Interesting entry with a clear inspiration from old-school 8-bit games, though perhaps a bit too challenging?
Pros:
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Strong Metroid inspiration (which i think is good), especially with the first power-up being left behind for the player to find.
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A variety of enemies, which keeps things engaging.
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The mechanic of feeding insects to reveal the path by breaking blocks is a clever and unique idea.
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The music and visual atmosphere work really well together.
Cons:
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The difficulty feels a bit unfair at times, reminiscent of older games (such as enemies attacking from off-screen or unavoidable enemy patterns that force you to take damage to progress). I think it's a bit of a shame because game design has evolved to reduce unnecessary frustration. That said, if this was an intentional choice, I completely understand that I might not be the target audience for this style of challenge
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The wait time for the bugs to reach their food feels veryyyy long, making it easy to be bored during this time.
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I struggled to understand how the second power-up worked at first. I died some time after obtaining it, and when I returned, the second room felt more convenient to understand how to use the ability.
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In the second upgrade room, I initially thought the small upgrade area was a wall due to the strong contrast between its tiles and the rest of the environment.
I ended up feeling a bit lost and stuck in front off a one tile narrow corridor, unsure if I had passed through it before. Since I could remember all the areas I had explored, I eventually stopped playing, thinking I couldn't progress further.
While the difficulty wasn’t quite my style, I really appreciated the atmosphere—it’s very well done! I also liked the effort put into the UI to describe the player’s abilities. With some game design adjustments to make the experience align more with modern expectations, I think this game has a lot of potential. Anyway congrats for having make it so far, finishing a game is already a huge work !