itch.io

I like the atmosphere, but I was only able to play for a short time due to a very frustrating bug.

Pros:

• The music is pretty cool; I really like it.

• The overall atmosphere.

• The pixel art style works well, with a grey and dark purple tone that complements the music and atmosphere perfectly.

• Tutorials at the beginning are always a plus!

• The phone mechanic is very origina, I really liked it.

Cons:

• The camera being fixed to the character, which has a high jump velocity, makes it feel jerky in my opinion.

• Some sound effects seem to be missing at times.

• Falling too fast makes it impossible to see where you're landing.

• I didn't understand the enemy patterns—some enemies seemed to die on their own, others teleported randomly, and some projectiles bounced off me without dealing damage.

• I got stuck after dying in the 4th room. When I respawned, I couldn't see my character. I restarted the game from scratch but encountered the same bug, so unfortunately, I couldn't progress further.

Anyway, I know how hard game development is and how frustrating it must be to deal with these kinds of bugs. That said, your game definitely has something interesting, and you should be proud of it! I’d love to play it again after the voting period when it's more polished  and bug fixedto see its full potential. 😊

Okay, so I didn’t finish the game, but I still had fun playing it!

Pros:

• A beginner tutorial that considers both QWERTY & AZERTY keyboards—thank you!

• I really liked the music, and there's a good variety! I would have liked the themes to feel a bit less repetitive and more catchy, but honestly, it’s already a solid effort for a game jam.

• The dash in all directions is a bit tricky on the keyboard, but I got used to it. And wow—it feels really satisfying! The fact that it bounces off walls is great, and you’ve created a unique gameplay feel I’ve never seen anywhere else. Really well done on this!

• No lags or bugs.

• Nice level design variations and some interesting platforming mechanics.

Cons:

• Warning: In the first tutorial, it's not clear that the dash can be used in every direction at the "Dash to kill an enemy" stage. You explain it later, but since you need this knowledge to progress, players might get stuck there and stop playing because they don’t understand it.

• Visually, the tilemaps feel too repetitive. (I saw you used Godot—you can add randomization to tile properties, even with terrain, to create more diversity. Don’t hesitate to use this next time! Also, try to avoid a mosaic-like look in your tilemaps.)

• Lack of appeal in terms of SFX and VFX.

• No progression system that makes it feel like a true Metroidvania (e.g., acquiring power-ups, unlocking new abilities, etc.).

I stopped playing when I died in the third biome and respawned very far from where I was. That was frustrating, so I stopped.

I guess you didn’t have time to add enemies (the red crosses). Maybe next time, it would be better to remove placeholders like these if they can’t be replaced, as they make the game feel strange and unfinished. It’s totally fine to have a pure platformer if there aren’t any enemies—if you had a progression system that enhances platforming mechanics, it would work just as well to feel like a metroidvania!

But overall, you can be proud of what you’ve accomplishe! The game has clear fun potential! It still needs polish, better SFX, VFX, and more appealing visuals to feel more professional, but it’s already playable and enjoyable right now even if it feels unfinished, so it can only get better from here.

And that unique bouncing dash mechanic you created? Genius! I’ve never seen it before, and it has incredible potential, I’m really impressed!

Congratulations on making it this far! 

I’m curious to see what you’ll create next! 😊

I really had fun playing this game, but I didn’t finish it, I’ll explain why later! :)

Pros:

• The narrative intentions are very present and help make the game engaging well done! (I especially loved the narrative twist during the 1st boss fight!!)

• I am a HUGE fan of the music! The boss theme and the second biome’s music are definitely the best I’ve heard in this jam—congratulations on this part, you did a fantastic job! 🎵🔥

• The boss was really interesting, well done!

• There’s a map!!

• The pacing of the respawn point is well done.

• The progression feels rewarding—you really feel like you're evolving more your progress in the game.

• The overall art style is cool! While I think it could be enhanced with lighting and other advanced visual effects, it still works well and remains visually appealing. :)

Cons:

• I feel like the hitboxes of enemies and damaging obstacles are a bit too large—I often took damage when I thought I was safe.

• I’m not a huge fan of the combat system. The attacks feel slow, making it difficult to use effectively against fast-moving enemies. It was hard to find the right moment to strike. Also, I didn’t really see the benefit of the combo attack system (Does the last hit deal more damage? I didn’t check, but it didn’t feel like it). But this point can be considered as personal i think it is okay to have slow attack systems but you should feel more the impact of them (making more damage, screen shakes, particules, push enemies way further, ...)

• Some gameplay elements weren’t immediately recognizable (lack of affordance/visual clarity). For example, I didn’t realize at first that the spikes were harmful, and I didn’t expect the clouds to damage me because they didn’t look dangerous.

• Even though I enjoyed the narrative, I felt like there was too much text at times, so I ended up skipping some of it. However, this is just a personal preference, as I think your storytelling definitely adds value to the game

Why I didn’t finish the game:

When I reached the second biome, I got stuck at the door locked by two levers.

To pass through the flame walls, you have to use your dash while in flame form. But I found the dash timing really difficult to get right. On top of that, the flame walls instantly kill you if you fail, and you lose all your progress on the two levers when you respawn. 😭 After about 15 tries, I got too frustrated and decided to stop playing.

Despite that, I really think you made something impressive, both in terms of content and quality (especially the music!). You should be really proud of what you’ve achieved! Your game is a very strong entry in this jam, and I can’t wait to see what you create next! 😊🔥

I finished the game after getting the boots for the wall jump!

Pros:

• The art and animations are really well done! I especially loved the little lights, they added a lot of visual interest to the game.

• The sound design works very well and is satisfying, great job!

Cons:

• I personally wasn’t a big fan of the character’s game feel. I found the jump a bit too short, which made platforming sections quite tricky. Also, when the character lands, their X velocity gets cut off, which felt frustrating because it completely stops horizontal movement. This made me avoid jumping whenever possible.

• I’m not sure if this was a bug, but there was no music, which impacted the atmosphere and made the game feel a bit empty.

There’s definitely room for improvement, especially in game feel, but the visuals are already at a great level! You can be proud of what you’ve accomplished, finishing a game is no small feat. In fact, it’s pretty hard so congrat! Keep it going and work on your weaknesses and i'm sure you'll improve a lot :)

Interesting entry with a clear inspiration from old-school 8-bit games, though perhaps a bit too challenging?

Pros:

• Strong Metroid inspiration (which i think is good), especially with the first power-up being left behind for the player to find.

• A variety of enemies, which keeps things engaging.

• The mechanic of feeding insects to reveal the path by breaking blocks is a clever and unique idea.

• The music and visual atmosphere work really well together.

Cons:

• The difficulty feels a bit unfair at times, reminiscent of older games (such as enemies attacking from off-screen or unavoidable enemy patterns that force you to take damage to progress). I think it's a bit of a shame because game design has evolved to reduce unnecessary frustration. That said, if this was an intentional choice, I completely understand that I might not be the target audience for this style of challenge

• The wait time for the bugs to reach their food feels veryyyy long, making it easy to be bored during this time.

• I struggled to understand how the second power-up worked at first. I died some time after obtaining it, and when I returned, the second room felt more convenient to understand how to use the ability.

• In the second upgrade room, I initially thought the small upgrade area was a wall due to the strong contrast between its tiles and the rest of the environment.

I ended up feeling a bit lost and stuck in front off a one tile narrow corridor, unsure if I had passed through it before. Since I could remember all the areas I had explored, I eventually stopped playing, thinking I couldn't progress further.

While the difficulty wasn’t quite my style, I really appreciated the atmosphere—it’s very well done! I also liked the effort put into the UI to describe the player’s abilities. With some game design adjustments to make the experience align more with modern expectations, I think this game has a lot of potential. Anyway congrats for having make it so far, finishing a game is already a huge work !

Nice and pretty original entry!

Pros:

• Good approach to the theme, where you have to walk around your environment and analyze it.

• Tutorial panels, always a plus!

• You clearly set the objectives of the game with the top-right panel.

• The narrative is definitely the highlight—it creates a sense of mystery and really helps immerse the player in the game. There are surprise moments, and the universe feels alive. Really, really great job!

Cons:

• I found the first music track very repetitive, which made it difficult for me to get into the game at the beginning. However, I preferred the second one.

• Visually, it’s not very rich, but since you worked on this alone, it’s understandable, it’s not easy to do everything.

• I didn’t understand the purpose of the multiple empty rooms.

• I felt pretty lost at the end of Chapter 5. Up until then, I was used to having a clear objective, but in Chapter 5, I couldn’t figure out what to do and wasn’t able to finish it.

Anyway, even though I pointed out some "negative" aspects, that doesn’t mean your game is bad at all. You clearly have something original in mind, with a narrative that works really well. I was surprised to get emotionally involved in it! So yeah, you can definitely be proud of what you’ve create, great job, and keep up the good work! 😃

Thank you for the kind words !