Since the game is unplayable, and has been for over a year now, and is clearly no longer supported (the devs have not been answering our messages)... it should be removed from the site. I flagged it, but there was no response. I hope someone sees this comment.
I was wondering what everyone was whining about, until I got to level 23 :P Truth be told, the last few levels require both creativity and precision, but in a way that we can't really tell if we have the right plan but we're just implementing it inaccurately, or if we're barking up the wrong tree altogether. For example, on 23 I was sure I had to make the hat slide on the slanted extendable bar, and was perplexed when it wouldn't slide. I thought it was just a hiccup of the game physics, but then I checked the walkthrough to be sure and discovered that the intended solution was different. Still 5 stars from me though, since it's one of the most entertaining puzzle games on the site, even if people may want to pass on the later levels.
Easiest way to win: Go grab the gun, then go outside the game and go down. You'll find yourself fighting the boss. I had a flawless victory this way, and I suck at shooters :P
Perhaps an "undo one move" option would improve the game's quality of life. Working it into this game would take a lot of time, but I think I'll put that in the sequel.
Thing with the whistling is, you've got the music on top of it, so the player has to go turn it off before getting on with the puzzle. It would probably be better to have that area without music (maybe instead some sound effects to break the silence) than make the player stop the game to go fiddle with the menu. That said, I think it was wise of you to give us a chance to brute force it, since it was a somewhat idiosyncratic puzzle. On another note, some messages need to be more specific when I try something that I can reasonably expect to work, eg when I use the wrong key on the machine or when I try the whole cork on the pipe etc I should get some information (ie thing doesn't fit in thing). Other than that, I loved ANOVA and its steampunk aesthetic. Can't wait for episode 2!
Not my type of game, and I'm kind of crappy at it (I seriously doubt I'll even get the hard badge, let alone the impossible one) but even so I enjoy it. Now that I have (finally!) unlocked the epilogue and I have seen all the content, I can say that it is very well made. 5 stars.
There are 6 people I can't talk to on the bonus stage as a cat (the ones in the middle of the lower row). Is this intentional or is it a bug? (Also - 24/25 tokens AARGH! :P)
These people play no important role in the story, they never say a word during the game, so I couldn't come up with anything for them to say in the post-game. But come on, there are sooo many characters you can talk to. :D
Not sure how the water people were able to make so many tools/weapons/cauldrons etc without fire (also, how do they cook?) but whatevs... it looks like they're screwed now that the gate is open. Those fire guys are not exactly the peaceful exchange types.
I think it's explained somewhere in the game, they use the heat-emanating Atsuguki plants to cook, brew tea/potions, and heat houses. They're the red flowers, the name means "hot stalk" literally in Japanese. And I believe they eat a lot of raw food. As for tools, there must be a way to create them using magic :P... And the gate is not exactly open, they still need power crystals to activate it each time they want to go through.
I kept pressing Shift as per the in-game tutorial expecting something to happen, then looked at the instructions to the right of the game and found out it's for running, so you have to press an arrow with it... perhaps change the in-game prompt to Shift+arrow?
This game is at the same time far too grindy to be played actively (because who wants to replay the same level a gazillion times?) and too involved to be played idly (as in, you at least have to be there to start the level each time). It hits just the spot where it fails both as an active game and an idle game.
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Perhaps an "undo one move" option would improve the game's quality of life. Working it into this game would take a lot of time, but I think I'll put that in the sequel.