Falling Memories by bufuak
Narrative Visual Novel with deep story. Witness death bed experience while traversing deeper and deeper memories. https://youtu.be/7fQ9eSeoEHA

| Link | https://bufuak.itch.io/falling-memories |
| Link | https://bufuak.itch.io/falling-memories |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/falling-memories |
Ratings
| Overall | 897th | 3.525⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1653th | 2.738⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 1183th | 3.024⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1295th | 3.333⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 242th | 4.286⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 146th | 4.079⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 1131th | 2.406⭐ | 18🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 206th | 4.125⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 36🗳️ | 9🗨️ |
If you plan on developing this further, you can consider separating the narrator voice from the displayed text (I think it is confusing). Also, it might be a good idea to add some indicator if the player don't do any interaction with objects after a few mins (I checked everything in the bedroom and I had no idea how to progress :laughing: ).
Anyway, it is a great game, congratulations :bed: :books: :wink:
I liked the graphics, music and the storytelling. While having a voiceover is really nice, I could not help but cringe at it, it sounded so unnatural. I get that you wanted to portray an old woman on her deathbed telling her last stories (my tip, could be wrong), but I would much rather hear a normal voice, maybe a bit slower (and maybe with some effect to make it sound older), instead of a young person really trying to sound old. Maybe it's just me...
Also a couple of minor things - the font in the menu was slightly hard to read, and the music, while really great and fitting, was a touch too loud I think. The room was also a bit too dark, some ambient light would help.
Others already mentioned that the narrator spoke over itself when you grabbed things too quickly. Also, I was in the same situation as @guladam and can only sign under his suggestion to guide the player after wandering without interaction for too long. I too got stuck in the bedroom with no idea how to continue, even if I'd love to progress further into the story.
Please don't be discouraged by all the criticism in this comment. I actually really enjoyed this game! I'm still curious how the story will develop (I just have to figure out how to get out of the bedroom). It's just the little things that add up sometimes :slight_smile:
I think it's a solid entry with a lot of potential, I'd like to see this developed further.
Voice acting is not natural because we begged our Sound Artist to voice over the lines we gave her :)
UI/UX must be enchanted.
We have a setup for audio settings but we can't make it in time :(
(Tip for bedroom puzzle: Our beloved husband and us really love to cuddle in candle lights. It is mentioned in the diary near the bed. Maybe try to turn off all the lamps.)
The story was really strong and well executed, well done! I also liked the interpretation of the theme very much.
(Somewhat of **spoiler** ahead, be warned those who didn't play!)
I just wish the end was slightly more cathartic. Maybe just have a black screen for a few seconds instead of a straight cut to the main menu (possibly with fading sounds of the real world in the background)? Also I was kind of hoping to see Edward for a split second, waiting for us in his armchair :slight_smile:
Anyway, I enjoyed it very much, great job!
I really like the puzzles as well!

A game made with Unreal is a rare Ludum Dare treat, and I'm all up for narrative experiences. I liked the direction of this one, althought I have to admit I spent a bit more than I probably should have on the first screen.
It was an overall alright experience. It's impressive to have a game with voice acting as well. That really caught me by surprise.
So yeah, that's about all I can say about games of this genre. Good execution, an interesting narrative, good use of physical elements to guide the player, and even a very... interesting TV channel. Neato! :whale:
You've got a good, solid foundation for an interesting narrative game here, but some more logic in the puzzles (rather than "click-everything-and-see-what-works") would go a long way.