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A jam submission

Down and NorthView game page

Submitted by Jay 'Yarheeguy' Miles (@Yarheeguy), Marcin Smoła (FColor04) (@FColor04), saschastraum — 26 minutes, 32 seconds before the deadline
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Down and North's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Graphics/Animation#33.8893.889
Technical#33.5563.556
Overall#53.4443.444
X Factor#63.1113.111
Music/Sound#63.5563.556
Fun/Design#73.2223.222
Theme/Focus#103.3333.333

Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Did you credit all assets in-game (including your own) as required by the rules?

Yes

How did your team implement the focus, and optionally, the theme?
The focus is on the story itself, a setup and an ending, we thought of ideas and ended up thinking about a Valkyrie since they can fly, so we looked into Norse Mythoology and check to see if there is anything about Helhiem, in the end we saw a different perspective and wanted to use that in our game to be somewhat respectful to the myth.

The theme we tried to implement is both using a character that flys and a way of saying 'make it fly' to 'Make it! FLY!' like how Gandalf told the fellowship to fly. in this case, the Valkyrie is trying to make it to the gate in her journey.

Team Size

Quartet (4)

Will you continue work on the game after the jam?

No - completed game

Which diversifiers did you use, if any? (optional)

Transcend Language

Which parts of the game were NOT made by your team? (Including AI generated)
Everything is original design, and there are no imported assets.

The art is all designed by our artist and the music is originally composed by our composer.

What tools did your team use to construct the game? (optional)
We used Unity to make the game.

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Comments

Submitted

This was a beautiful experience, unfinished though it may be. The art is gorgeous, and whether intentional or not, I find the sketchiness of the lines very appealing. The characters are very expressive and I get a clear idea of what is being conveyed without dialogue.

Correct me if I'm wrong-- as I'm a big fan of mythology, but I'm rather lacking with Norse myth --the soldier in question went to Helhiem instead of the warrior's Valhalla, because he did not meet the criteria for entry. He is satisfied with this outcome because his wife is also in Helhiem, and he would rather not be separated from her, much to the Valkyrie's dismay, who had wandered far to retrieve him, as she believes he deserves a place in Valhalla instead?

If I'm correct in my assumption, then I think this was a truly beautiful approach to the theme. Not only does the Valkyrie fly, but she was attempting to make a soul "fly" to higher planes despite them not wanting to. The actual mechanics of the game were, as others said, somewhat lacking, but overall I think this had a lot of promise and was very pleasant as is.

I am a little saddened to see you won't be continuing work on it, but that's very understandable. I would love to see what else you guys make in the future.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing the game and happy that you enjoyed it.

And yeah, that can be how you interpret it with the theme and the story. since we're using the transcended language diversifier, the storytelling relies much on those expressive visuals to tell the game's story.

Submitted

I'll agree with the others that it could use some polish (sound effects, extra animations, game-over screen, etc.) It's not bad, though, and I love the stylization of the story cutscenes!

Submitted

This was good, I love the look and feel of it, the way the setting feels a bit magical or otherworldly. 

Submitted (1 edit)

Everything worked fine, but the game isn't finished. There are no animations for the monsters and no sound effects. The levels were a bit empty, it was mostly platforms and some occasional monsters. The story was also mostly missing. The difficulty level was nice - not too hard. There are only two levels and it only takes a few minutes to finish the game.

Submitted

The music and art were good, but I couldn't really tell what was happening during the story cutscenes. Also, the lack of sound effects was odd (even a couple from a free asset pack would've added a lot to the experience).

Submitted

Very neat game, loved the art and the music. The gameplay was cool, and I loved how the controls were explained without the use of language.

The gameplay section was a little short, but it felt very polished and fun to play.

Submitted

The cutscene sketches and story were good. I don't entirely understand the story, but it was still interesting, and impressive to tell it without words.

The character graphics were good, but their animations were lacking.

Overall, it was an okay game.

Submitted

I love the concept of the story very much! It would be nice to get some context about the story for players who aren't familiar with the original myth. 

As for the the gameplay, I would appreciate if there are more things that we can do with our wings (double jump), such as new obstacles or level design that could also relate to the story itself.

Nice job! Loved the music though >3<

Developer

I'm happy that you like my game.

And yeah, unfortunately, we can't give much context outside of visual storytelling, since we were using the Transended Language diversifier. so it was challenging and aimed more at how the player interprets the story when looking at the visuals.

We originally planned to add a couple of things, but our progress was slow and we didn't have time to add more before the deadline. but we did our best for this game and are happy that you enjoyed what we managed to make.

Submitted

Great art! Loved it. I even liked the hand drawn sketches at the beginning. It added a mythological feel to it, like the idea that it's a story that's been told over and over again.

The teaching the controls screen was great. And I loved collecting the wings to double jump. I got excited with a "What else can I get?" feeling.

I do wish there were a few more levels. I think I just got the hang of the controls and was excited to see what would come next, and then it ended. I wanted to get some cool boots, or a new spear, or helmet.

More animations on the character and villains would've been nice, but I think it was charming how it played. So it wasn't a deal breaker for me. I liked it.

I guess my biggest complaint is I wanted more game! I think that's a good thing.

Developer

Happy to hear this.

And yeah, we did have some ideas to make the game longer, but unfortunately, progress was slow could only do 2 levels with the time we had left.