Pikiboiii back at it again, bringing us a visual glimpse of what it would look like if the Seven Wonders of the World were all fused together! Man, the art direction here is absolutely insane! I’m always impressed by how you manage to turn “simple” visuals into something extraordinary. It’s like a controlled visual chaos that massively boosts the sense of satisfaction while playing. It’s very clear that this is one of your strongest strengths, especially when comparing this project to some of your previous ones.
The theme is applied effectively, and the fast-paced combat is really engaging. I especially loved how you used post-processing effects to enhance immersion during gameplay. My absolute favorites were the dash and the trail effect the sword leaves when you swing it at different angles. These might seem like small details to some people, but for someone who loves that kind of polish (like me), they make the experience so much more engaging—and you can really feel the care you put into the project.
The leaderboard is definitely a great addition for replayability, so it was awesome to see that implemented. I actually want to look into how to do that myself for future games—it seems like a really fun challenge.
As for gameplay, there was just one issue that almost stopped me from playing your game haha. I usually prefer downloading the Windows version instead of playing in the browser, so I can experience the game at its full potential. However, even though the executable opened, the screen stayed completely black. No idea why—the game was running, but there was no image or sound at all. I’m not sure if it’s a shader issue or if my PC is just getting old. Unlike some other players, I was only able to play the web version haha, which fortunately worked perfectly.
Because of the many visual effects in the game, it was a really smart move to include options to disable some of them. I’m pretty sure my PC wouldn’t handle everything at once. With the intense gameplay and multiple things happening simultaneously, it would probably start lagging at some point. But having control over the visual settings made it easy to toggle things on and off to keep the performance stable.
Without a doubt, this is a very strong and well-crafted submission. The sound effects are also excellent and complement the visuals with great harmony. Another awesome game from you—keep it up!
I’ve always wanted to learn how to work with shaders—do you have any recommendations for books or resources? If it’s about fragment shaders, even better, since from what I’ve researched, they’re especially important for 2D games.
Congrats on the great work, and best of luck in the jam!