It really is a type of stick figure (not really the typical stick figure either - no lack of detail here) adventure you don't usually see! With a very different kind of threat, with a slower pace, with focus on scenery as much as on the action itself, and always ominous background music a brewing behind a team of tight-knit soldiers where everyone has a very uniquely sculpted personality... I might be biased though. Took some time to get the lines right and in character as they were meant to be. :P I doubt you can perceive as much in the act or audio as there really is in the backstory. Hopefully that keeps improving though, and the character with each character comes across more and more. I still feel the script and accentuation aren't really the most natural all the time, but better and better...
I love the premise, and what a personal adventure it becomes when everyone in a way plays their own role. The main flaw to me is maybe that it does take a while to really start feeling the desperation of their world; that even the elements are against them. When the rain first falls here you hear the thunder and yet... you only get a small glimpse of the threat in the water. It simply moves on to the next scene. The fighting is also all in good fun and practice at first, until the ants show up en masse, and suddenly everything changes...
It feels like it's a story that requires patience to get into, and I wonder if the pacing would be better if it moved faster or not. Since the wait also enhances the mood when something actually does happen maybe this is the right way, just hope viewers give it the time it needs for the atmosphere to really build. It feels like both a strength and weakness that way. Something that separates this from similar work, but also doesn't really give you an instant adrenaline rush from the start. Knowing what's to come maybe you have more anticipation from the get go; know it'll just keep getting better and better as it goes. But not everyone might give it that chance.
Appreciate the amount of effort that goes into all the details too, both with the animation and the interface, with extras and character bios and everything. Really cool how the character weaknesses are based on real diagnoses, and that the little card below that part of their personality actualy links to a Wikipedia page with more info about each one. Surprisingly enlightening little detail I think most viewers might miss there (also seems like all links work fine in the .exe version - it lags less as well - nice idea providing that as an option). Regarding the lag though: still can't quite escape it! Seems if you right-click and choose low quality the script overrides it for each new chapter too. Would be nice if the right-click worked the same way as the built-in toggle. Though I know I'm on a bit old hardware at this point, for most maybe this is no problem...
Overall it's been a pleasure to be a part of this, and looking forward to seeing the story unfold in full with the next part. Feels like this one ends right before you really realize the tragedy too, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the tone will keep changing in the next one, darker but also: maybe so much more immersive...
Also still surprised nobody's posted a review here yet! This long a commitment deserves some recognition at the least. ;) Good stuff.
-cd-