Ill post the full review as a reply, but wow first time I really went through something this difficult lmao.
Viewing post in Monkeying Around jam comments
Okay, so I'm someone who isn't good at 2d platformers... and wow that was an experience...
I think I got into level 6, and just at that rate after losing a couple more times, I knew that the only reason why I kept playing (lack of rng) pretty quickly became false...
I know I shouldn't have pushed myself, even with the initial dopamine of beating a level or the severe pains of losing again and again, I knew if I were to make a comment, I would at least play for 30-50 mins (I completely lost track of time), even if most of it was dying.
Stuff I wanted to point out
1. The rng aspect should be really kept to a minimum, especially with the timer. Even with the painful level 3, which was so awful of a difficulty spike, I knew it was something I can improve on and get better with. With levels 5 and 6... you have to get lucky (which is awful and what really killed me from continuing)
2. It's generally harder to practice and learn the new mechanics. I know games can assume certain platforming knowledge, but I feel like there is more potential in getting new players into platforming, if it allows for the player to really experience the reward/effort. I never really had the time and place to relearn a new section, and from my own keyboard/piano lessons, the worst way to learn is to redo the entire piece just because you failed at a different section. It generally wastes the time of the player and makes it much more annoying to go through.
(A suggestion, its up to you if its good or not lol) This is easier said than done though, since I feel like adding a checkpoint system wouldn't be great for what the game is going for..., maybe just a new first level w/ check points being larger and simpler with many skippable/easy to dodge regions, but w/o time constraint. But in theory a place you can learn pretty much most of the entire level if you know how to. Like the jumping on top pink orbs, wall jump into orbs... Something the player has to setup or look at the level design as an opportunity while they could still practice before taking it on? Its an idea I had when looking at difficult games... Of course, there are many other ways like a practice level every stage that can be accessed through a pause menu, or whatever creative stuff people thought on.
3. I feel like there should be a banana in every "procastinated" world so to speak to encourage those who are more capable to undergo through harder variants, while reducing the main difficulty of the main levels. Optional challenge spikes are probably the best way to ensure replayability. These can have less time than the regular variant as it does depict the feeling of, if you know you procastinated youre really REALLY out of time.
Levels
- Pretty much its just level 3's procatsinated world being awful with the pink orb jump having to be insanely precise, since you have to jump at the most highest possible to clear it. Which for a level 3... not great...
- I already commented on the rng aspects, with level 5, and 6, and somehow level 2 as the skip I wanted to perform was a bit rng... (its fine though).
Others
- The movement feels like I could get a bit more control? It may make the game easier w/o level changes, but I feel like its more rewarding like jump height, wall jump distance would improve the feeling a ton.
What I liked
I did like the general atmosphere, presentation, sprites , thematics, and overall the levels look "nice" for a lack of a better term. The immediate quick to restart made this was more palatable, and I generally just liked it.
The pixel and engine choice was something I liked as I went through, the timer was adequate, not too disturbing but its there
Overall, while I think I could've enjoyed this way more, I think its still a nice game. Thank you for submitting in the game jam!
I'm so glad to read this review so I try to answer every point you have made as best as I can!:
- Your are right about the RNG part with turrets, I realized that in a game with a tie constraint, waiting on something that has a potential to not happen at all or at the last possible moment isn't great become then you're bottle necked, So one way I would probably think of fixing this would be getting rid of the red orbs from turrets and making them only shoot pink orbs so you wont be waiting guessing for the next one to be a pink orb to finally be able to progress the level. I could have also added multiple paths like in a few of my later levels so that if you get lucky and are able to skip some parts of the level, thats great, or you can go the other more consistent route.
- Difficulty Spike in level 3: Yeah this one was definitely a mess up on my part, whilst testing I built levels around how I could move the character and ended up making a path that requires a very precise jump. I feel like the normal level on level 3 isn't too difficult and can definitely be learned and enjoyed, but I agree that the difficulty spike in the "procrastination" stage was too much compared to the normal level. I definitely could have put this further into the game towards the end with more of a skills buildup.
- My worst levels in retrospect were totally the RNG levels 5 and 6 With 6 I wanted a level where you travel across the orb. And that could have been a cool thing if you weren't waiting for the pink orb. Same with 5.
- My other levels after those are normal good levels in my opinion, except for 7, where I somehow made the stage 2 mode way easier and more fun than the normal stage lol.
- I understand your point about not being able to easily replay your levels so I tried adding the Konami code to be able to play any level you wish including the "procrastination" ones, but it was a bit rushed and I could have gone all out in "practice" mode by adding many other QOL features for the player even newbies to learn
- Also that suggestion you made, thats what I was going to try and achieve with the play testing easter egg (I would have made it more easier to figure out, if I had time) this does build on my previous answer tho, I appreciate it!
- Bananas: I completely agree with your statement ideally I wanted a banana in every stage normal and corrupted, But I just didn't have enough time to design all the levels properly (I can't really keep using this time excuse lol)
- Movement: Tbh I really thought my game's movement felt pretty nice and juicy, with instant feedback, but I could totally see how some changes could change how the game is played, and how level design is crafted in the future, so i'm not closed to the idea lol.
- Im really glad you liked my art, design and prevention it really means a lot because it means I'm getting better at those things! I've always used other peoples assets before, and I been trying really hard to start making my own so that I don't have to search for the most specific things anymore lol.
- The immediate quick respawn was something I learned from games like Celeste, and Geometry dash and I thought it was great so I'm glad I added it here.
- This was my first time making a full game in PICO-8 so I did run through a lot of challenges trying to get it to work, hence why I was so rushed trying to finish this (I was still making bug fixed up until the last 5 minutes of submission lol) (And then I found out after I submitted that they extended the time lol, I had already fallen asleep tho)
- Final Thoughts: Thank You so much! I am really glad you enjoyed my game enough to play it for so long and leave such a detailed thoughtful review! I will defiantly be making changes and bug fixes based on your and everyone else's comments here so that I can learn how to make a better game for the future. I'm really glad I decided to take part this year it was so fun and helpful! Thank You!
Welcome! I think I knew it was worth it to at least go through since I knew every submission probably had tons of hours behind them. I felt like the game had some oversights due to time or planning (or anything else) and I wanted to point out and express properly even with the intense failure rate lmao. I think you'll do good next time, as I saw the soul in the game. Cheers!