Swordbird Song: The Iron Owl Tower

good

I was pretty sure the mage boss was elaborately failing to mention that the Enormous Mentor Bird was actually the Owl King, who wanted the battery for nefarious purposes. Which wouldn't make sense actually; the Owls are in charge of the whole facility until you kill them all. Maybe something else similarly nefarious.

This was a decent game. I think a 'skip cutscene' option, and maybe a run button, would have been big helps - the backtracking felt unreasonably padded, and the second bossfight was extremely frustrating because the death penalty was unusually large.

This was a charming little experience! Good classic 'Zelda' vibes, with a charming cast, and and some neat little dungeons.

The ice dungeon (Icra?) was an absolute highlight particularly the second half. I also really liked that you had to go through each of the dungeons in sequences instead of fully completing one. The Green Maze was another favorite moment with how you executed it.

The spike in difficulty at the end caught me off guard with the ledge-turret sequence, and the final boss - though the latter was more because of how many times I saw the cutscene. Since I died. A lot. But I'm really glad I powered through and ended it!

The cutscenes were great otherwise, and I love how good the pixel art is. There were some rather evocative splash panels, and I loved the design of the characters. 

Edit: The music was pretty good too, with the main theme's melancholy, and the triumphant notes of the track that played during the cutscene before phase 2 of the Owl King.

This was a very charming, fun game. It had "Link's Awakening" vibes, but in a good way. I enjoyed the puzzle elements, particularly in the ice dungeon. Very nicely done, and I appreciated that it told a sweet tale without overstaying its welcome. I hope to see more from you in the future!

Pretty cool for a Zelda alternative!

pretty cool, short adventure. the only thing i found """""""""""""BAD""""""""" was that if you open the map the boxes go back to their position, the thing? if you are standing in some of those positions you can cross like nothing. it ruins some puzzles and makes me feel like two things, a cheater or a man with a peanut instead of a brain

Very cute game. Too much backtracking between long, empty rooms. Combat is a chore and the power cell items do nothing when they could've been much-needed health upgrades. 

The puzzles in the icy section are easily the game's high point- fantastic job on those. Same thing with the elaborate cutscenes.

The orb-shooting statues and precarious ledges overstay their welcome after their first or second appearance, and I'm baffled to see them used over and over. The final dungeon's corridor, which is nothing but orb-shooting statues and precarious ledges, is the most tedious thing I've played this year so far. I'd rather do one of those mouse cursor mazes that end with a screamer. The fact there's a combat room right after (and the fact you can get there without the key) is just sadistic.

Most importantly, when making a game, you should pick ONE of the following:
1) A cutscene before a fairly tough final boss, and another after the first phase
2) Unskippable cutscenes
You can't have both.  Not in The Year Of Our Lord 2021/2023.

So yeah I'm not beating this game. Pretty fun romp until the last 10% and a lot of care was put into this (you didn't have to make fully functional maps, but you did and that's fantastic). Overall, that love still shines through.

(P.S. The turrets in the second mage-bird showdown can still shoot and kill you while the boss plays their defeat animation, which locks the player into place. Probably the only bug I've found though, which is good!)

This was a very intricate and great game! Loved all the puzzles and how everything tied together.

 I had an enjoyable time playing it!