An aesthetically very charming game! I felt that this game had a better narrative and writing than most games I’ve played in this jam, where it struck a decent balance between being engaging while staying simple enough to not get in the way of the gameplay. The animation and facial details on the playable ball character is also a great touch; I love the dizzy face they make when they bounce on a mushroom after spinning.
Unfortunately, I can’t help but notice the similarity in premise to a 2006 game named Within a Deep Forest. While I doubt this resemblance is intentional, I can’t help but make comparisons against what this game is able to do with its ball-based controls, mechanics and level design - and unfavorably so.
That is to say, I think A BALLad TALE‘s current use of bouncing mechanics serves as a detriment to itself, as opposed to a strength. The fixed bounce height doesn’t serve to make the actual act of platforming much more interesting than if I held down a turbo button on a regular platformer, and in fact just makes it more tedious to pick up gems on the ground, to time jumps, or navigate around moving platforms.
Speaking of which, those moving platforms are in my opinion the weakest part of your level design currently. Waiting for vertical platforms to move closer to you, and waiting for them to reach the point where you want to jump off is inoffensive, albeit unengaging. However, because the player character isn’t simply able to stand on horizontally moving platforms, you have to keep moving the character manually to keep up with the platform, forcing you to pay the slightest bit of attention moreso than the vertical platforms.
This isn’t engaging; it isn’t challenging; it’s simply tedious, and even moreso when you fail a jump.
I won’t repeat the other comments made by other players, but I’d like to stress my opinion that a deep avenue for this game to explore moving forward lies in how you make use of the ball main character in your gameplay mechanics, and how your level design might best compliment it. I think the low bounce action you’re able to unlock has potential, for example, but rather than forcing players to constantly mash the X key, I think it might be interesting if pressing X let them perform a downwards slam attack, while holding X made the player character bounce lower while the key is held.
I see that you’ve mentioned that this is just a demo for a larger game; I wish you all the best adding onto your game’s currently strong aesthetic and premise, as well as its gameplay potential.