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(+1)

I liked the mechanics you've implemented despite the bugs! I liked how there was dialogue after retrieving upgrades, adding to the immersion of the game. The explosion animation was also done really well!

If you're looking for some tips/feedback and such, here's a few I thought of. I'm not sure if these are things that just didn't make it into the uploaded build, so sorry if they're things you've already addressed:

  • I think Coyote time is really long! After falling off a platform I can  still jump way later. You could add a shorter timer to ensure that the coyote jump is only valid for a split second, because the coyote jump's main purpose is to ensure a player's "just a little bit too late" input is still valid.
  • The game as of right now lacks some direction. I wasn't sure where to go most the time. You could either be explicit by using signposts with arrows to guide the player, or subtly guide them in the right direction through level design and enticing items along the correct path. I mostly ended up getting lost after retrieving the dash.
  • The walls could use some more distinction. They're a very similar color to the background so at a first glance it can be difficult to tell if they're interactable or not.
  • Movement midair is pretty clunky and difficult to control due to the slow acceleration. I think it's fair to give the player less acceleration midair, but right now I think it feels a bit too little and not too great to play. You could use a stronger force, then cap the player's move speed so they don't go flying.
  • I think locking the player out their abilities and then claiming them later is cool, but the time between retrieving the abilities feels too short. I'm not sure if the gameplay would change all that much if the restart button and jump were just given right away. You could try to design the level where at first you play a decent amount of the game without being able to jump and tease certain parts where jumping would be useful, then once the player gets the jump, they can recall the locations where the jump would've been useful and restart to go back to those sections. That sort of happens at the beginning, but the pathway ends up leading you to the same location.

Overall, you have a lot of cool stuff happening here! I hope to see the updated version once the jam ends!

(+1)

Wow thanks a million for the detailed list, I really appreciate !

In the full version I wanted to upload the bugs were solved and I added panels to show the way to the player and when they should use the air dash. I lowered the camera zoom a bit too so you can see more platforms (especially the ones you have to let yourself fall on, so you know a bit more where you're going).

I'll take your advice for the coyote time and air-physics, though I'm still new to that so I'm not sure I'll do it right ^^

As for the walls, I used a premade tileset but maybe I could modify their colors in aseprite to make the distinction between walls and floor easier to read ? Do you think that would work ?

Finally, in terms of building the level, thanks a lot for your insight. I've never built a platformer before so I was a bit like "hmmm, let's try  this and that". I have no experience at game design or anything so I think I'll try what you said.

If anything else come to your mind please write back, I'll be working on improvements on the game tomorrow !

(+1)

Yeah for sure! A recolor in aesprite sounds great! You could probably make the background walls darker and the floors brighter to pop out. The other improvements you’ll make sound good too! Good luck!

(+1)

Thank you ! I was so hyped by your comments that I already did a third of the planned changes but I had other things planned for today and this evening so... I'm just excited about tomorrow. Thanks again, your comments are a perfect example of why I want to do a lot of jams in a row to learn fast during the next few months :D