Skip to main content

On Sale: GamesAssetsToolsTabletopComics
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(+1)

The way you implemented the metroidvania formula withing a rail-shooter is really interesting. I like that despite being on rail you actually have great freedom of movement and you need to figure out where to go and how. But I struggled to locate myself in this world: I wished it had big landmarks in the middle of the loops, so I could quickly recognize where I was and where I was headed. I took a long time to find the way out of the first zone.

My other complaint is the lack of affordance for most of the gameplay elements. I was confused during most of my playtime, having no clue what the different things were or did. I always appreciate a little mystery, but my confusion would often persist after interacting once or twice with an element, which was frustrating. Sometimes it was clear (going through a red circle alerts new enemies, got it) but other times I wasn't sure how cause and consequence related to each other.

Despite the game's repeated warnings, I played with a gamepad because the mouse & keyboard controls were just too complex for me. It was fine, though I would have preferred the acceleration/deceleration to be a boost while you hold the button rather than two buttons you have to constantly juggle between. But it's a pretty minor gripe.

I gave up in the Organic level because the difficulty ramped up too fast for me. I just couldn't shoot down all the enemies while avoiding tripping the reinforcements while also looking around to identify where I was and where I should go (the rails became much longer and twisty between level 1 and 2). That being said, I'm no expert at those kind of games, so take it with a grain of salt.

Again, very interesting entry, with a nice feel to it. I could see it growing on me if I had more time to dedicate to it. Good job! ;)

Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback.

The organic zone is definitely the worst designed zone imo. It's the first zone I made and I don't have a ton of experience making metroidvanias so I was learning a lot about area design during this jam (the only other metroidvania I've made was for MVM 26 and it was a complete dumpster fire). I wanted to do a full redesign, but only had time for some minor adjustments at the end of the jam. But since most of the tracks in the game are loops you should be able to focus on defeating all the enemies in a room first, then find somewhere safe to look around (eg, the first room in the organic zone has a track with a save point and no enemy bubbles, which is also a pretty decent look-out spot). Aiming with a controller also sucks, which is why there were so many warnings. In hindsight I probably should have made some kind of aim assist system for people using controllers.

If you don't mind me asking, what elements specifically confused you? There aren't a lot of objects in the game, and the only one that's meant to be somewhat mysterious are the beacons. But I'm also not very good at world design since most of the game's I've made are smaller arcade style games that don't have much to figure out. Thanks.

(+1)

It took me a while to understand why some spheres would warp me and others would damage me and whether or not I could change that and how. I also wasted quite some time firing on the bubbles containing red and white spheres in the middle of the loops, and they did light up, but I don't think it ever did anything...? There was a golden sphere at some point that dissolved when I went through it and later reformed but it wasn't one of the gold warps or the gold targets you can fire on (which all look somewhat similar but serve vastly different purposes). Speaking of the gold warps, I initially assumed they would warp me to different places according to which side I came from (because all other warps point to their unique destination but those have two trails coming out of the center). The enemies I quickly understood haha (same with those with shields).

I suspect all those symbols would benefit from having a clear visual language (both shapes and colors) you could learn to quickly get an idea of what they do (eg: spiky red-ish symbols are always dangerous, bright/golden lozenges could be stuff to collect or interact with, blue-ish spheres for warps, stuff like that).

I did activate one of the beacons but I don't really know what it did. I assumed I would find another one in the second level and would understand more about their purpose then. So in that case the mystery worked as intended.

And aim assist would be a great addition, yes!

(+1)

That all makes sense.

Balancing the visual language and theming was a massive struggle while working on this, since everything is supposed to be on a subatomic scale. Just to clarify a few things, the gold sphere is an energy recharge and the blue bubbles with red and white spheres are supposed to be decorative atomic nuclei.

I have been thinking of ways to improve the visual language since I'm considering revising this for the super mvm jam, so this feedback is incredibly useful. Thanks!