this is really, really good. i'm impressed at how focused this is... it's a concise short form game that's super fun the entire time you're playing it. i've been suffering the worst burnout of my career in the games industry, wondering if games are ruined for me, but i think this was some of the "medicine" i need to remember why i love them. it's inspired me to look forward to making more short form games myself.
i assassinated the emperor but i still want to keep playing... using the shadow ninja scroll felt almost like cheating. maybe i'll just have to set more ambitious goals for myself (get every key in one run, kill the emperor with someone besides Messao, etc). it could benefit from having little achievements at the end, or even an online speed-run chart, but i'd hate to add feature creep to something that's so concise already.