I've decided to try using a standard format for all my feedback this time around. Please excuse me if I come across as overly curt or miss something important about your game. I'm writing these all quite hastily as there are a lot of games in the jam this year!
What I liked
The game is really, really committed to the retro look and feel (fantasy console or engine?). It really does feel like something you might see on a ZX Spectrum or something.
Somehow it manages to have an adventurous feel despite the limited graphics and gibberish text.
What I didn't like
The graphics. Some people like this style, but I've never been a huge fan. However, there's a bigger problem in my mind.
With minimalist graphics and very limited gameplay, the player's experience is 90% the game's text, which is unreadable gibberish. It's funny at first but quickly devolves into randomly running into things in a vague, soulless world. When you inevitably die and get sent back to the beginning, it becomes tedious rather than fun.
I'm kind of on the fence of whether it should have had music and sound or not. Maybe beeps, nothing more, or it would ruin the retro illusion.
Did I think it was so bad it was good?
I think so. It certainly wasn't good good, but it held my interest and had a charm to it. It kind of felt like a mistranslated bootleg game which I think was the intent.
My thoughts on the modifier implementation
Impossible because you have no idea what's going on is a little different than just being impossibly hard. I think that's a neat take on the modifier. It's not my favourite take on it but it's a step above just plain difficulty in my mind.
Other notes
I did not beat the game. I may go back and try again.
Verdict
I think there were some really good ideas in this entry, and it is definitely a neat little game, but the elements don't quite come together.
If you have any questions, comments, queries or concerns, please reply and I'll do my best to get back to you.