Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Completeness:
  

  Complete game, very polished. It has even tutorial - dynamic and easy to follow. Unfortunately, it teaches combat only - readme file would be welcome... The only issues are very minor ones - sometimes menus edges overlaps a little, and attack indicators can start to sway on the wind.

  Aesthetics:
  

  It's great since the firs impression. Just WOW. Stylish and readable font, very clean UI, straightforward controls... Fighting inside the whirlwind is immersive.
  

  Fun:

  First thing that impressed me is quality of writing. Descriptions are long (maybe sometimes even too verbose, for so dynamic game) and interesting. Sometimes I was just examining entities around me instead of fighting - even if it isn't necessary to play. Game is simple and engaging, and combat is rewarding. Although, difficulty could rise at a bit slower pace, in my opinion.

  Innovation:
  

  Combat based on movement - I've seen it already, but it's very uncommon mechanics in roguelikes nonetheless. "Whirlwind" is nice detail a top of good game, too.

  Scope:

  Looking at the big picture, I of the Storm is small game. But, the devil's in the details - IotS provides more than enough variety in moves and enemies to get "average" mark.

  Roguelikeness:

  Here, I'm a bit torn. Usually I'm liberal about this category during 7DRLC, and I... has everything to score "4", but it just doesn't feel roguelike-ish. Even less than some entries that has, arguably, less in common with Rogue itself. Finally, I decided to give "3" - because it feels more like arena brawler.
  

• An engaging recasting of the RL as a fighting-game-Kung-Fu-movie-chess-match. The game abandons the typical proc gen map for a nearly open field, ringed by an animated tile sandstorm.  Also abandoned is the typical bump to attack gameplay. In its place is a set of what are effectively special moves. A short sequence of directional moves turns into a buff or a ranged attack. This mechanic and the high number of enemies that are drawn to the player result in a fluid, rhythmic gameplay unique in the genre. This gameplay is thematically reinforced by the accompanying flavor text, which sets the player character as the last in a line of dancing warrior monks. The prose is purple, but the vignettes build up an interesting world around the game piece by piece. Visual execution is where the game begins to stumble. A low weight font drowns characters out against their noisy background. In addition, the indication that tiles are in the enemy area of attack is difficult to read. The swirling tile sandstorm is a gorgeous and adds to the mood. But it only adds to the mood, there's no gameplay hook. The gameplay is so well executed though, that the visual issues are easy to overlook. A polished version of this concept would be well received.

• Pretty cool special move system, but the mechanics feel a little lost in the current battle royal implementation. Would be interesting to see how they functioned in a dungeon or something that put the player in more limited spatial situations.