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Ghosts 'N Ghouls's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sensory | #18 | 3.571 | 3.571 |
| Execution | #22 | 3.286 | 3.286 |
| Overall | #26 | 3.268 | 3.268 |
| Metroidvania | #27 | 3.214 | 3.214 |
| Enjoyment | #33 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Engine
PGMMV/Actsuku
Team/Developer
Stagn
External assets
Fantasy Knight - aamatniekss , Pixel Monster Pack 2 - rvros , Demon Slime - chierit , Tilesheets/Decorations - Szadi art, Adventurers Journey 1/2/3 - Kairi Sawler
Prizes eligibility
LearnIndie, PlusMusic (Best Overall Soundtrack?)
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Comments
You used and put together very nice assets. I like that you can pick a trowing weapon feature;)
Game was a bit hard like others mentioned, and to be honest I was struggled to open first closed door, text was disappearing to fast and I could not read full:(
Thank you for giving it a shot and the feedback. No worries I made some poor design choices with the first level which has prevented a lot from getting through and trying out the other areas. If you would decide to try again here is how to complete the first level:
The second false wall which contains the boots for double jump is down in the last pit close to the locked gate behind a false wall on the right side (jump from lowest stone pillar sticking out from left side of pit). Once you have the boots backtrack past the cave ceiling then double jump on top.
Hey, that game gave me some serious old-school platformer vibes, kinda nostalgic! And those cutscenes, vfx, and animations? So good. You really did a great job with this one!
Thank you for the feedback!
The game is a bit hard. The camera and level design are complicated, but otherwise the game works very well! Animations look smooth, the mechanics of fights are cool. The only thing is that the camera is not very convenient.
Thank you for the feedback! I have an update coming to fix a lot of issues after the jam is over.
This game is so hard. The comment before me said a lot of things I'm agreeing with so I'm just gonna say one negative thing: fix the camera. For the first whole level, the camera is looking at the left side of the screen while the player is moving towards the right side and also can't see pit falls because they're not in the shot...
So camera and level design are tough, but other than that, the game works very well! The animations are smoothly implemented, the throwing and fighting mechanics are nice; I mean even the "breaking pot and looting items" stuff work perfectly!
I played a lot of Ghouls n Ghosts when I was younger (which means I died a lot on the first level) and it was cool to see it referenced in a jam ^^
Nice entry overall!
Thank you for giving it a try and the valid feedback! I wrote a little more detail about things in the other comment but the camera offset was an issue I caused after changing the player character out late in development and wasn't able to figure out and fix properly before releasing. I plan to release an update after the jam and fix a lot of the issues/level designs players don't enjoy.
I only made it to level two before quitting.
I don't know if you were deliberately going for a retro difficult vibe to the gameplay, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
If you weren't:
Maybe you've come to the same conclusion but, obfuscating the progression so early on was bad design IMO. Hiding a vital powerup behind a secret wall was questionable (I guess the fact that you put platforms down there was a bit of a tell) but given the pits instantly kill you and send you to the start of the level, I wasn't incentivised to experiment.
Even in a hard game, I think it's better to be guiding early on, and save the hidden stuff for bonus extras/collectables etc. (Maybe it's just cuz I actually found this one on my own, I think putting them in that first empty nook would have been fine.)
Anyway, during level 2, after exhausting all my routes and still not finding anything, I just didn't feel like looking around anymore. A couple of slips into water and I threw in the towel.
Having said that, it's an impressive entry for you first Jam. Certainly a lot more complete feeling than any of mine or other first timers. Very good presentation and use of the assets.
The weapons were cool. The gold disc that ricocheted off walls was my favourite for how OP it was. In a fuller version of the game, it would definitely need to be nerfed with low ammo/rarity. because once I go it, I avoided other throwables like the plague.
Maybe I'll give this one another go when I'm not feeling so sore. XD
EDIT: Other niggles:
Thank you for giving it a go and for the very valid feedback. After seeing others comments as well there is a lot I would of done differently and plan to change after the jam to make it a better. Hiding the double jump on the first level was definitely a flop on my part, I thought the pillars & the high ledge preventing to much backtrack would be enough to figure it out. I'm angry at myself for a few of the other dislikes you and others had as I questioned them too like the second level transition to the lower part of the cave. I know why you didn't find it as it has zero indication you can safely jump down except being the only drop in the level without water.
I also made the mistake of creating the weapons when my intent was just a basic enemy that would pop up from the ground and keep coming at you (kinda like the zombies in G'nG) and die with one hit but I thought it wasn't enough and kept adding more.
I didn't realize how OP the ring really was even with bosses but wanted to include it so I just nerfed the damage a bit but it still hits way to much.
The camera issues were another bad choice on my part, 3/4 of the way in I decided to change the player character out and it screwed the camera tracking up and I wasn't able to figure it out so I just changed a few things around in the levels but should of brought some platforms up higher into view.
I can fix the ceiling issue but I think I'm going to completely redo the first level.
The jump after pause... again my fault, I had planned to fix it but was hit with a save corrupting bug at the same time and forgot about it.
Thank you again for the feedback, I'm sorry it was more frustrating than enjoyable.
Nice entry, had to read the comments too to figure out the first level. Assets were well-chosen/made, and the game had a consistent aesthetic. I have a small nitpick on the player's hitstun, it's really long and cuts momentum. Jumping felt a bit heavy, but this could be intended in the level design and thus I won't complain haha. Good job!
Thank you for playing and the feedback! I plan to add a better visual hint for the first level and I can speed up the recover animation a bit to make it faster. The jump is slightly intentional, the second jump is a little less than the first to prevent to much recovery when falling into a death trap (sloppiness on my part with the way it was done) but sometimes if a player is jumping multiple times in quick succession the jump doesn't reset to default and you get the gimped jump. I think its because I relied on tile detection with the player for the reset to occur but also have a little input forgiveness on the jump commands.
Great game! That first level had me stumped until I read the comments but once I was on my way I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the game
Thank you for playing! I'm definitely going to add a better visual hint. I figured it would take a little to find but didn't think it was a "kneel in the corner with a crystal waiting for a tornado" hard haha, I'm happy you enjoyed it.
Game looks really amazing! Love the style I got lost really fast but that's pretty normal with metroidvanias. Really good game nicely done!
Thank you for the feedback! I assume it was the first level where you unlock double jump? Others have had issues finding it so I'll have to add another subtle indicator close by. I did prevent the player from backtracking to far so they aren't looking in areas far away. I also added a spoiler on another comment below on how to get past the first level if needed.
It's either I have some bug or that the game is ambiguous as hell , I straight up can't progress further than the very start of the game , I go to the thing that tells you to go down but where and how ? there is only death pits and I can't double jump and there was that one illusary wall at the beginning that had nothing in it.
Also the d-pad is mapping wrong on ps5 controller for some reason.
But I will say though this is most likely a bug and the game looks promising .
My feedback on the art is add more ambient perspective to background elements make them desaturated and lower their contrast , they get mixed up with foreground elements.
Thank you for the feedback, I posted how to get past the first level below. I'll also look into working on the first level and get a better contrast between layers. Others have the same issues with the PS5 controller I'm trying to figure out, I have controls set up for PS/Xbox & K/B and have tested them with a PS4 & One controller but unfortunately I don't have a PS5 to use for testing. Do you know if it seen as a direct input device from windows? (if you go to gamepad settings in windows are each button numbered? If so could you list each number and button attached to that number?
*SPOILER ALERT BELOW*
The first false wall was for something I had planned but didn't have time to make. The second false wall which contains the boots for double jump is down in the last pit behind a false wall on the right side (jump from lowest stone pillar sticking out from left side). Once you have the boots backtrack past the cave ceiling then double jump on top.
I also don't have a ps5 I only have the controller :'( ^_^.
If you mean the face buttons then they are numbered like so : from 1 to 4 Square - Cross _ Circle _ Triangle , the opposite of what they be on pc controllers.
I put in a support ticket to see if I can get some more info but in the meantime I may have found a workaround if you would be willing to try it for me. I've uploaded a build with mouse view and limited debug menu, when on title screen press F1, in top left corner click settings/operation settings then select your device and change the dpad inputs there.
Thanks for the tool I did reassign controls except for left input for some reason it doesn't register . but for a workaround ds4 windows does the job so I can play with normal controls.
Thank you for trying out it, another user helped me figure out you can assign and use the PS5 analog sticks just fine. I made an update with analog support but missed the bug fix window.
Well done. great game.
Thank you for the feedback!
Very fun take on a game that leans more towards Castlevania than Metroid. Movement is crisp and combat is just challenging enough. Only criticisms is that the Circle weapon trivializes the boss fights and on controller movement was mapped to d-pad up/down instead of left/right (this might be a PS5 dualsense issue).
Thank you for the feedback! I'm still trying to figure out the PS5 controller issue but I don't have my own to use for testing and haven't found much info on potential issues with PGMMV & PS5 controllers, (some say to add as non steam game and run it through steam) but it will work fine with PS4/One controllers on its own. I agree with the ring weapon I have a few ideas but for the time being I reduced the damage it does to bosses even more to hopefully push melee a little more.
I may have found a workaround for the PS5 controller issue until I can get more info. I've uploaded a build with mouse view and limited debug menu, when on title screen press F1, in top left corner click settings/operation settings then select your device and change the dpad inputs there. I just need someone with a PS5 controller to test it out.
Can confirm that the controls seem screwed for dualsense controllers. Physical up maps to Right, Right to down, Down to Left, and most interestingly, physical left button doesn't map to anything at all. I suspect this may be the deeper cause of the other dpad buttons being "off by one"
Thank you for giving that a try its unfortunate it didn't work but as a last ditch effort would you mind try assigning the left analog stick to the up/down left/right controls and see how it responds to that? I put a bug ticket in for the game engine waiting to hear back with any info and going to see if I can borrow a buddy's PS5 controller to mess with.
Yeah I did do that actually and the left stick works fine for movement. Checked out the other buttons as well while I was at it and there didn't appear to be any issues.
Great! thank you for helping me trouble shoot, I went ahead and added movement control for the left analog stick but I missed the bug fix upload window :/ I should of added it to start with but was going for old school feel with the dpad. When you mapped the analog in the menu did you happen to notice if it was labeled as an axis (xy) or just "left stick" with input direction?