Really phenomenal art, but controlling the game felt very off. The dash felt super inconsistent and the movement didn't feel right. Wasn't just that it was heavy, but felt a bit broken. Hitboxes on things like spikes could be better as I often felt like I was getting hit when I wasn't near them. Using the sword also felt off, more feedback could help with making the game itself feel better. The environment really is well done though, and the sound design is great. Great project!

The visuals here are so cool. We'd be lucky to have our games look a little more like this one. The health visual floating right next to the player is also a really nice touch.

The movement and combat were honestly a little clunky to get through. The environment was nicely designed, but it doesn't fix all the issues with movement. Despite the issues with that, the style of this game was strong enough to keep us playing longer. Backtracking was really designed well, and it felt nice to get the attack upgrade and be able to slash through previous doors.

This is something that would be great to see more of. Hope we get an updated version in the future!

Here is my gameplay recording and feedback.

Rewriting here from discord:

So, I tried the start of this today, and got to the first 'attack' upgrade and key, and to the second 'save' idol, before getting lost. Here are my thoughts: I gradually got used to it, but the movement does feel very slow to start and strict. I understand this was probably to give the game a heavy feel, but it often felt like I was fighting against the game, ESPECIALLY on jumps. Maybe this is due to the animation making it seem like the player should be going much faster, because of the character's height and size. The dash, as others have said on the itch.io page, is somewhat finnicky, and I never really felt like I was in control of if it would or would not go off, so I would resort to mashing shift and praying that it worked, especially in the levels with spikes. I don't know if I was missing a mechanic, or if the input for the dash is somehow being blocked by unreal's engine, but it felt very punishing to jump, try dashing and have it activate late, and then fall towards the ground, potentially on spikes that would do a decent amount of damage. Maybe a 'dash ready' meter, or some sort of temporary debugging tool that tells the player that it has read the button to dash would help with problem solving.

I really like the visuals, and the sound effects! The main character really looks unique, and I appreciate how getting the weapon changed their look. I liked the way the dog in the 'cage' at the start would bark at you, like the only thing saving you is the gaol, even if it was a little excessive when going on non-stop. Maybe every once in a while, every 3 or 4 barks, it could stop barking and try headbutting the bars with a clang, so that there is a bit of change and rhythm to the sounds. 

I also liked the idea of vine cutting, to open shortcuts, but it was somewhat annoying to not know what vines could or could not be cut. Like some others have said, maybe some different colors or a glowing effect would help.

 As I said, I got stuck at the second idol/pyramid. I didn't really know where else to go from there, and when I got close enough to the wall with a crack, some music would begin playing. But I could still leave the room (although, if I left the gate after entering the room with the pyramid, it would lock up and I could not get back in). 

Lots of potential, and amazing artwork, but the gamefeel itself could use a lot of work, imo. Still, great job creating a bunch of levels, I can see a lot of work went into generating their layouts.

Art - 4.5/5 (art is gud, majora's mask vibes but very unique in its own right)

Lore - 3.5/5

Sound - 3/5

Music - 3.5/5

Combat - 2/5

Movement - 2.5/5

Level Design - 3.5/5 (some areas feel a bit annoying to platform through but, again, could be due to the movement being a bit unwieldy)

UI - 4/5 (except for the fonts and basic buttons, i like the minimal hud)

Critiques -

First ambience song doesn't fit the battle theme (good battle theme) and most SFX sound out of place to me but otherwise fine. 

Dash feels a little delayed or sometimes doesn't register. 

Gravity is a bit too strong. Maybe its more-so an issue of momentum. 

Dog barking constantly, maybe make it happen randomly, not forever looping on aggro. Kinda annoying when you suck at platformers like me lol.

Combat feels very much like a last minute addition, No blocks, parrys, etc. that would otherwise make it more interesting than spamming left click.

Vines - some of them are not intended to be used for the wallgrab ability but still confuse the player a bit. Maybe making the texture a bit more vibrant would distinguish them more.

Can't say that this is a full review because I couldn't get past the 3 mask statue area, I think I soft-locked myself because I got the key and then saved and now it doesn't open anymore so I am stuck.

Overall - 6.5/10

Interesting game, throwing the weapon was definitely the most fun mechanic but sadly I didn't get much use of that since the room hardlocked me behind that gate. The movement and combat could use some work, it didn't feel like I was doing much to the enemies when hitting them and it was hard to make some jumps. There's also a point where you get punished unnecessarily harshly if you fall down. Good metroidvania elements and nice visuals!

Liked what I have played, the controls are a bit weird but I got used quickly, I found the sfxs a bit repetitive they seem to have allmost no pitch variation, the enviroment models look nice and the character has an unique appearence. After getting the trhow weapon upgrade (which I found super interesting) and collecting both masks in the room the gate didnt open when I tried to leave, maybe theres another way out but I searched for a while and didnt find it.