So first impression, gotta third what's been said--Love your use of music and sound for the atmosphere! Good footsteps are always satisfying, and the intro is a great scene-setting beat.
I love the ghosts, too! The variable elevations and speeds emphasizes that they're floating at you in what I thought was a pretty artful way.
Critiques, if you're interested:
That sound-only beat seems a bit long to me--I was worried Godot had frozen for a moment! Something like just the background fading in, or one of the ghosts drifting across the screen might help (but might also just not be what you're going for)
The flashlight is a bit funky! I played a second time to make sure I understood how failing works, and noticed that the flashlight can actually be run perpetually, sometimes. Having seen the code for it, I think it has to do with the quick charge you add back to the flashlight before the timer starts, though I'm sure you're already thinking about that.
I'm still not sure I understand the... food? mechanic (It looks like meats, anyway). Does it determine how effective the fire is, or how long it lasts? Something else? A little floaty text over the pile at the beginning or over the fire, or a "Controls" section in the menu would set my mind at ease. Saying that, though, the lack of information kinda gets me into the headspace of being lost and alone in the cold woods!
Conclusion:
I like your entry a lot, and I'm glad you were able to get things mostly working the way you wanted! The art is great (the whole thing evokes kind of a pared-down Lone Survivor), and the sound use is excellent (the sound that plays when you click Continue particularly puts me back in the headspace of playing the first Silent Hill, for some reason?). Also, realizing that the cold bar had bloody eyes in it the second time around freaked me out!
I don't want to say much about the writing, for anybody who reads the comments before playing, but it definitely capped off the playthrough in a way that fits your theming. If you add a credits/attribution/thanks page to the game, maybe a relevant hotline # should be included :P
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.