Generally I find JRPG's boring. After this, I wonder if I've ever truly played one. Most JRPG's feature grindy level mechanics and stodgy map layouts... but I think I finally get it.
This is a supremely interesting Role-Playing - Strategy - game. I appreciate the minimalistic nature of the level design, and of your quest.
My only criticism is that the story is not explained outside of dialogue. Kudos and good luck on an excellent demo!
Hello melbodev!
I saw your cart on the PICO-8 BBS, and had to give the demo a shot. I hope you won't mind if I leave a review.
'Marble platformer' is a neat genre. Although I've played other jumping marble games before, I felt that your execution was unique. Having one small marble on a large, condensed level, where you have to explore to find all the collectibles that actually progress towards the goal.
I really enjoyed the fact that I needed to explore the world by rolling and jumping. However, there were a few things that hindered this.
The timer was daunting, and the fact that I needed to collect what felt like more than enough shards frustrated my attempts to progress.
The experience I want to reap from a marble game is that feeling of tricky momentum which anxiously builds up as I leap across gaps and balance thin beams.
How this might come into play is by adding in a few more levels where you can sprint across the tricky, twisting terrain... or slippery skinny sections, or set-in marble-run tracks where the player is desperately out of control. If things go off the rails, that's good... and if I can chaotically learn Tony Hawk tricks while twisting along distant tracks, that's even better.
I would like to come leave a really long review, so if you fix these things, let me know!
Best regards,
Artough
