itch.io

unfortunately i think you have to take the L on this one

(If anyone cares, this response has some vague spoilers for the ending.)

I wanna preemptively say that I'm not arguing or saying you're wrong here; I'm not fully happy with the ending either. I genuinely just really like talking about my art and the reasons I make certain choices, and you're the first person to bring up the ending. (You can still think the reasons are bad.)

0. Thank you for playing and for your kind words! I really enjoy writing so I'm glad this slight dip into a narrative-focused game is resonating with anyone.

1. The exchange mechanic is meant to keep people from sticking with one combo for the entire game. Certain pieces might be more favorable to you, and I like the risk/reward of deciding whether to use them on an easier boss or wait for the chance to have them at the end of the game. Some bosses are already easier with specific movesets over others, though, so this might not have been necessary.

2. I mostly wanted the ending to be "disappointing" for thematic reasons. For one, gameplay-wise, it's hard to have a slow progression when the game is structured like it is. The format of "here's a specific insecurity, fight it, here's the next one, fight it" just didn't lend itself well to a traditional narrative. It wouldn't make sense to have the protagonist realize it's okay not to have a connection to their own sense of humor, for example, and then have the exact same conundrum over their talents. Having another ending would have required a really harsh flip in tone at the very end of the game.

From a narrative perspective, it's just impossible to say where an arc like this is supposed to end up. I feel like the "happy" ending that most similar stories present is the main character finding out the one thing that makes them unique, but I really didn't want to go that route. For one, it just isn't a realistic finale for a lot of people; it's much more common for them to be forcibly squeezed into a specific role they have no interest in just to survive. As people grow up and are forced into deciding their one area of study and their one career path for the rest of their life, the stakes become too high to really scrutinize their choices this much. Self-satisfaction and happiness become less important than just getting through each day with the money needed to survive. The game doesn't focus on these larger societal issues, but I still wanted to avoid a message that portrays the issue unrealistically.

I also don't think this style of happy ending gets at the heart of the issue, which is that everyone is just a collection of traits that they got from other people, and this is what makes us people in the first place. I mostly incorporated this into the bosses themselves. Even if they appear as individual, cohesive designs, each of them have different art styles for different attacks. Sense of Humor's pie attack shares an art style with the final boss, and its cross attack shares an art style with Talent, whose music attack shares an art style with Sense of Humor, etc. The protagonist is so wrapped up in their own insecurities, though, that it doesn't really cross their mind. (This is another reason I didn't think it would make sense to suddenly spell this realization out at the end of the game. They're just barely starting to realize self-acceptance is even an option as the game ends.)

TL;DR This inner turmoil affects real people a lot, as you pointed out, it's not something that you just get over one day, and I wanted to reflect that with an open ending that implies there's a lot more growth to undergo.

This was fun! I enjoy bullet hells a lot, and I liked the simpler focus of this one's projectiles. Not the most original use of the theme, but a fun time.

I don't usually make posts like this after a jam, but I'm really happy with how this one turned out! I tried a lot of things I haven't before, (e.g. a higher resolution, visual collage, a more emotionally-driven narrative) so I would really appreciate if you could try it out and leave a rating. Especially if you like weird experimental art, I'd love your feedback.

It only uses the keyboard, (or a controller) so it's playable even if you're just sitting in bed with your laptop. Just click on that picture and it should lead you right to the entry page!

Thank you everyone!

Super fun! Obvious that a lot of passion went into this. Only things that frustrated me were some of the hitboxes, mostly on the green boss, and the final boss's projectiles almost killed me after I had already beaten it.

Very pretty game. The character design was very cool

This one was very fun! Unfortunately couldn't finish it, though. The deaths are very unforgiving considering new concepts are introduced in every fight, and they will almost definitely kill you if you don't already understand them. I'd definitely play a version of this that had some kind of checkpoint system.

I really liked the visual style of this one, and in theory I think the gameplay idea could work well too. It did just feel a bit slow and tedious here, though, since there was very little to do or care about besides the random bullet patterns.

i'm not sure if you can use kirby sounds?

This was neat. I like the amorphous boss design. unfortunately couldn't really get past the second boss because a lot of its attacks were chained together in a way that just seemed impossible to avoid

i'm a little confused about exactly what i'm meant to be doing or what's happening. it doesn't seem like the levels are designed around letting you actually hit the boss, and it's completely gone in the last stage.. i thought it was just a 2D platformer for a while. i appreciate the effort and would like to see what you can make with more free time though.

thank you! the lack of healing was an intentional choice, since I wanted it to feel like one long progressive gauntlet. i do wish i had time to add a practice feature for individual bosses though, since there's not a great way to learn attack patterns without going through the other fights

it's a cute concept that can work well (e.g. sonic forces' bullet hell sections), but it feels like things are really hard to follow in this one. it might have worked better as a top-down shooter?

i don't know why the argument is "nuh uh it's good nuh uh it's bad." everyone's going to have different opinions. this just seems really hateful for a free project made in a week. 

This is super cute and fun!! Way more polished than I thought a crossover fan project like this would be

Leaving a mini-review in the hopes that something productive might come out of the sea of shit that this comments section has already become.

This game was my first encounter with Molly Moonn's content, but I was really excited about its aesthetic sensibilities regardless. The bit-crushed audio and minimalistic style of "animation" work very well to push the entire experience firmly into the uncanny valley, which is great for a horror game. The point-and-click style and the clunky UI also lend themselves very well to a sense of panic as you're being chased throughout the house, even if there's no real timer counting down to your death.

There are a lot of points where this clunkiness is definitely pushed too far, though. It's very hard to read most of the text even on a monitor with a decent resolution, and this is compounded a lot by the awkward vertical aspect ratio. The full game should definitely be allowed to move away from its TikTok roots and embrace being on the computer just a little bit more. At the very least, choose a thicker font.

The monster, if she can be called that, also really piqued my interest. The "seductress" who lures men in for some horrible ritual is sort of a common trope, but it hasn't really been explored in this exact form. The few screenshots I saw also looked really unnerving in a way that I was excited to see.

Sadly, again, I'm anxious that the developers of this game don't really know how to best utilize this idea. There is very little buildup or context for the demonic ritual going on in the basement before the monster reveals itself. To make matters worse, the protagonist seems far too eager to play along. Players are not allowed to sit with the discomfort that the game's presentation is completely steeped in for even a moment before being force-fed a (fairly bland) jumpscare animation. And they are fed this exact animation a lot. Even for as short as the demo is, its deaths manage to get repetitive.

The mystery of why the protagonist's brother went missing is really intriguing, largely because it lends itself naturally to a slow buildup. I really think the developers of this game should allow more room for a slow unveiling of details and a gradual rise in the uneasiness that surrounds the whole thing.

Overall, a lot of potential, but please make sure you know what you're doing for a long-form project.

God this shit was just mean-spirited. The hell was the point of linking to a video where you just repeatedly call a woman working on the game ugly? You're a grown-ass man

this is really impressive! whenever i used RPGmaker i always gave up on trying to add my own tiles and stuff. i really like the gubblebock