Speaking of, both ||listing what keys do what for controls and some in game directions as to what you should be doing in any given situation|| may be helpful.

- As an example of ||in game directions, there's a whale that wants apples and tells you to look at the small island 'over there', even though there are three islands, two of which have apples, and one of which does not, as the apple is on the main island. During the race, the only indication that you aren't going the right way is a sudden wall telling you so, but there's no indication of which way is the right way, and there's no explanation as to what constitutes an obstacle. There seems to be no actual limit to the time you take (no counter, does not stop and return to the entrance to the race), and the map does not work in such areas.||

- Once an animal's lines are finished, the glowing E should blur or disappear, indicating the conversation is done OR you can simply allow the conversation to be repeated (the second option is the more accessible one), otherwise it looks as if the conversation mechanics are bugged when they really aren't.

-/+ Travel should be more difficult in that auto travel on the map shouldn't work until the player has manually travelled to the location. The exception to that should be leaving the auto travel in if it's in an easy mode for accessibility purposes (which would actually be a major plus imho - single-player games *should* have an easy mode option as not all players have the same abilities).

+ The graphics may be simple, but they are beautiful in their simplicity, and the animals are absolutely adorable. Also, being able to name your fox is icing on the cake. This game will likely have so much fanart dedicated to it.

+ The concept is a simple series of puzzles and problem solving, making the game fun, educational for kids, and relaxing for adults, while also promoting harmony in general. What's not to love about that? Such things are sorely lacking in the real world these days and it's good to see someone bringing kindness back.

There is SO MUCH potential here and I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

_________

Update: The 9/4/24 update seems to have already fixed some of the issues. I was not expecting the devs to have fixes out this quickly. Bonus points for the devs, as far as I'm concerned. :arcticfox:

I liked the premise of this game and the environment, bit if there's one thing that could be improved that would be a big help is if I had a shadow projected directly below my fox. This is because without any generated shadows, I lose track of my depth perception on a 2D monitor and regularly misjudge distances.

⠀

very beautiful storybook elements

everyone. the fox can fly.

spoilers ahead










after leaving the bear cave you immediately have a pond to your left. so i did what anyone would do and tried to jump in it. literaly. to my surprise and delight i was floating in the air. i love this feature even if its a bug. it shows it was made by people that ocassionally make mistakes and i am here for it.

I can't even move in this game or do anything + i need the achievement

lazy unfinished tech demo of poorly made unity 3d game where its faster to jump up paths then to actually walk up them.Also the animation of the fox walking is all wrong and should pay more attention to it such as watch some real life videos on how animals actually move and not just limp along as a normal walk animation. Since you can skip needing to talk to the bear at the start of the world showing that it is unfinished tech demo with nothing to do no fall damage even in the game or anything to collect, platform,etc just a walking simulator. Just go play anything else other then this boring,dull game.

"Fox Game" is a weird one... the developer abandoned this early build of their game "Harmony in the Wild" and made a new store page, I guess they weren't aware they can just, you know, not do that and keep their store page. Or maybe they decided they didn't want people who had gotten this version of the game for free to get the finished game that they want to charge money for... pretty scummy, charging for patches, basically. Anyway something doesn't feel right about the way the developer carried themselves on this and experience shows that's not a feeling that should be ignored. Trust me, I've reviewed over 15,000 games, I know when something is off.

What do you do in the game? Well, it's a cutesy 3D adventure/platformer type game, that's incomplete and abandoned because the developer wants you to buy the same game but with more patches. If they ever make it... this free version was a complete and utter failure.

The graphics in this game are passable, but could be better. And while it's vital for any game to have impressive visuals (gaming is a visual medium, after all), there's more to a game than just the graphics. To be worth a gamers time, the game must match top tier visuals with top tier gameplay, and that's not happening here.

This is "free" enough, at least you won't be expected to spend any more money after you download this, but just because something is free doesn't mean it's good.

Even though this is "free", it failed to appeal to the 120 million+ gamers on Steam. SteamDB showed the game peaked at only 5 concurrent players... this is a dismal public reception. This was so bad they couldn't even give it away.

Bearing in mind that free games don't add +1 to your game collector count, should you bother adding this to your library and downloading it?

Not this time. This isn't worth downloading. While this won't cost you any money, you get what you pay for, and sometimes, even when the game is free, it's still not enough. Remember, this is just here now to advertise "Harmony in the Wild", which is a game that isn't even available yet.

Developer Response!

The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the Developer Usage Rules
for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says:

Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.

The developer breached Valve guidelines to incriminate themselves... this was a student project, an incomplete "demo" game made not for you, the gamer, but to make students feel like maybe they passed the course. Without any consideration about what would be best for gamers. Thing is... Steam isn't supposed to be a dumping ground for student homework like this. Steam Direct is a well intentioned disaster for enabling this kind of stuff.

The developer took deliberate steps to hide the fact this is just a homework assignment from gamers... deliberate misrepresentation.

The developer, digging themselves a very deep hole, announces they then want to try to get YOUR money for their homework assignment. Frankly, if they passed the course, then the educational institution they went to should be delisted and defunded. Why? Because the FIRST thing game development courses should be teaching is that gamers, the customer, is more important than the developer. However, it's pretty obvious here the developer thinks he's much, much more important than you are.

That disgusting attitude explains the extent of this failure, but it excuses none of it.

Nothing in the developers pointless breach of Valve guidelines changes any of the objective facts of my review. My review stands unaltered. I cannot recommend this failed homework assignment to anyone.

WHY IS A FOX HANGING OUT WITH A BEAR IN THIS GAME CAW CAW????

HAVEN'T YOU EMO GIRLS SEEN FOX AND THE HOUND CAW CAW??? THAT BEAR OUTRIGHT DESTROYS THAT DAMN HOUND AND FOX CAW CAW.