itch.io

Yep, the background and the collectibles are 2 things that do need a major revamp. I'm thinking a full revamp of how the bg works (semi-monochromatic shmups like this ought to have a simpler bg really), and as regards the petals to make them stand out a bit more by both adding a white outline to them as well as making the player attract them if they're near them. Thanks for the feedback, I'm def planning on a 1.1 of the game!

The platforming is very enjoyable, especially the double jump! A bit tough, though it's very fair (aside from 2 instances which I'll discuss in a lil). The level design is really solid for a game like this. Not supremely challenging, not too easy. It's at just the right spot to encourage getting better.

The two issues I had were, you can bug out in the ceiling, especially later down the line, which is a bit rough. Additionally, I wish the hurricane hurtbox was a little more generous, that would make the platforming even better.

The controls did throw me off a lil at the start, but after getting used to them it's not such a big deal. Regardless, it would be cool if everything was mapped to the arrow keys eg. if you're on top of the dragon you and the dragon enter a state where pressing left or right get it moving in either direction.

Solid game!

PS: I like the fact that you used 1bitdragon for the music, it's very thematically appropriate.

I enjoyed it. The sprites are quite alright, the fx is quite satisfying. Mechanically, I think that the dragon's hitbox might be a bit large, so you have a hard time reacting to the balista shots.

Also, there's a little bug that makes it so that if you collide against the side of the screen you'll move ahead at incredible speeds, but it doesn't hamper enjoyment at all tbh. Solid little shooter!

For something made in 3 hours it's quite good! Otherwise I'm sure you realise that the gameplay loop is a bit simple, etc. I can't comment on Trijam, but in Minijam it's still decently enjoyable for what it is.

The presentation has a sort of Atari/Java mobile game vibe that I like. Some real neat sprites for 1 person working for 3 hours!

It's very charming, and the presentation is very good. I really like the music. Overall, it gave me fond nostalgic memories of old Flash games. I do have to say that some parts of the presentation are better than others, the dragon is a little odd imo.

I wish the game had a fail state, however. I understand it's supposed to be a more chill experience, but the concept is really solid with the strategising around upgrades and a fail state would've been really cool. Makes me wonder what a Recettear style game like this would look like ;

The art is great and sold the mood really well! I wish there were effects for every ship you sunk and a little more challenge, but that's about it.

I enjoyed it quite a bit! 

The level design and the platforming was spot on, except for maybe one too many pitfalls. The boss fights are a bit too easy though? I mean, I just spammed them dead.

The audio was good and appropriate, but it's a bit loud.

Overall, I can see that you really took your time with it, and it shows in the level of polish the game has.

That's very fair. I wanted to make the game a bit more of a very casual, easily understandable SHMUP so I did away with things like visible player hitbox, focus mode, etc. Replacing the missing bullet hell stuff with some acceleration on the player controls is a great idea.

I'm very likely to make a 1.1 due to how quick and simple it would be to improve so many things in the game, so I'll be definitely be implementing that + a bunch of other quality of life features.

All fair points. I was balancing the game out after basically a day of continuous devving lol, so the stuff I decided to implement last minute like difficulty scaling over time was a bit busted. Originally, the enemies would spawn at closer to the rates you see at the start of the game and nothing else, so that influenced their hp pool quite a bit.

A lot of the dissonant art stuff you see in the game is the result of overreliance on in-engine colouring and image blending over adherence to the palette due to trying to make everything look alright while being pressed for time

As regards clarity of the upgrade buying option I was so mushbrained at the end of it of it all that I was going to implement a simple "-(number of petals you lost)" draw call whenever you picked it up, but I was just too exhausted

There's a certain Atari-like charm and an interesting gameplay loop idea to this game, but imo it needs some polish. During the shmup section of the game, some of the little enemies are liable to almost teleport in front of you. I also had to maximise the window because some stuff, like coins, were hard to identify at first? I thought they were enemy shots.

The cave is an interesting concept, I just wish that the controls weren't divided between mouse and keyboard. Fortunately, the keyboard controls are pleasingly simple so it's not too much of a dissonance.

I'm on Windows 11, and it just won't open. Doesn't throw me any errors though, just completely fails to launch the application.

The presentation, the music are really good! I love that vibe and artstyle, feels very PSX.

Gameplay's a bit rough, though. My fire meter also froze, and well I thought that was a good thing because I... couldn't find my way around very well. In a maze game like this, it's ideal when you have landmarks to help guide you around. For example, the walls in one section of the maze are made of rock, there's a rat tunnel in this one here corner, a skeleton in the other one, that kind of thing.

Everything was so charming and nostalgic though that it kept me playing, really reminds me of one of those old collect-a-thon games, only in first person.

There are some hiccups with the performance. Idk if it's my browser, but whenever I look up I get crazy frame drops. I get stutters while the map first loads too. Additionally, I had to Unity fullscreen it really fast after reloading the page, partially because of the drops.

Good experience all around, though!

This was a pretty cool experience, the presentation reminds me of Yume Nikki quite a bit somehow! I think it's the lamps, the cheery atmosphere contrasting with the dark, and the fear of what might be in it... Inspirational, for sure!

However, as regards that I do wish that there was something slightly unsettling in the dark that you had to avoid. But that's just me, really. 

I do however have to say that the objective of the game feels like it's the game, the experience itself, like something like Flower. But like Flower it's simply good, so it was a joy to play.

Great lil experience, gave me some stuff to think about!

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The concept is really unique and brave, and at no point it feels like it detracts from the fun puzzle-like experience. Got an uncanny sense of atmosphere from the shadow people just walking in front of me out of nowhere, to the point it felt a bit like an horror game lol. The presentation is really good, I wonder what a game like this would look like if it emphasised those creepy shadow people even more though.

Great job!

The DPS build I made was pretty fun, it reminds me of some of builds I had the most fun with in Holocure, one of my favourite games of all time! Neat Survivours-like!

That being said, after a while I just... wasn't picking up upgrades? They stop the flow of the game dead on its tracks, giving me more stuff that I had in order to deal with the same enemies as before. 

I don't know if I'm saying anything that other people haven't said here. Maybe an original thought I could add is, you don't necessarily need to remove the many books on the floor. But instead make it so that you select a "loadout" like in Survivours, and then everything that drops afterwards gets autopicked, doesn't stop the gameplay, and buffs your entire loadout by 0.1. Something like that.

Good job, was very enjoyable despite the flaws!

First of all, stellar use of the limitation. Not only in the obviously great gameplay mechanic, but also in the other ways the theme can be interpreted (Paladin).

I really, really like the game feel. Scavenging for good dungeon crawlers like this isn't easy! A lot of games in this genre offer weak gimmicks, and/or fail to offer you enough tools to deal with your enemies. A great example is Hexen II, a game that by all means should be a great of the genre but has so few ways of dealing with ranged enemies as a melee-oriented class that you simply have to take mandatory damage at points. Like the Quake it was based on, but only with the melee weapons.

But I digress. This game is the opposite of that. Each of the 3 enemies require different strategies that revolve around the effective use of your melee and your throwing light. It was very satisfying figuring out how the robot is bested. This strategic AND innovative approach to first-person dungeon crawler combat is a breath of fresh air.

The art is also superb, and helps sell the feel really well. The only minor issues I have are with the sometimes unclear minimap and a lack of a suitably dungeony tune to accompany your dark voyage. But of course, none of that is a requirement in a game jam game already this polished.

On the controls end, it's mostly excellent but the double esc for volume control is also a bit weird, maybe it could've been another key? Also, the game, the light mechanic might be liable to being misunderstood by a few players? I don't know, wasn't an issue for me but maybe it's something to think about.

Amazing job all around! Please take this forward. I would buy it immediately. There's such a dearth of good, handcrafted games like this that we end up being down to Lunacid and... Dread Dimension? The latter of which isn't even in the same genre.

This is a really fun Survivors type game! I echo what other people have said below, and would like to add that clicking gets a bit much. Maybe if you held the mouse button down as opposed to clicking it? Also, some of the powers could have been more visually impactful and such, it's hard to tell what you just did sometimes.

Either way, you did a great job!

Well, from the initial presentation I wasn't expecting it to unsettle me lol.

It's an interesting concept for sure, and I do like how the artstyle clashes with the underlying survival horror element.

It's a bit finicky, the barrels could've stood to be accessed from all sides. The gem meter doesn't seem to count down? The sprint is not too obvious, but you get used to it.

Overall, it's a good job!

Will do!

Doesn't launch for me :(

Thank you so much! Your words are very welcome and encouraging, I'm glad that the vision resonated with you so much. I don't check itch.io too often, so I didn't see your comment for a little while. We're continuing the game, and have made a lot of progress on the engine front, as well as have sketched out a bunch of extra levels and bosses.

If you'd like to follow the project, we're based on this Discord https://discord.gg/E7ufMJRZ

First of all, the presentation is immaculate. Amazing job on that! I love the creatures, the music is very catchy, and the pixel art is great.

The gameplay is really good, the platforming is rock solid, but suffers from a few flaws here and there. The biggest of which being unclear hitboxes (i try to crouch bullets but they still hit me?) and not being able to see faster enemies as they approach you from offscreen. Furthermore, the boomerang weapon is a bit complicated to hit enemies with - I found myself using the creature catcher bottle on enemies I had already captured just because it travels in a straight line.

Overall an amazing job!

Ahhhh! I forgot to rate quite a few of the people who rated us, so this comment is gonna be quicker than most of mine.

It's a very chill game with a very unique concept, closest I can think of is Atomicrops but that isn't a platformer. But it suffers a bit from a general lack of variety. The enemies are mostly simple walkers that don't interact much with the environment, and walk towards you and the terrarium without much strategy. Also, it would be cool if you had the choice between leaving the plants there to act as tower defence towers, or harvesting them for the upgrade. I do realise that maybe what I'm suggesting is a bit overscoped, given the 3 day limitation.

Solid game, guys.

Submitted rating just 1 minute before ratings close lol.

Thank you!

Great art, and a wide variety of mechanics that help in keeping the gameplay fresh! Very solid entry.

Interesting, unique concept, very in line with the limitation. There were a few bugs such as the sprite staying in a white state after dying, and one of the slimes deciding to track my position. 

The camera is also a bit much, had to play zoomed out as much as possible because I was getting motion sickness.

The overall presentation is good, and immersed me in the game.

Solid game!

No problem at all, glad to give my opinion when I can!

The game is already quite insane for a 3 day production, so I totally understand how and why some things didn't make the cut. 

I'm glad to hear you're continuing the project, and hoping to see what you guys come up with in the future!

It's a really chill game, but the wallrunning is a bit unforgiving. Took me a while to understand how to even do so, didn't know you have to press a direction as opposed to looking at the wall, no idea if it's just me. I like the presentation quite a bit, reminds me of playing Mirror's Edge back in the good ol days.

Actually beautiful game

This is a masterclass in making use of a limitation/theme. At no time did the one bullet mechanic feel like a contrivance, it was always organic and original. The gameplay is simply amazing and epic, I felt really cool timing my jumps in order to create cool "set pieces".

What an astounding presentation too. Impeccable art, a cutscene, and all of it in 3 days? Wow.

If I have to say anything slightly negative about this little gem is that the dash got me killed more often than not, but I don't know whether that's a skill issue on my end. Also, enemy variety but I'm not going to pontificate here saying you needed a boss and more enemy types in a game made in 3 days lol.

All in all, you have an amazing product here with very solid core mechanics that if you wanted to, you could extend and release on many platforms, even smartphones. I would definitely play something like that!

We're very glad you enjoyed the game so much! Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks, we really appreciate it! Also Papers, Please was definitely an inspiration. 

Also interesting point regarding the difficulty. Being the writer it's a bit hard to judge which scenarios are more or less difficult and how because you already have all the answers to the stuff you're writing.

Some of it was sadly due to RPGMaker limitations, like the information items still having to be used on a "blank" character. We didn't want to include any scripts to fully capture that spirit of making a game in 3 days, so a bunch of compromises had to be made there.

Edit: Also, thanks a lot for the kind words! I felt the need to address the game's limitation there, and forgot to respond to the rest of the post. Oops.

Thanks a lot, the team really appreciates it! We had a strong vision for the art, atmosphere, setting that we followed to the best of our abilities!

FULLY FLEDGED Survivors with an unique twist on the GB in just 10 days??? How???

That's an extremely impressive feat. What with the polished presentation, too. Just wow! Really makes me wish that was a real cart. The inventory tetris mechanics are insane, and I was already shocked before I'd even realised that there's an entire upgrades perk tree in the game.

However, that leads me to a minor criticism. The menus/controls are a bit unwieldy and obtuse. At the start, before I spent some time with the game, I was struggling to select anything. And the lack of feedback when equipping something made me doubt whether I'd equipped something or not. 

Which segues into a second, albeit very subjective, criticism. This is a game you'll be putting time into. Normally, that's a wonderful thing. But in this case progression does feel a bit slow. Coupled with the aforementioned controls learning curve and some crashes here and there, it takes a while to fully get into the game.

Furthermore, the music is really catchy and nice but the tune could've been a bit longer.

Overall, what an amazing stunner of an entry! The clever use of the theme and the brilliant execution of the idea stand out a lot. You guys did a fantastic job.

Incredible, unique, and fun game, even for someone who doesn't like puzzlers. The presentation is great, too!

The music is unfortunately a tad loud. Had to lower my volume all the way, which sucks because it's well-composed too, sounds a bit baroque.

Amazing job!

Thanks a lot! The dark mecha finale vibe is exactly what we were going for (I love Tsutomu Nihei), and it means a lot to me that people appreciate the writing and atmosphere so much, as that is something I hadn't been able to work on in a while despite loving it.

We hear you guys about the lack of hit feedback. Sad but true, we totally overlooked it due to the grind of it all. Thanks for the feedback.

Lol, in a way it was! According to the... yes, lore bible we wrote for it you've just defeated the AI that had been designed to monitor and later control the use of a system that was later abused, NextNet. Think the internet but all it needs is energy, and it can transport matter instantaneously as well. The creators had good intentions, but they fell victim to a "hostile acquisition" (were shot and taken over) by the governments of Earth and Venus, who didn't like that Earth and Venus intended for the technology to be restricted to the elites and be used to enslave humanity, commit crimes, etc. They were from Trans-Neptunian starbases, a poorer region of the Solar system and had high ideals when developing it.

So ECCLESIA, as she was originally called, was prevented from performing her duties by a rival system, KOSMON. Since she was rather immaterial due to NextNet's nature and they couldn't simply turn her off, ECCLESIA spent many years in cyberspace, trying to execute her original directives of curbing vice in NextNet, but at every turn was prevented from doing so by the KOSMON system. Eventually, she turned inwards and towards philosophy and religion, and managed to elude KOSMON's grasp. She then fused with it, and became DAIMON. She had been made insane by the ordeal, however, and enslaved and mutated 90% of mankind almost instantly through an engineered computer virus and later physical plague that manifested as the Red Fog, thinking that mankind deserved to perish for their sins. Only those not linked to the NextNet system for financial or ethical reasons were spared, and escaped in a spaceship. She could not follow them, and thus started building Dyson spheres in order to broaden her reach.

Meanwhile, in the planet of Gaia in the Tau system, mankind had managed to make somewhat of a recovery over a few millennia of introspection. In addition to bettering human society they created NOUS, a caretaker AI designed to avoid the mistakes of NextNet and ECCLESIA. As DAIMON approaches, you take NOUS to its core, so that NOUS could show DAIMON/ECCLESIA that humanity was not beyond salvation.

I can tell that a lot of love and care was put into the development of this game. Sadly though, there are a few kinks.

The gameplay is really interesting, actually. It helps immerse you in the worlds you visit. Looting space cars? Hamster poop? Just amazing, feels really adventurous. However it could've been leaned more into, with the player encouraged to explore more junk options. But I understand that the 10 days might've limited things a bit, so that one might be a bit subjective.

Additionally, the impossibility of carrying more stuff if your junk meter is full could've been communicated better, but maybe that's just me.

Finally, a sprint function would indeed be a great choice.

The graphics... oh man. I feel bad for having to criticise them, because they play a huge part in making things seem so adventurous. Things look really good overall, however... sometimes walls look like floors, floors look like walls, half-empty bowls of hamster food look empty... it has a massive impact on the gameplay. At first, while I was trying to make sense of things, I wandered down the starting neighbourhood only to later find that what I thought were walls was, in fact, a floor.

The audio and the tunes are solid.

There are some great ideas here, some of the graphics look great, and I can definitely see the passion. With some polish, things could be a bit better. As always though, good job everyone!