Play swordust
Swordust: Slow Burn's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Visuals | #212 | 4.146 | 4.146 |
| Audio | #296 | 3.463 | 3.463 |
| Gameplay | #360 | 3.439 | 3.439 |
| Overall | #547 | 3.309 | 3.309 |
| Enjoyment | #664 | 3.317 | 3.317 |
| Innovation | #860 | 2.829 | 2.829 |
| Theme | #1227 | 2.659 | 2.659 |
Ranked from 41 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
The game is about risking everything for what you have left—family, friends, or acquaintances. But will you risk it when the only things you have left are your sword and dust?
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
I modified a knight sprite from https://xzany.itch.io/free-knight-2d-pixel-art.
All songs are from OpenGameArt.org.
SFXs are from OpenGameArt.org and Pixabay.com.
Undertale Dialogue System and talk SFX by Mostly Mad Productions.
Detailed credits in the game description.
How many people worked on the game?1
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
I like the fighting system. In the beginning, it seemed impossible. I constantly died. But then I started to learn its patterns, and made a strategy for how to play. Towards the end, I would say it was almost easy. That's a good thing in my books, because it means it is a skill based game, where you can practice and get better. That feels good and rewarding.
However, my main complaint is that I have to fight the exact same boss over and over again. The game gets super repetitive. I understand that I get older/slower, but my strategy for winning was exactly the same all the way through. The first time was fun. The second time, I'm okay with. But the following times were just boring. That's why I chose Ending 2, because I didn't want yet another fight (and I didn't know what "resolute" means). Maybe the monster could develop its abilities over time, so it starts out very easy with a single attacking pattern, and then every time you meet it again it has developed one new attacking pattern.
The graphics and animations are well done. I really like that I can predict what the monster will do shortly based on their animations. Hitboxes felt fair.
Overall, a really well made game, with fun gameplay at its core, that unfortunately drags out too long with repetitive content.
Thanks for all the feedbacks 👍!
You pointed it out clearly, the game is really too repetitive because it literally six fights with same player-sets and same boss-sets. Adding new moves to bosses and player as they progress would make it a lot better! (I should really polish the core gameplay more but unfortunately, the time is running out 😞.)
(Also, Resolute is like you stand ground against the demon. Neither flight or flee, you understand its goal and what it really is. But it is kinda like an open ending .)
Anyway, thanks for playing. Really appreciate that you play it till the end 😊.
This game is really cool! I noticed when I booted it up that the pixel sizes were consistent, and ultimately I was highly satisfied. The art overall looks really, really good, and the sound effects were very tasty. The gameplay is also very cool, and the game felt quite polished, especially for a game jam game (and you are a solo dev? crazy!) However, this game is too hard for me. I could not beat the first version of the boss, despite going at it for about 25 minutes. The reason is mainly down to the fact that attacking and then going for a block from a combo never ended up going well, because the attack needed to fully happen before the block wen out. The attacking also felt a bit sluggish. Other than that, really cool, but I wish it was a bit easier!
Yeah, I noticed that it is too hard for a lot of people. The balancing in this game is quite weird. It really hard to balance in the solo dev perspective with only another tester...
I really loved the art style, and the boss fight was very fun. I just could not beat him, but I got pretty close lol.
It is hard right? May be I should set the first one more easy. Glad you tried and enjoyed it!
A nice game! I like your dialogue system and the game play was smooth. The boss fights are a bit challenging but I like them that way. Well done!
👍 😊.
Great story and exciting gameplay! The fight was a bit too hard for me, but had fun playing!
Thanks for playing 😁!
It really can be hard.
The animations are smooth and the visuals look really charming.
Glad you enjoy!
Very good game, A little bit too hard but I'm sure there is a future for this game after the game jam
Glad you enjoyed 😁.
A polished game, all the text and story makes it feel like a "finished" game. You're not right into the action, which can be a bit annoying. When the action comes, though, it gets pretty hard. The timing for parrying is really tricky (because the animation is too slow), and I gave up when the boss regenerated all his HP...
Didn't see the other levels, sadly, (but based on the screenshots, I think it's the same monster?).
Congrats for pulling this solo, it really feels complete!
Thanks for your feedback!
The game isn't right into action because it is a story-driven game; the dialogue at first can be too long.
It can be hard and challenging if you aren't familiar with this kind of game, but I really want to know why the animation being too slow makes it harder? (Maybe you thought blocking at the right time makes parry when there is no parry system in this game).
The boss isn't really regenerate, it just has 3 bars (I should really add some indicators).
And yeah, it is the same demon with you progressively older.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
I think the attack animation is too slow, the game does not feel much reactive. You can see that on this type of games (Hollow Night, Cuphead or Fury), attacks are fast, and you can chain them quickly. Same for the shield animation, there's some time before the shield is shielding you (what I called the "parry").
I get it, the attacks are really slow. Because I don't want the boss to die easily, and to make this game a slow-paced game where you have to rethink your actions. But for the parry? There is no shield animation in this game, nor is the a parry; it is like an instant change to the shield state. How can it be slow, or is it a feeling? I really want to know so I can implement it.
Ok so that's a feeling of "slowness". Mainly due to the slowness of attacks I think.
Got it! Thanks for your feedback 🙏.
fun boss rush. Is it just me or is it pretty hard? Great job!
Thanks for playing!
It's not just you... The game can be quite challenging if you aren't familiar with controls or playing this kind of game.
Good game, very well done
Thanks! 👍
Very good looking and sounding game. Fighting is really something with all those background changes and other visual effects, extremely eye catching!
My few bitter cents:
Time to fun in this game is very long. It may be way better to introduce thing gradually and throw player into a fight sooner.
At my first play, after reading all the dialogs on start I missed what I have to do to continue. The game said click on [Home], and it took me a while to understand that I have to click on the silhouette of the house to go on. I even tried pressing the Home button on the keyboard.
When I figured out how to click on [Home] I had to click on it several time more to read some messages, which felt strange, why not providing all this text at once if there is nothing else the player can do?
Thanks for feedback!
- Yeah, the cutscene at first is really too long because I just want it to be an intro to story (I skip it in testing too).
- May be Click on home isn't clear enough?
I think adding the arrow would make it easy to know the goal but I guess I have to tell it more clearly.
- The multiple text is really for story wise because it's like 0 to 5 to 10 years have passed. It can look weird because there is no in game cutscene.
Anyway, Thanks for playing! 😁
Nice game! It was a bit too hard for me, I tried getting past the (first?) boss a couple time but couldn't do it.
Yeah, the game may be a bit too hard at the beginning. The balance in this game is sure weird.. But have you tried the shield? Because it will be so hard just dodging.
I mostly ignored the shield, yeah. Might give it another try with shielding!
Very cool game, I want to do something in a similar style sometime. I loved everything about the boss fight, I “hated” the dialog at points :)
Thanks for the feedback! In the dialogue, some can feel unpolished because I rushed it at the end. Anyway, Glad you have fun :D
Oh wow what a well done game!
:>
The fights are really challenging, I liked them! The changes you made to the assets are beautiful, it was well-spent time.
Glad you like it! Spent a lot of time on them.
I loove the visual, may be my favorite visuals in this jam! Might be a bit too much text for the beginning, but you game the skip button.
Thanks 😊.
The is super polished work! The game control is smooth. The art & animation are impressive. Great work!
🙏.
Great game! The art, story, and theming are really good! The boss is just the right amount of challenging and I love its almost analog horror design. I didn’t encounter any bugs and it fits the theme of the jam in a very unique way
Glad you enjoy 😊.
I’ll just say one thing… INCREDIBLE!!! Truly phenomenal.
Thank ><!
WOAH! This game is incredibly underrated. I loved it. The story and visuals are solid and I wasn't expecting for the fights to be so challenging. It was really fun and is definitely a great entry in this jam. 10/10 for you.
Thanks 👍.