Based on the demo, I can say that I really enjoyed the game - excellent work! It definitely has potential. I’d like to highlight the strengths of the game, as well as some suggestions on how it could be improved even further.
Strengths:
- Atmosphere: The game has a strong retro vibe, which is really cool! Every element, from the menu and art to the gameplay, supports the retro style. Playing the game made me feel nostalgic, as it reminded me of old console games (in a good way).
- Tutorial: The game has a clear tutorial and exposition. This is not always common in indie projects, and it’s definitely a plus. The player gets a brief introduction to the story and the hero, and learns how to move, fight, and interact with objects.
- Variety: The game features dungeons, towns, different enemies, and artifacts. The entity of the Hand is also presented in an interesting way. All of this makes the game world feel alive.
- Sound: The game has very good sound design. There are many sounds that accompany different gameplay actions. The sounds complement the atmosphere, are high quality, and play at the right moments. Overall, the sound felt a bit loud to me, but this can easily be adjusted in the settings.
Suggestions:
- UI: The UI feels appropriate in style, but the menu and buttons seem a bit too large and bulky. I would try resizing them to lighten the interface.
- English text: It would be good to proofread the English text. Some sentences don’t sound very natural. Perhaps it was translated from another language? This doesn’t ruin the game, but proofreading would definitely improve it.
- Tutorial guidance: At the point in the tutorial where you need to enter the first dungeon, I got a bit confused. Maybe it would help to explicitly mention that the player needs to go to the ground and press the “Enter” button? It might seem obvious, but I didn’t notice it right away.
- Level design: I would tweak the level design of some dungeons. For example, sometimes spikes appear that don’t actually affect the hero because they can’t physically touch them. I also encountered a few minor bugs, like one dog running at me while more participated in battle. Overall, though, I liked the dungeons!
Overall, I can say that your game is really stylish! I enjoyed playing it and I’m confident it will find its audience. I wish the project all the best and hope it will be very successful.