respect. Saves me from having to guess what worked and what didn’t.
First off, thanks for the encouraging parts. I’m glad the core arcade feel and especially the in-game music landed, because that’s very much the heart of what I’m trying to build.
I do agree with some of your criticism, especially around onboarding and clarity. The intro flow has grown a bit… ambitious, and it’s fair that it slows players down instead of pulling them in. That’s something I’m actively reworking. Same goes for readability and feedback in combat, there’s definitely room to tighten things up so hits feel more satisfying and information is easier to parse.
That said, some of the points about sluggish gameplay and long load times raise a bit of a different question. The game is fairly lightweight under normal conditions, so when it starts feeling slow or unresponsive, it often points more toward hardware limitations than pure design issues. That’s still on me to optimize better, but it might explain why the experience felt especially heavy on your end.
Also, small correction: there is actually a pause menu in the game. It tends to fly under the radar, which probably says something about how clearly it’s communicated, but it’s there… and I’ll shamelessly claim it’s a pretty nice one too.
On the music: I get why the title screen track feels disconnected, but that part is very intentional. The contrast is meant to create a slightly chaotic, punky tone rather than a perfectly cohesive soundscape. It’s less “consistent mood” and more “attitude.” So that one I’ll stand by.
For context, this is also my first real game, and I’m basically vibe-programming my way through it after not touching code since the QBasic era. So a lot of what you’re seeing is me learning in real time, sometimes elegantly, sometimes… less so.
Overall though, this kind of detailed feedback is genuinely useful. Underneath the rough edges, you clearly saw what the game is trying to be, and that part matters.