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This is a brilliant game, it has a peaceful yet challenging feel which is hard to pull off, a simple yet soothing art style and it scratches the itch of the collector within me, at least it did until i got to the bird boss.

I have never wanted to throw my computer at a wall as much as i have when i faced his boss. At first, it was enjoyable and a clever idea, but when stage two came, it just slowly built up my anger. The jumps need to be perfect, as you have to line up on the birds to even reach, but you can't forget to let go of the buttons once you land otherwise you waltz on off the birds and have to restart. And once you get to the top, there's a non zero chance you can't even move to stage three, because you keep the momentum of the birds and crash right into the wall, which keeps you from scanning the boss. As for stage three, i actually don't have any idea how to beat it, maybe there's some technique i'm missing but i have no clue. I just gave up after a while since i don't think i'd be able to calm down and enjoy what came after the boss even when i beat it.

It's a fucking marvelous game apart from this boss, and i might just be godawful at games for not getting past it, i don't know. It's a shame i couldn't enjoy the game to it's fullest. Still, what you've made is great.

borbware2 years ago (2 edits)

Thanks for the insightful critique. I feel like I shouldn't take this lightly, especially as I see how much the boss killed your enthusiasm.

So I certainly need to rebalance the boss. ~~I think most of the work I have to do is managing expectations - stage three is actually quite easy mechanically after you figure out what you gotta do~~ (hint at the end of the message). But as the first two phases are purely about mechanical execution, you'd reasonably expect the third one would be, too.... [EDIT: I actually went and made the stages mechanically easier as well with a few level design changes. Should be MUCH less frustrating now]

So I guess this was a fair warning to me - I should always playtest a new feature with new players, instead of just those who already mastered the mechanics. :D cheers!

hint:

the bottom one is not the only bird that can be scanned to start the sequence.

borbware2 years ago

ok the boss is now updated, hopefully it's less frustrating now. try it out! :]

OhNoImATrap2 years ago(+1)

I tried out the boss again, and god, it feels way more in my hands. When i fell off i didn't get upset that i misunderstood the physics, but rather felt like it was a fair challenge. You definitively succeeded here.

borbware2 years ago

Phew, I'm SO relieved to hear that! Once again, thanks for your critique, it really pushed me to make it a much fairer first boss. Cheers!

itch.io

Viewing post in EMUUROM comments

the bottom one is not the only bird that can be scanned to start the sequence.