The controls and feedback are excellent and feel totally natural. The concept is intuitive and quickly falls into a rhythm that is legitimately addictive. I can easily imagine how different enemy types, sword strikes, or progression could expand on the concept, but at the same time they don't feel necessary to make the gameplay interesting.
The game was really unique in its gameplay of utilizing only one button. I like how there is two different mechanisms (hold to block in inner zone and release to slice in outer zone). There are also two very different enemies that you have to counter utilizing the two different mechanisms, which really makes the most out of both of them. There are also multiple waves with increasing difficulty along with score point, which challenges the player's skill each time and encourages them to do better. The health bar also grants the players some leniency, which helps with the learning curve of the game.
This game was very impressive, fun to play, and satisfying to do well in. Utilizing both holding and releasing the space bar as separate abilities allows one button to do more than one thing. The player is restricted from abusing the strong state of holding space bar as well, by diminishing their targeting radius over time while holding it. This forces the player to need to have good reactions or they won't make it very far, but it's fair and balanced.
The idea of the game is really unique and they have well executed it
The feel of the game is very cool. The animations are smooth and the UI / style of the game is very nice. Some cyberpunk music will fit the theme perfectly.
This game is very addicting and makes you want to play forever, I also appreciate how fast paced the game becomes in a few waves
I think that it really shows how much work went into this prototype. I think that the idea is super original, and even though it's one button, it feels like you are doing so much more to manage all of the incoming projectiles.
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What could this game have done better?
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It was slightly confusing at first before I realized that missing attacks shrunk the size of my attack range. There is a kind of inverse difficulty curve, where the game feels like it gets easier as you land more attacks and your attack range increases. This may not be a bad thing, but it feels like it could cause the game to get less interesting over time. The sound of the sword also became somewhat irritating, especially with how often it plays.
The animations for the game were really well done. However, I personally feel that the camera movements after you slice enemies are too sharp - I sometimes lose where the player is because of it. I was also initially confused where was the inner zone and the outer zone as I had mistakenly confused the player for the inner zone. I think it would help to make the difference more clear by either changing the player to a different color or just only keep the blade as the player.
The only issue I encountered when playing was on some of the later stages/waves, when the auto-targeting would throw me into a horde of enemies and didn't kill all of them, I would occasionally die immediately due to a touch on the back if I wasn't mashing quick enough/targeted an enemy I didn't want to. Perhaps a brief moment of invulnerability only on certain parts of the hitbox when slicing could make it so this doesn't happen, but it's hard to say because it could threaten the difficulty/skill curve of the game.
They should make the controls better
The difficulty 'bell' is pretty steep. I understand why the attack range decreases if you whiff an attack/defense, but it feels slightly clunky. Especially when going from defending to attacking a large group of enemies.
The difficulty ramps up a little bit too fast, it feels like there isn't really a chance to get familiar with the controls or get into a rhythm.
I have no thoughts, this already looks like it could be put on the app store. Well done!
Comments
What did this game do well?
****************************
The controls and feedback are excellent and feel totally natural. The concept is intuitive and quickly falls into a rhythm that is legitimately addictive. I can easily imagine how different enemy types, sword strikes, or progression could expand on the concept, but at the same time they don't feel necessary to make the gameplay interesting.
The game was really unique in its gameplay of utilizing only one button. I like how there is two different mechanisms (hold to block in inner zone and release to slice in outer zone). There are also two very different enemies that you have to counter utilizing the two different mechanisms, which really makes the most out of both of them. There are also multiple waves with increasing difficulty along with score point, which challenges the player's skill each time and encourages them to do better. The health bar also grants the players some leniency, which helps with the learning curve of the game.
This game was very impressive, fun to play, and satisfying to do well in. Utilizing both holding and releasing the space bar as separate abilities allows one button to do more than one thing. The player is restricted from abusing the strong state of holding space bar as well, by diminishing their targeting radius over time while holding it. This forces the player to need to have good reactions or they won't make it very far, but it's fair and balanced.
The idea of the game is really unique and they have well executed it
The feel of the game is very cool. The animations are smooth and the UI / style of the game is very nice. Some cyberpunk music will fit the theme perfectly.
This game is very addicting and makes you want to play forever, I also appreciate how fast paced the game becomes in a few waves
I think that it really shows how much work went into this prototype. I think that the idea is super original, and even though it's one button, it feels like you are doing so much more to manage all of the incoming projectiles.
========================================
What could this game have done better?
****************************
It was slightly confusing at first before I realized that missing attacks shrunk the size of my attack range. There is a kind of inverse difficulty curve, where the game feels like it gets easier as you land more attacks and your attack range increases. This may not be a bad thing, but it feels like it could cause the game to get less interesting over time. The sound of the sword also became somewhat irritating, especially with how often it plays.
The animations for the game were really well done. However, I personally feel that the camera movements after you slice enemies are too sharp - I sometimes lose where the player is because of it. I was also initially confused where was the inner zone and the outer zone as I had mistakenly confused the player for the inner zone. I think it would help to make the difference more clear by either changing the player to a different color or just only keep the blade as the player.
The only issue I encountered when playing was on some of the later stages/waves, when the auto-targeting would throw me into a horde of enemies and didn't kill all of them, I would occasionally die immediately due to a touch on the back if I wasn't mashing quick enough/targeted an enemy I didn't want to. Perhaps a brief moment of invulnerability only on certain parts of the hitbox when slicing could make it so this doesn't happen, but it's hard to say because it could threaten the difficulty/skill curve of the game.
They should make the controls better
The difficulty 'bell' is pretty steep. I understand why the attack range decreases if you whiff an attack/defense, but it feels slightly clunky. Especially when going from defending to attacking a large group of enemies.
The difficulty ramps up a little bit too fast, it feels like there isn't really a chance to get familiar with the controls or get into a rhythm.
I have no thoughts, this already looks like it could be put on the app store. Well done!