Ho. Ly. Shit.
This is god damn SERIOUS!

You got quick movement, a movement attack, combos, practical secondary weapons (pistol -> bat? BLISS.), actually needed potions with tight timings and multitasking, balanced gold values.
The enemies are both challenging, varied, AND fun to shred through. (That bomber is a douche though.)

Sick af voice acting (reminds of Quack Attack! Dry, you did AWESOME) and great music

Only gripe is that I was playing on my mid-tier laptop, and when there were a lot of entities (bullets f.e), the game started slowing down real bad. Killing more creatures made the game quicker.

And the thing that got my attention the most is the presentation. The gameplay was already god tier, so the visuals? GOD DAMN.
A super captivating intro, crisp pixels everywhere including the text, super expressive protag with a VERY fun shaky head, a character which is clearly all about DESTRUCTION, Doom all over again!

ALL in 2 weeks.

10/10 would play again and even stream.

This game has a lot of personality. I loved the music, the sounds, the art. The movement and animations are smooth. Other than the lag, it feels 80% of the way to being something I’d waste an afternoon on over on Newgrounds back in the day.

At first I thought it was gonna be a horror game and I was scared but then it turned out to be quite the opposite ! An absolute gem with insane graphics, an incredibly well done sound universe, amazing character designs, a cool gameplay (amazing speedrun potential too) and it could have been a great game !...

But sadly there are two big problems preventing it from achieving its full potential plus a smaller one.

The first big problem is the learning curve and the level design (they go together here) at first it is very cool, you learn things and you have fun, but too quickly you get thrown into new mechanics and context without explanations as to how to do the things, and the game segments between shops are so long and confusing (it would have been better to separate the game into smaller levels with a world map, I think), I had to button mash to find out how to use the objects (although granted, I could have maybe missed the part where it tells me)

The second big problem is, well, the lag... At first it was tolerable if a bit frustrating, but then it got to a point where I gave up because of it. You absolutely have to optimise your game, like for example deactivating entities outside of the camera so they don't overload the ram (at least that's what I suppose is the problem, since it happened in areas with many enemies). Despite the annoying people complaining for a few frames dropping, optimization to avoid lag is essential, and too much lag will definitely deter players...

And finally there is also a smaller problem that I find it's that the item and shop mechanic doesn't feel very instinctive and compelling... It's kind of a shame, since it's the second main point of the game, but I know that it's probably mostly a me thing. with all of those keys used, I think it would have been better for this game to use the mouse. For example, the hockey (?) thing you use, since it's 4 directional, and gives you a boost when you hit below, it could have benefitted a lot from the mouse (and I would have made it 8 directions and a also so that hitting a wall in any direction propels you, personally) and that way, you can scroll between items by... well, scrolling and use them with right click, which would also allow you to aim the gun, for example. For that problem I think using the mouse would have been a great solution.

Anyway, that is my opinion and advice about it. Don't let my criticism deter you, though ! It's still a great idea and the game is an incredibly solid base to improve on (and again, the graphics, world, sound, the vibe, it's all incredibly good and some of the best that I have seen and heard recently). Personally I hope you can find the time and energy to re-work on it. Wish you all the best !

Speedrun Potential POGO STRAT