Really nice pixel art. Some smooth styling already on the UI so early is going to pay dividends for you as you develop this further. If I were to make a recommendation for you at this point, it would be nailing down the swimming of the mermaid, the full stack from input to feel to animation. I think making her swim feel amazing now and getting it just as you imagine its full potential is going to be the best force multiplier for your game and show you which way to go from here when it comes to level design and everything that comes after. I am also intrigued to see how the dryad garden will evolve. I imagine our heroine will pop her head out of the water and deposit her sea treasures for them to make use of? It's a clean loop with some real nice potential and fits the climate themes nicely.
Viewing post in Mermaid Cleanse jam comments
Thabks a lot for the detailled feedback. Currently struggling to achieve a smooth sensation for the player character due to using hard individual frames for her motion and attacks. Will be looking into upgrading the main look by using skeletal animation instead while still keeping pixel style. Also will place high focus on making traversal and combat feel nice.