This game is a real banger. The music firstly was so good. Big fan of that. I also felt the gameplay loop was arcadey and addictive. Every time I failed I had to keep coming back. I have 2 minor criticisms though, I feel the sprites being simplistic is fine for this but I do hope you continue working on this and maybe doing like full character sprites and animations, it has a lot of potential! The second criticism, I wish the parry was just a standard move rather than needing to fill the gauge. And maybe when you fill the gauge you have invincibility for like 5 seconds or something. Otherwise though, it was real fun and well done!
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Thanks for playing! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I’ve been thinking about replacing the programmer art with actual sprites in the future. Right now, it’s probably hard to sell the idea that you’re supposed to be some kind of samurai without explicitly stating it. I’d still go with a fairly simple art style for readability, though.
I implemented the gauge because I was concerned that having no limit on parrying would reduce the incentive for players to get close to enemies, since parrying would be the easier way to defeat them. Personally, I’d just stand there and parry all incoming projectiles, and the game would turn into more of a rhythm clicker. I don’t really want players to rely on parrying that much, my initial idea was for it to be more of a lifesaver in tight situations, with slashing as the main way to deal with enemies.
I’ve seen other people mention that they dislike the bar as well, so maybe a cooldown would be more appropriate, or more ways to fill it during gameplay. I’m for sure gonna try to come up with something.
Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it!