Super cute game! I love all the bug animations and the rocket jump inspired mechanics. One thing I think you should look into is the sound design, some sounds (like the spider and death sounds) seem much louder than other sounds in the mix. I think allowing the wand to rotate a full 360 degrees would also help, I found it hard to aim directly below the character because the wand wouldn't track to my mouse if I aimed straight down. The shrines are a great idea, but some feel kind of slow to activate. With the game being so focused on movement and momentum, it feels very strange to have to slow down and sit still for so long to save the game. I'd recommend making the save shrines instant rather than taking a few seconds to interact with them, I think that would speed up gameplay a lot. Same goes for the mana regeneration, having it regenerate slower while walking seems very counterintuitive. It felt like the I would gain good momentum while blasting, but then would have to stop moving for a second to regenerate my mana. I think having mana regenerate at a consistent speed when the player is grounded would speed up the gameplay too. I hope some of this feedback helps! :) I adore the style this game has going for it and it has so much potential, keep up the great work!
Thanks so much for the great feedback! The aiming I entirely understand. The problem with rotating it all the way was that the animation didn't look good that way; earlier there was an aimer UI element that showed where you were aiming, but I removed that as I thought it wasn't necessary. Good to know that it may have been useful though.
Your thoughts on the pacing are great. I was worried about people being able to skip through too fast, but the slow mana regeneration might just feel like punishment. Definitely good to look at again.
It means a lot that you enjoyed it! Thanks again!