AZNANA

Great little story and characters. The art and music are great. Very respectful small game that respects anyone interested in sharing a little bit of time. The gameplay mechanic of buying and selling is a bit of a dopamine hit for people who like the idea of being smart and savvy, but they’re also interesting decisions because the varying character reactions to what you give them. Whether you want to carry a cheesecake from the other side of the city to see if it’d brighten a little girl’s day or see if the distant musician would see something of himself in a mechanical arm you found in a junkyard. Ads aren’t intrusive or made into traps at all. Ads hover away from anywhere reserved for the game and only show themselves as immersive small pieces of the world until tapped, where the game asks you if you’re sure you’d like to watch the ad. The three microtransactions are one time permanent purchases, always relevant, and are boosts to the main gameplay loop. They mainly serve as ways to experience the game faster or without breaking immersion, and to support the creator.

First and foremost, I overall enjoyed Aznana; as I suspected from how much I fell in love with previous works done by Caramel, I knew that I would end up loving this newest addition of theirs. I am going to avoid repeating all the great remarks that have surely already been brought up multiple times by previous reviewers in order to give constructive feedback that is hopefully helpful for both the players AND the developers. My biggest complaint is that the game doesn’t save your last game’s currency. When Aznana tells you that you should say your goodbyes back in town before making the big move that is needed in finishing the game, do NOT make the same mistake that I did in taking her seriously about “not being be able to come back to them.” The game will save the progress you have made in helping fulfill all the shopkeepers’ wishes, but what it will not do is save any surplus you have left over after making your $1 million purchase. I was REALLY disappointed when I realized that the additional $500k I had left over from my previous playthrough doesn’t carry over to the game’s second playthrough. Smaller complaints that I have is that there should be a little more variety to the music. An emotional disconnect occurs if the game's default happy music is the SAME music that plays for what was supposed to be the game's sad moments too!