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(+1)

Huh that's a funny one.

First of all,  the metal ball thingie, it's awesome! Super creative ability and it flows so well! Props to the level design for that, it was really fun to bounce around with that, I love it!

That said, wow that map is so huuuuuge, and like, in kind of a harmfull way I'm afraid. Every single room kinda just looks exactly like the previous one so after a dozen screen transitions I was already completely lost, and the rooms are soooo big, with not a lot of interesting stuff happening on them before you get the metal form, so like, until then you're just kinda... walking and jumping aimlessly throught a lot of random platforms with an ocasional squirrel here and there. And the metal form was actually the only thing I found AT ALL, I couldn't figure where to go next... I did climb a specific room that require  a lot of very cool bounces, but then at the top it was just a dead end lol

In the end I got to a room with very weirdly missplaced coral spikes that had no hitboxes, and fell out into the void when I tried leaving it since aparently it had no transition to the room before it... After that I kinda gave up since walking all the way to the metal upgrade again sounded like a chore, plus I have no clue where on the map it actually is lol, as I said, I was completely lost. (Usually I don't give up that easilly to silly softlocks, but in this case I really have no idea how to navigate this map, it's way too big and empty....)

So yeah, I have no idea  if I saw everything I could see or if I literally missed the whole actual game because there's really no indication of progress anywhere, not even the game page gives me any clue, so sorry if anything x)

Next time I'd actually advise to build way less rooms. Say with me folks: Quality over quantity!

(+1)

Yeah, I got suggested by a friend that we should have made a map as well. We ran out of time, you made it to as far as we got. Sorry we should have made a clear indication of where the game ends. I think a map would help with hugeness if it indicated where /which direction for example the abilities are.

(+1)

No worries!

But I have to say, please don't get the wrong lesson here! 

Having an actual map is very cool, but it is  just a little helping hand , it should NOT be used as a band-aid solution for level design!

I'd say the best metroidvanias are the ones you don't need a visible map at all, the player should be able to tell where they are just by feelings alone! Be that done by differing visuals, interesting gameplay patterns, noteable landmarks or anything like that. For example, you could have made less big open rooms and more cramped corridors ones. If the player can come back to a room that gives a "hub area" feeling they will be able to find thenselves all the much easier without actually needing a visible map for localization.


Maps are still great for localizing where you DIDN'T go yet by showing the player where are new exits on rooms they already passed throught, but they should not be used for mitigating "I'm lost" situations.