Lots of fun. Very beautiful art and music.
Smooth gameplay.
My only issue is the punishing escalation combined with having to restart from the beginning every time - I know, I know, it's a roguelike.
More specific things then:
1) as someone already commented, I also got confused between the keys sometimes;
2) I really do not like how close the first orb can spawn when the circle resets - I would like a larger minimum buffer zone to give me time to see what I'm actually supposed to do (either that, or have the circle smoothly filling with orbs constantly);
3) I was not expecting a boss fight based on the narrative, so I got surprise shanked on the only run I managed to make it to the queen;
4) the speeds changing dramatically, combined with extra orbs, in each realm seems unfair because you just got used to the rhythm of the previous realm, and now you have no idea how fast the thing is about to move - you have to practice enough in each realm to get used to the speed, but you can only do that by restarting over and over and over...
Regardless, overall this is absolutely fantastic.
This game deserves high ratings; and I have added it to my favourites collection because I will want to replay again later (I'll get to the end one day...).
:)
Viewing post in FOR THE QUEEN jam comments
Hi! Thank you so much for such a detailed review!
- The difficulty curve will be smoother. I’m already working on expanding the locations so that battles don’t end just as the player is starting to get into the rhythm.
- The sudden appearance of the first orb when a new circle begins will also be fixed.
- I’ll add control customization and improve the button prompts so that the inputs are easier to remember and less confusing during combat.
- You’re absolutely right I mistakenly described the game as a roguelite instead of a roguelike. Once the jam is over, I’ll correct this in the next version.
I’ll do my best to incorporate all the feedback I’ve received into the Steam version. I hope you’ll give the final release a try and share your thoughts again!
Played it again on the train (a testament to how damn addictive it is!).
I finally beat it!
:)
Two more pieces of feedback from me:
1) the game experience is much nicer on mobile (probably because I'm using two hands?); but the text boxes obscure the character portraits (I played in-browser on mobile, not in the itch app);
2) it seems like the special action is disabled for the final boss fight; I personally think it is unfair to remove a power like that, that the player has been potentially spending upgrade points on, especially with no warning or foreshadowing that it might happen - I built my strategy on a super glass cannon Samurai who just needed to survive until the mega special death button - and I was sad to see that nerfed at the last second.
I know I seem critical; but please understand that my feedback comes from a place of love!
If I didn't care, I would just write "Cool game, bro" and move on.
XD
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback! You have no idea how much comments like yours help me improve the game, I truly appreciate it.
- Yes, the mobile version still needs some work, and I’m actively improving it.
- It’s actually not supposed to stay that way it’s a bug. I’m currently rebuilding the entire circle system to make the difficulty progression feel much smoother and more gradual
I genuinely look forward to hearing your thoughts on the full release! Your feedback has been incredibly valuable, and I’d love to know what you think once the release version is out. Thank you again for your support!
More feedback:
1) I just can't stop playing it! It's my go-to now for whenever I have a random few minutes to kill. I just keep it in a permanent tab in my mobile browser. I've gotten good enough to beat the story almost every time (mobile controls + samurai + don't waste point on special); and I can easily say "just one more run". I would suggest allowing key remapping for the PC version. I genuinely think being able to use two hands increased my ability and made it more fun.
2) Having played it on mobile so much, I would like to ask that the buttons be widened, or placed closer to the edges of the screen. I'm extending my thumbs *juuuust* a little bit more than is comfortable to try to reach the middle