This is such an awesome game. It's like I went back in time and played a Nintendo game I never knew existed. The look, feel, and play-ability of the game is top notch. As the previous commenter said, this game should be expanded. Good job!
Play game
ALCHEMYGHT's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Graphical Presentation | #3 | 4.333 | 4.333 |
Fun | #4 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
Overall | #4 | 3.653 | 3.653 |
Era "Feel" | #5 | 3.933 | 3.933 |
Sound Design | #5 | 3.800 | 3.800 |
Controls | #16 | 2.800 | 2.800 |
Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What style of retro game were you going for? (Year/Era/Console/etc)
80's NES Platforming / Action
Comments
Loved this and I'm still unwrapping all the mechanics. Knowing that you put in peaceful mode is a plus too and the potion mixing make me wandering about the combination while having the firsts recipes written down in an old fashioned game manual.
Just to add the only nitpick I have, and it dosen't effect the game now as the world is not so sprawling and big but the way the player feels a bit too slow when it stops for gathering the materials with the attack.
That was a great choiche, it increses the uses of potions, as some can be used to evasion or for preparing an attack. Now that am running deeper I have to say that your game give such a sense of adventuring. For the post release I'm changing the last boss fight to go add a complete pacifist run wich I had not made in time to design this way. Thank you for your reminder :D
I think you absolutely nailed the aesthetic, sound effects and music on this one, but I unfortunately found it somewhat clumsy to play. The keyboard control scheme was a bit strange, I've never seen a game use E, R, F, Space, and arrow keys, the option to use more conventional keybinds like z, x, c, and enter would be really appreciated. I also found that the movement was extremely slippery, almost like everywhere is an ice level, and that the main attack was a bit too slow and short range. This coupled with a projectile that moves slower than enemies do, most enemies being too short to hit without crouching, and a lack of attack knockback made combat feel quite frustrating. I did think the mechanic of crafting different potions to use was pretty cool, and it was fun trying them out on enemies and the environment, but I always felt like I ran out too quickly, so it would be nice if a single craft yielded more of each potion. Aside from my critique, I do genuinely think this is a really cool project! If polished it could be really good, but some clumsiness in controls keeps it from being really enjoyable.
It's designed for controllers, but I was asked to add keyboard controls for those who do not have one. I had asked for feedback on what bindings to use, but this was the only response I got. So that's what I used. Thanks for the feedback! The post jam version has addressed many of the issues brought up so far, to include the slippery controls. I really appreciate you taking time to play the game!
While I like the idea, everything felt a bit too obscure to figure out. I only ever found 3 recipes, and was only ever able to make one of them. I couldn't figure out how to progress or figure out what I was supposed to do. It fits the era, but vague puzzles and being clueless kept me from doing much. It certainly felt like Zelda 2.
The basic idea of the game is in the description on the submission page, and the NPCs all give hints on how to progress / make potions. Part of that era of games for me was exploration and experimentation. Initially, the only NPC was Granny and she didn't say much. After some playtesting, I added way more NPCs to give hints on how to proceed. Granny / NPCs all give players almost all of the recipes but leaves out at least one ingredient. The descriptions of the reagents also give some more hints.
Either way, thanks for playing! Looks like I need to add more directions...
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.