Hey Ashley, I will leave some feedback here if you don't mind!
Just finished playing it. I would say you did pretty well considering the time limit and the amount of stuff you had to do (and being your first jam as well)! Also, really liked the graphics and story of the game (I think most will agree that theese are your game strong points).
Gameplay wise, it's simple and fun: I understand what you said about the dream version of the game versus the end result (on my first jam I had the same problem, haha), and going into a more simple gameplay sure helped make the game better. However, in my opinion there's just some small problems:
- I think this one is pretty noticeable: sometimes the character can get stuck on plataforms and other objects. It is not game breaking, but sure removes a bit from the game feel.
- The other thing is the mechanic of time pockets: surely a great idea, and has plenty of room to be expanded on, but it could be executed better, like with the color of the screen changing, or the music slowing down,or making the purple and green barriers that delimit the time pockets more noticeable. The first time I entered a slow down zone, it looked that the game was lagging, and it took some time for me to remember that this was a mechanic.
Just saying again, theese are just my opinions. Either way, definetly a fine game for 72hrs!