Hey! This is really good! It felt like I didn't really have control over whether I took hits on my monster or not until I realized that was exactly what the push-away beam was for. You created this nice little equilibrium where the monster often follows at juuuuust the right speed to take bullets that had been meant for me, and it was my job to disrupt that equilibrium whenever possible. This is slick af.
In terms of critiques, I'd say my biggest note is that your game overstays its welcome a little bit, particularly for a jam. You guys made a LOT of levels for the time allotted, and that's impressive! But also as a player, it means I've got a lot of content to get through before I can feel like I've completed the game. In a project that had been given time to breathe that's fine; more levels! In a project with a 48 hour life span though, it can end up being a pretty strong drawback.
In this case particularly, from the first level with the big red guys onwards I kind of lost my sense of progression and escalation. The number of obstacles and enemies gradually increased, but it all kinda muddied after the following 3 or 4 rooms. I guess in some ways this becomes almost a question of man hour allocation and editing than just design; how many stages could have been cut without noticably changing the game? How much of that time could have been put to features or bugfixing?
All that said, you guys still did a superb job. You made a whole-ass game, it works, it's good, and you made your own sound and art to boot. With some tweak and polish this could become a twinstick worth remembering. <3