The presentation was great, especially the "falling tiles" for expanding the level size.
The mechanics are interesting, although I'm not sure if fully utilized. Currently it's quite difficult to predict what enemies are going to do, and still play the game, so the most efficient strategy seemed to be going back and forth between 2 spaces. Further exploring the concept of "committing" to a tile on beat might lead to some interesting places.
Good job on this, I would like to see it expanded, and the design of how/why a player navigates to be explored more.
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Hey, thanks for playing! Each enemy has a fixed pattern, so the idea is that the player has to learn them and roughly map what's going to happen on the near future. I think the "going back and forth" strategy probably wouldn't work as you progress in the game. I do agree that there is a lot more space to be explored. I'm a bit curious, how far did you get? Also, thanks for the feedback!
Whilst I understood that each enemy had a pattern, I found it difficult to parse what enemies where about to do, whilst also moving my own character. This led to the aforementioned strategy of "hopping between 2 tiles, and only moving away when necessary".
To make a comparison; in Crypt of the Necrodancer (if I remember correctly) the Player is not damaged for standing still, they just lose whatever bonus/combo they currently had. This allows the player time to observe enemies from a distance, without being penalized too much. Whereas being forced to move in SoulBeat; caused me to ignore enemy patterns, and just focus on my own movement between 2 squares to minimize damage.
Not so much a critique, as an observation. I enjoyed hopping back and forth and moving when necessary, it just didn't allow me to plan/move to the degree that was needed.
I don't think I got very far; just past the wave with the multiple yellow dudes who do AOEs. I'm sure there's more to it, but I got frustrated after the 6th or 7th try.
Perhaps if enemies were introduced at a slower pace, and with checkpoints? It might make the internalization of the rules of each enemy a bit easier.
Or if the current Player tile was also highlighted in a colour.
Small things like this might allow a player like myself to be able to read what's happening on screen a bit quicker, and therefore react appropriately.
Other than these notes, this game is very well polished, and I did enjoy it.
I think the idea of "committing" to a space ahead of time is an interesting concept, especially to tie to rhythm.