Review for Dcay by HilmB
You wake in complete darkness. A figure is in front of you. It seems like you are in an ethereal place of sorts. You can make out a hole on your right. Unsure where it leads, you jump in. The bottom is nowhere in sight. Some memories come to you as you keep falling. Finally, you see light at the bottom.
You land in a lush forest. As you try to get your bearings, you are attacked by a zombie. After a fierce fight, you finally defeat the zombie, but upon more exploration, you encounter another one. This time, your strength fails you and you die. Game over... or is it?
Dcay plays by the idea of progressing little by little between deaths. After you die, you are taken to the save screen and return to the black beginning. You will find Dust from your encounters that is used to purchase gear that will hopefully keep you alive a little bit further next time you enter the dungeon.
The combat is the most polished part of this entry. Depending on your equipment, new options open up. I played with fists and Flurry and Barrage shards for that weapon. As noted by the game, Flurry is a multi-hit attack that is mostly used to build up Charge Points to unleash more powerful attacks on the enemy. Barrage is another multi-hit attack that basically one-shots every enemy if it isn't a boss.
There are currently three weapon types available: The fists, the shield and the gloves. Judging from their descriptions, the fists are for melee attacks, the shield is for mostly defense (along with shield bash) and the gloves allow you to use magic. I did not try them all as I completed the game with the fists equipped.
There's also a world selection via colored dust, but I did not explore that feature very well. Mostly I just did what the NPCs told me to (except for that boss fight where you were supposed to kill an exploding zombie, I ignored that) and the game felt rather railroaded.
The graphics are RTP and there is little music to speak of. Well, it goes along with the theme. Highlighting pickable items in a dark map was useful. However, is there another use for the flowers than to learn the healing skill? If not, it feels like you have missed an opportunity there.
The combat kept me entertained for a while. However, there is a lot of work to be done before the game could be considered finished. I see you have added a number of equipment slots, I hope you can balance the game around that when the time comes. (I learnt this on my previous projects)
Good luck in the competition!