This feels kind of like Hades. It is a serious, ambitious project, and a lot of thought, attention and ambition were put into it. It also feels really personal to the people who were directing it.
It could be developed, AI-wise, to play more like Hades or Hotline Miami and other top-down action games in the genre.
That is what it needs to stand out.
As a game jam entry for a small jam, it is impressive.
I personally found the movement (with W going left + up) to be confusing at first, and then it felt more natural. I feel it would be best to simplify that aspect.
The art was great. Doing AI for an action game is hard. I am working on a similar thing in this jam (trying to make top-down / isometric action feel good), and it is extremely hard.
I think this project was definitely a stepping stone toward making a meaningful game I can spend hours playing.
I got to the credits. I wish there was a short ending screen. The combat scenarios evolved nicely.
Some constructive criticism:
- The movement, since this is an action game I’d keep it as simple and easy as possible (personally as a dev and a player) imho.
- The shooting, it already feels juicy but I would add a bit of knock-back on impact and glow, to both the projectile and an enemy that gets hit.
- Enemy movement variety, more varied behaviors. Enemies moving around and shooting, enemies lunging at you. Play around with it (I need to too) and experiment.
Great job making this game! So much potential in you guys.
