I like the ideas here, especially combining side-scroller elements with exploration and collection. I had trouble understanding how all the elements of the game fit together (stamina, backtracking, etc.), it wasn't until my third attempt that it really clicked. The cloud hitboxes are a bit unclear as well. The audio is really on point and nicely done, and the shaders/effects combined with the flat art style work really well together.
Viewing post in Rite of the Fall jam comments
Thank you for playing! I’m glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed the game eventually. I agree that in its current state, the gameplay is not that prominent and needs improvement.
Basically, the energy (or QI as we call it internally) is supposed to be your stamina, mana and shield from the damage at the same time. However, we didn’t have time to add enemies and combat, so it only works as a stamina/shield at the moment.
We tried two different approaches to the hitboxes of the clouds. At first, we made the hitbox equal to the whole cloud as it is visible on the screen, but then it looked strange when a character, clearly standing before a tree, was hit by a cloud that was passing far behind the same tree. So we decided to make the hitbox a rect below the cloud’s base. As if they were almost flat 3D objects. So now the cloud only hits the player when their base positions +- collide. Ie, if a character visually steps into the base of the cloud. It works a bit better, but maybe not ideal.