Saw that this game was being talked a lot about in the discord and after playing it myself, it's for good reason!

To start off, this is an extremely polished game for a game jam. The animations for the player, fish companion and monster enemies (they remind me of giant aggressive tadpoles for some reason) all look really nice and smooth, I see from the comments on your game page that you used procedural animation to achieve that which is cool. The minimalistic art style is utilised very well and adds to the overall atmosphere of the game along with the particle effects and the player character reminds me of the character from journey but with a bird head.

As for the gameplay, the player controls very well. It was pretty depressing though when my character accidentally hit a bomb and then its lifeless body proceeded to get flung around as it detonated more bombs XD. I really liked the fish companion as an indication if you could use the double jump or not. The only thing I didn't fully understand was what triggered the tadpole monsters to become aggressive as sometimes they'd be fully turned around while I was moving around and they would suddenly become aggressive.

The music and sound effects were excellent too and I particularly liked the sounds the tadpole monsters made.

Overall, a game well deserving of one of the top spots in the jam. I do have to agree with some of the previous comments that innovation is marked down a bit as when you set aside the great amount of polish, it is a pretty simple platformer. I do however think that this does not detract from any other areas of criteria as I still believe you achieved the jam's theme through the minimalistic design as well as design through subtraction. Amazing job!

This is soooo epic

This is soooo epic

This is soooo epic

This is soooo epic

Congratulation for your game. All is mastered from beginning to end. I'm not sure about  theme and innovation, but all the rest is almost perfect !

Game is good when you are able to identify with the game character and live the game through it, in this game this was successful. A very professionally executed game. Aesthetically very beautiful game. The color scheme is good, distant shady subjects fit the background of the game landscape. The music and the sounds perfectly complements the gaming experience. This game is masterpiece

Checked it out, here are my thoughts:

Theme:

The game nails the theme less is more. Minimal story, but impact, simple basic platformer but pays off by being very polished. Even the game page was very minimal. Less was more for you through and through.

Visuals:

The game had stunning visuals. No surprise there. Staying simple with your overall game, seemed to allow you to get the game to extreme level of polish. The particle effects were fantastic. The animations seemed to being procedurally generated which looked phenomenal. The single enemy type was creepy and intimidating, but very well balanced. A simple color palette was utilized which made everything one giant cohesive experience.

Innovation:

This is the only area that I had to dock points. Since it is just another platformer, but by no means does that make this bad at all or generic. It is a platformer, but a fantastically polished platformer, especially for only a week of work.

Sounds/Music:

The game utilized sound and music almost to perfection here. It didn't drone music the entire, which allowed when the moments the music play be much more impactful. Level design and sound design really is what drove the story of the game and it did it very well.

Overall:

So I think it has been made pretty obvious that this game falls into the excellent and top tier games that were entered into the game jam just by all the chatter in the discord and word of mouth. But just hearing about it does not do it justice. This is a much worthwhile game to experience. The visuals are gorgeous, the controls are beyond responsive and have the right weight to them. The world builds and tells a story of going through a gloomy cave and eventually climbing out into the bright world. Eventually reaching and peaking a new height! Visually stunning and fun to play and gives off the feeling of journey, and a slight dark tone story telling reminiscent of shadow of the colossus. . Great work!

I streamed it here for full thoughts, 1:14:00 is when I play it:

Major Journey vibes. The music, the sound effects, and the visuals are stunning. And the actual platforming systems are perfect, really appreciate the extra little time you get to jump when walking off and edge and stuff. Ending's music and color shifting to white gave me goosebumps. 6/5, awesome job.

wow very impressive you need to expand on this and make it into a full release i got chills down my spine and the big fish enemy was so creepy i loved it!

Hands down one of the best games I've played in this jam... That was truly a beautiful experience. You did SO much with so little. From the simple color palette to the (SPOILERS) addition of the double jump and the familiar type creature that joins you. Truly a very atmospheric and evocative journey. Major props. 

I think this is an easy 5 star game. Did you make the sounds or music? The only issue I can say is that the sounds maybe got a bit annoying by the end maybe some pitch shifts or something could help but really you guys did amazing and I really enjoyed it!

The visual language of your game is just perfect, you managed to pass on so much information, feelings, and history through animations, colors and sounds, it's really impresive! I didn't see anything close to this quality in the jam. The ending is sensational and gives a very positive ending to the game. Great stuff.

Wow... just wow. This happened in 7 days. A totally complete package of a game (besides being short but this is a game jam, I won't mark it down for that). Totally polished, well balanced, visually appealing, great audio, and emotionally moving. This game was a really neat experience. The threats are well designed both visually and audibly to seem threatening.

Only issue I can see... what does "less is more" have to do with the game? Is it about falling and then rising again to better heights?

That ending is so good I LOVED The music and the entire game

PLEASE expand on this idea i would buy it

This is the definition of perfection good job i don't even have words to tell you how much i like it. Just wow.

This is just the best game of the jam! hands down, really good on every level
I thought I wouldn't like it at first but I just love it!

I feel good in your game, the level of difficulty is super well balanced and nothing is pressuring you to go fast or slow. 

It's super beautiful and I'm going to just play it, again and again,

will also suggest to my friends

you should make it into a pro release!

awesome job

5 stars all the way

Came through recommendation on twitter, so satisfying little game. 5/5! You've build a beautiful little world, and I like even the monsters. The mines however are very explosive.

Holy moley that was insane!!! really. You most be professionals. The character is expressive the movement is superb, the fact that the character automatically ducks near a narrow corridor shows the attention to detail. The level design is great and the atmosphere is topnotch.

PS How did you do the footstep sound I getting into sound design and I really like the sound of it.

I'm trying to think of possible improvements to this game, but it's really hard. This game is insanely well polished for a game jam entry. Everything just works so well together - the sound design, the graphics, the particle effects.  This game is definitely a prime example of "show, don't tell," and it's really good at giving you a sense of dread whenever you encounter those big monsters. Amazing job!