Overall, this was a very good experience. The intro and ending are deep and set a strong mood. I would have liked the gameplay to involve more risk, perhaps with a health bar and the possibility of failing. On the other hand, the light and short gameplay helps keep the focus on the story. Good job!
Play experience
Everything Will Be Alright's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #1330 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Cleverness | #1471 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Playability | #1486 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Artistic Style | #1697 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- I am a big fan of stories in games, and the intro to this game was very intriguing and added depth to the experience. The gameplay is where things got a bit more confusing for me. The charge beam felt inconsistent in the fire rate, and there was some difficulty in understanding what was going on. I would like to see some indicators that let the player know the status of the attack and health of your unit.
Did you include your Game Design Document as a Google Drive link?
Yes
Seriously... did you include your Game Design Document?
Yes
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
It's better if you go in to the game blind to get the best experience. I hope you enjoy the story I've tried to tell :).
Extra Notes
The alchemy part of the theme is through the 'combining' or 'merging' of shadows; I hope this use of the theme is clear in the final game.
Comments
I like the intro of the game, it really made me wonder what came next. The gameplay was less my cup of tea. I think adding a background and a health bar for the player could be 2 great places to start. Without a background, I often couldn't feel if I was moving. Is it possible that you can't die/lose in the game? I just stopped moving at some point and took all the hits I could, and I never died :p
Still, nice message and nice work man!
Submitted
Ghost SoupReally loved the intro to this game, it drew me in.
The game part itself took a little getting used to with the way movement works, I mostly ended up just staying still and timing my shots to hit the shadow. I think a more static camera with the sprites moving within the screen, like in a shoot 'em up would have worked well. I appreciated the laser pointer aiming reticle, helped me keep my shots on target.
Overall a nice message and an interesting take on the theme. Also I enjoyed the music.
Submitted
BOMBRAI really liked the narrative segment of the game! Gameplay one - not some much.
Some of my thoughts:
- I would like more visual/audio feedback. Right now it’s not clear you your attack is even charging, or when exactly attack happens, or what part of the boss receives damage. Some particles or tween animations would go a long way.
- Since you don’t have health and both moving and taking damage reset your attack charge, I didn’t see a reason to dodge and just stood there aiming at boss and holding LMB. I don’t think a health system is required but some uncomfortable effect like screen shake or screen getting darker would sell the need to dodge.
- Something on the narrative side: I would like the ability to skip to the the next frame, because sometimes they take too long, and you’re not sure whether the game just froze or not.
- Same with the game ending, it just keeps repeating the health bar effect and it’s not obvious that the game ended.
Oh, and please add a fullscreen button in your itch options.
Overall, very good job.
Submitted
Transmuted TowerThank you for your extensive feedback. You’ve given me a lot of things to think about :).
- This is my first game with Monogame, which is a framework not an engine, so I’ve had to build a lot of things over time to use. I agree however that even though I didn’t have anything immediately available, it needs a lot more to sell the effect of dealing damage.
- The lights you see at the start of the battle will get darker when you’re hit, although I wish I had contained the arena so that one of the lights is always on screen.
- Skipping the cutscene was a small thing I didn’t think to add, maybe eith some more playtesting someone would be seen it and I wouldve been able to add it.
- I wanted to force fullscreen, but this caused issues with the game - the lazer wouldn’t follow the mouse, and the game would sometimes sit partially offscreen. Under time constraints and without knowing how Monogame/KNI Web export worked properly (as I’ve never used it), I decided not to worry about it; that sort of thing can come later.
At my first try I didn't understood what to do, but then I got the hang of it, and started shooting. The dodge pattern is reaally hard in the final part but still managable.
Intro, music and art style for the storytelling are really nice, that style really fits the thone you wanted to give. GG !
Little note : I wold like to see the gameplay side of the game with the same style of the narrative side, so black and white only lines with that little purlpe shooting, I think it would suit better.
Submitted
The NoviceThank you :). I didn’t even think about using those colours in the game section, and I have no idea why. I guess I wanted to make sure they were separated visually. I also tried associating the purple with the enemy (for example the health bar), so I don’t think it would make sense to give the player that colour to use, but I certainly could’ve made the enemy black and purple to drive that choice even better through the game. You’ve given me a lot to think about, I really appreciate it.
the game has a really nice message, the gameplay was super simple and i want to say the issues i had with feedback and controls were consistent with that game's message, because despite not really knowing if i was winning or doing the right thing and despite being hammered by the enemy, i persisted and was able to make it through.
Submitted
ShadowfeyHey, glad you were able to see the game that way. I had hoped that players would be able to interpret the message of the game in many different ways, so this is proof that maybe I succeeded on that front :). In saying that though, I still think those concerns should be addressed if I do persist with this game. Thanks for playing though, and I appreciate the kind words.
Very good story intro. I had a few issues with the action portion. While the red line followed my mouse, I couldn't tell if I was moving my character or not and I'm not sure I was able to get an attack off. I might try it again in Chrome but regardless good job!
Submitted
Well of the SynthesistInteresting interpretation of the theme. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to damage the enemy reliably. I noticed clicking changed the beam to white, but it didn't work half the time and no matter where I aimed I couldn't get the boss health down... Some feedback on skill cooldown or boss hit / weak spots would be useful.
Submitted
The Great WorkThanks. There’s a few subtleties to the later that I wish I could explain a little better. I have a few ideas for ways to continue this game, and I’m thinking if I do go ahead with it I’ll probably scrap the top down element of the game and replace it with some RPG battle mechanics, although it’s not set in stone yet (and before that I’m taking a break from gamedev for a week or 2 to recover from making what I did make in 2 weeks :)
This was an awesome experience that I enjoyed a lot. Story message was really well conveyed for a short game and action was fun. I might have almost cried some. Only small annoyance is sometimes it can be hard to tell laser is powering up because the transition on the color has a slow ramp at times. I enjoyed this a lot and I hope you keep making things! :)
Submitted
Federalist FreeloaderI enjoyed the experience, I wasn't expecting the action part but that was a nice twist, and I also liked the overall message of the game :)
Submitted
The Case of Caldwell Concoctions
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