Nice seeing you again too, dzy! I really enjoyed playing this. I love the art style and the story, but I do feel like the opening cutscene is actually higher quality than the gameplay, so there’s some polish needed to bring the two in line.
Here is my feedback:
- Controls & Onboarding: When I first started, I had no idea how to pass the first orange orb-enemy (i’ll just call them orbs). I swung my sword at it for a bit before randomly pressing Right Click and discovering there was a jump button. It wasn’t listed in the controls, so having that documented would have saved me some confusion (and maybe other players too, but I usually have tunnel-vision in this area, so maybe it’s just me). One last heads up on this topic: Not all controls/buttons were listed on the itch page
- Hitboxes & Feedback: The gameplay gets tricky in the later rooms, specifically that sequence where you pogo from an orange enemy -> wizard -> blue diamond -> switch. The hitbox on the blue diamond felt a bit unforgiving, as I misaligned slightly and it didn’t refresh my sword. I got no visual feedback that I “missed,” so I wandered around thinking I had skipped a step rather than just missing a jump.
- Puzzle Clarity: The puzzles felt a bit abstract. I didn’t interact with everything in the levels, which made me wonder if I was missing requirements for an alternate ending. I’m not sure what the coin-like objects were for, but that’s my best guess! Clearer feedback on levers, collectibles, and interactions would help the player know they are on the right track.
- Quality of Life: One major complaint is the lack of a restart button. If I messed up a sequence or used my sword one time too many, I had to intentionally run into an enemy to reset. For a puzzle-heavy game, this is really tedious and breaks the flow.
Things done well
- The art style is fantastic.
- The story sets a great mood.
- The music really strengthens the atmosphere, and
- The cutscene is genuinely high quality.
Suggestions for future iterations:
- Introduce mechanics safely: Let the player play around with new mechanics in a controlled space before they are required to pass.
- Visual Feedback: Give clear feedback for everything. A lever pull, a collectible pickup, or even a missed hit.
Overall, this was a solid jam game with great vibes, I’ll give you guys that! Keep it up.