Whoa, I love this. The art style has a lot of character and looks great. Very C64-ish, kinda? The strange sfx contribute too. I like the aesthetic of this a lot. Multiple endings too? Those epilogues are great.

Short and sweet.
But what happens if you keep fighting the guy? I didn't have the patience but I am really curious.

Ok I laughed, good job for the humor and the respect of the theme !

Really love your art style. And the SFX are great (love the weird mumbling when the fight starts). Might load this up again tonight and try and keep attacking and beat the guy. I hope you've put something interesting in if you do manage it!

Hey man this is boss, just wish it were longer than 10 seconds LOL

Haha, loved the unconventional weapon, nice graphic style too!

Thanks everyone
@fluidvolt I was going for an old school feeling with the graphics so thanks for the C64 comment. Did want to include more paths with more epilogues but ran out of time.
@hissssssssss was aiming this time to go for something short that would feel like a complete package. Ran out of time last LD so didn't want that happening this time. Also have wondered if anyone will have the patience to try and defeat the guy, we'll see I guess.
@SyBen wanted to try something different for the unconventional weapon so glad you appreciated my take on it.

Not much gameplay sadly, but the game actually feels complete. Maybe fighting a few battles before this final boss would make the twist more impactfull, but that's nitpicking
Good job!

Very funny, well written. Congratulations

I'm sure there is some deep thought and message somewhere :)
good work

A sincere WTF. This cracked me up. Everything about it is so weird. Could use some music though. Great job overall! :)

@Hammers was going for something different with graphics from my usual vector style so thanks. Still interested to see if anyone goes the whole way with the battle but just not going to promise it will be worth it LOL.
@vegard1992 me too.
@BraindeadGeo thanks nice to see people are appreciating my take on the theme, was worried about that.
@PapyPilgrim definitely good suggestions and if I get the chance, it would be good to expand it a bit more with more of a buildup for the big reveal.
@jojocanard cheers with the lack of sleep I did feel like I was incoherently writing which might have actually helped.
@dusho thought I'd try something different for me and try going with a message :)
@Mizipzor really great to hear, always appreciative to hear people are enjoying my stuff and you're right music would definitely help in setting the mood.

Words are a powerful weapon :)

I see this game in a smartwatch, think about it pal!

Hmm, never thought of "slice of life" applying to a video game. I like the idea that we're dropped into an RPG session that has been going on for a while already, that's a sweet touch ;)

The best Ludum Dare 32 entry i have seen so far! I really like graphics, funny sounds effects and great twist with a moral :) I also like small things like trying to go to the left at the beginning. Sweet, funny, short game. Really great work!

You've nailed the theme here! Also, by far the funniest game I've played I think maybe from any LD!

Lovely style. Nice idea. I laughed and we went for a beer. :-D

haha, very nice :)
5 in mood!

Weird and fun :)

hahaha really nice take on the theme! :D

Haha this is cool. Nice palette and plot twist. Way to use the theme to make a statement :P

That was really funny and it kinda emphasize the stupidity behind some games.
Good job!

Made me lol, especially the FX when starting the battle. Simple, but funny and a cool aesthetic.

Great interpretation of the theme, and great style! I love the way it gives you the option to attack, but makes it near useless - does it do anything if you manage to somehow get him down to 0?

This is amazing! Love the story and concept, so funny. Cool graphics.

Ran into a bug in which if the game isn't full screen there were some invisible walls preventing me from getting to the bad guy. When I went full screen I was able to finish the game.

Other than that I enjoyed the graphics and presentation. I wish it was a bit longer, because I think you could have built up to the idea nicely and created a better narrative by seeing a little more of the "dungeon" (or even just more dialogue options with the bad guy). But, yeah you only have so much time to work on it obviously.

The graphics were my favorite part. You accomplished a lot with that pallet. The ending came too quick for me so it wasn't very satisfying, but overall, great job!

Nice parody

Thanks everyone, would respond to each of you but quite a few comments since I last checked. Nice to see that so many people are getting my little game and the hard work paid off. Was a bit delirious at the end so was starting to doubt myself.

Will definitely be playing everyone who's commented games when I get the chance later in the week, so looking forward to that.

I LOL'ed. Finished the game in like 30 seconds but 10/10, best game ever, would play again. :-D :-D

Simple but with a message. Word yo.

well that was fast, Like the twist though~!

I like the aesthetics and humor. It really helps the unconventional weapon stand out. The graphics are simple, but works out well. Though it doesn't seem that the boss deserves its title...

Cheers everyone
@Anas Azmi the title actually changes depending on your actions.

Really like the art style! Just one random thought: I think that since the overall design is very retro, the sound should also reflect that... So if you bitcrushed the mumbling samples to 4-6 bit audio or something similar it would have enhanced the gritty digital feeling greatly - especially since the first sounds you hear is very simple/retro/digital and that clashes a bit with the rest of the sounds that sounds more recorded. Still a great take on the theme!

Very well-written and funny! I loved the little epilogues and found myself nodding along sagely with the skull crusher... Word indeed.

Excellent graphics and audio too. Awesome work all round!

@tanjent that's great point, I am going to keep working on it and think that's a great point about the sound. I'm pretty hopeless and don't really know what I'm doing with audio but I'll try and figure out how to do that cause think it would really help.
@panurge thanks and yep Skull Crusher is a wise guy. Also looking forward to expanding the game and explaining the name more since I didn't get time this Ludum Dare.

tobat no jutsu..

Heh, nice, if a bit heavy-handed with the lesson. I like the this-was-someone-else's-game concept.

@kirbytails7 thanks and yeah it's pretty heavy handed but didn't have time for subtlety with the 48hrs. Hopefully I can flesh it out with the expanded version a bit more so it doesn't feel so in your face.

Would like to see more in this, even though the story seems to be over. Sometimes words may not be enough so one may require whispers or even shouts.

Very very nice game, lovely graphics and funny sound effects.
Also, BRUTUS WAS HERE :)

Great work on the art. This could be the rest of the game that the kid is playing at the beginning of the movie big. Also one of the first entries I let my daughter play through given its inspiring message. Great job.

Yes. Yes, the most unconventional weapon in video games!
Art style is gorgeous.

Thanks everyone, nice to see people are still playing.
@sebasRez I'm hoping to expand on this just busy with too many projects at the moment. Will do updates on twitter when they happen.
@Tselmek WOW, I'm impressed. Didn't expect that but don't worry its coming just need to get time to do it, since I wasn't expecting it to happen :)
@denycetm that is such a great compliment, thank you for that. Made me smile and really glad to hear that, hope she liked it.
@nuprahtor wanted to try something from my usual art style so glad that it worked out.

Great entry :) Loved the message as well as the critique of traditional RPGs. Animations would have improved this but it's still pretty good looking :)

Good luck!

man, that was awesome! pretty fun and engaging :) Just maybe adding AWSD to move too.

See ya!

@esayitch thanks and yep plan is to definitely add more animation with the expanded version.
@deadbodyoutline good suggestion, I've now added those keys to the post comp version.

The pixel art is so damn good! Wish it would be longer, but for what it had, it was great! Polished and good!

Short, simple and full of style! :) The overworld part would totally fit a gameboy game (nice work with the tiles) and the use of contrast when in battle is really interesting and well done.

"Best synchronized swimming duet of all time"? I laughed hard when I reach that part. After that build up I didn't expect that. :P

Nice use of sound fx, btw. :P

The take on this gave me nostalgia from MonkeyIsland Duels
Very innovative and awesome art!

A bit short, but very funny.

Very impressed with the multiple endings/story!

Woaw, outstanding entry! I love the art style, and your overall idea / approach to the theme. The different endings made me laugh! This game is a great love letter to Japanese rpg games! :)

Excellent work!

I kind of expected that to happen (although I didn't expect the synchronized swimming). And the whole thing was kind of short. Still, you got a nice "retro" vibe and it was fun to play! The graphics in particular are quite nice.

Nice color palette & sound effects.
Since you've abandoned the JRPG battle format for the dialogue, consider implementing a different gameplay type in its place. Dialogue doesn't have to mean "no gameplay."

Wow. This may be one of those rare occurrences where I actually laughed at a joke in a video game. Good Job!

Love love the aesthetic.

Nice retro looking graphics.
And I love the sound effects.
It's an humorous take on the RPG's but the unconventional weapon choice seems a little bit forced.

Pretty cool jrpg tribute. I loved the subtle humour and the retro graphic style.

Hahahahaha, i didn't expect this :) Is there 2 endings or did i miss something, you said something happens if you keep on fighting the guy ? No way ...my precious time...

Weird visuals and colors but it fits, and mouth made sfx make me laught each time. But i want to know what happens if you kill the guy .
2812 HP to go.laaaaaaaaaaame...why am i doing this i must be stupid or miss cafeine this morning :D or maybe you've a nice sense of humor !

Short but very nice! I like the art style and the Choose Your Own Adventure feeling :-) Well done!

BRUTUS WAS HERE !
that was stupid :)
Cheers !

Thanks everyone, great to see people are still playing and liking my entry. Would respond to each of you but crazy busy at the moment.

@freaknarf WOW, impressed. You're the last one on the list. Just moving houses at the moment so might take me abit to finish. And there's actually three endings.

hahaha cool entry!! I liked the humor, also how you handled the power of the unconventional weapon :D

It would have been better if you had more and different attack audio. That would have made it less painful to get where Brutus was.