Wait, this game is labeled as "Classic" now...? It's been quite some time since I last played this or have seen any news from the devs; until just now.
Just gave the boss another go. I didn't actually have to go back and retrieve any upgrades; once I figured out that the bullets were homing in on me, I found jumping to manipulate their paths was my best bet for dodging. Finally managed to beat the dude!
So, I tried reloading my save. This uh... Is kind of a problem. I wasn't even hearing any sounds from my character when I tried moving, she just went poof. XD
The game's okay. The spriting is nice, as is the music. You've also done a pretty good job at setting the atmosphere with your map designs. You've definitely got a lot of potential for a solo dev.
I feel like the movements are a little stiff, and the sword's a bit sluggish; at least based on what I'm accustomed to in other Metroidvanias. I also can't figure out how to not get shot at by the first boss, ended up throwing in the towel after about 5 deaths. x_x (I had a max of 7 HP and the blood vial by the time I faced the boss, by the way.)
Maybe I'll pick it up again another day and suddenly overcome that obstacle. For now though, I leave you with my first impression.
Alright, then I'll start with the things that stand out most:
>First of all, the slippery movements. It was very difficult for me to land some of the smaller platforms, I also noticed the skidding would occur even if I was dropping straight down. Good, satisfying movements are essential especially for these kind of games! If you want a little bit of skidding, you could probably get away with it, but you also don’t want the player to feel like they can’t control their movements. ;)
>Limited ammo. I know you have the warnings up, but the player should have at least one attack they can use without limit; you should also make sure the player can’t softlock themself, which I fear would happen if I exhausted my laser and therefore couldn’t open any of the doors.
>Finally, the keyboard layout. The keys you chose for jumping and movement are alright, but the attack keys should be done with the opposite hand. Let me elaborate on this a little further:
If you’re using WASD for the movements, it would be more intuitive to place the attack keys somewhere on the other end of the keyboard, like U, I, O, and/or P, or any of the letters from the lower respective rows; that way the player can use their left hand to move, and their right hand to attack. The same logic applies if you use arrows for movement, make sure there’s a setup where one can comfortably move with their right hand, and attack with their left. (I hope I’m making sense. XD)
Those are the 3 big things I would consider revising going forward. Now, some of the smaller details that I feel could improve the experience:
>Have the enemies react when you shoot them. Have them flash, make a sound, maybe even push them back a little bit (That last one is optional). Have something in place to let the player know their attack is working!
>I feel like the acid pit in the cave to the right side of the map should just be an instant death, or at least deplete your health at a far quicker pace. Unless there was a way for me to get out (That I wasn’t finding), I was left just sitting there, waiting for my death to come.
>I tried exploring the left portions of the map, passed through this abandoned base/shelter, and when I came out I started falling into an abyss. And I just, kept falling, there was no end to it; no death or anything.
>I noticed someone pointed out having a windowed mode option, and I agree that it would be nice to have that. Truth be told I usually prefer playing windowed mode. There also didn't seem to be an option to exit the game? I resorted to using ctrl+alt+delete to open the task manager and force close the game.
>This last one’s a very subjective opinion and maybe it doesn’t bother anyone else, but I wish I could turn the voice volume off; I find the main character’s shouts kind of annoying. :/
By the way... Is that Metroid music I hear, or rather a remix of it? I’m no copyright expert, but ya might wanna consider swapping that out for some other tracks. If you need music but can’t compose/don’t have a composer, I’d suggest giving https://opengameart.org/ a look! There’s a bunch of free assets that content creators will upload there, including graphics, sounds, and music. Just make sure to investigate the license for each asset, and check to see if their respective creator would like to be credited. :)
I hope this wasn't too overwhelming for ya; I've been doing gamedev for almost 15 years myself; you know, I was actually somewhere around your age when I was getting into it. XD I'm wishing you the best going forward! :D
Alright, so I played around with this for about half an hour.
I recognize that you're a younger/less experienced dev, and I will start by saying that, as such; you do have potential. You did a great job with setting the atmosphere, I especially liked how you did the rain drops hitting the screen along with the fog and the rainbow that you have displayed in your screenshot. ^_^
Having said that, I do have some critique I could offer; but I'd like to ask how thorough you want me to be. I could focus solely on the "critical issues" I have with this game, or I could spell out what I believe would improve your game overall. Either way, I hope you'll continue practicing your craft.
Some good artwork and sounds put into this one! The gameplay is also pretty unique, but still fun and challenging; this was another great entry for the jam!
Graphics were all done. Music was fun. Sounds were pleasing. Gameplay was *mostly* satisfying! ... I do wish the hoping enemies were either more predictable with their movements, or they at least telegraphed their jumps; I had one moment where one caught me by hoping two entire platforms at once. >_<" All in all though, I beat daytime mode and made it halfway through nighttime. I'd love to play a more polished version of this game, because I see plenty of potential here.
That was one angry fish. XD Played it for a few attempts, but kept dying after the clownfish evolution. Had fun though, I rather enjoyed my experience overall!
Looking at the comments, I trust I don't need to mention the hitbox. X'D The graphics were nice and it's a decent concept, but I do wish the music didn't reset everytime I died though; because I died a lot due to the awkward hitboxes, and the constantly resetting music made me kinda irate. :/ I did make it to the end, at least!
I really enjoyed the style for this submission! For the most part the gameplay was well-done! My only criticism is that the jumping mechanics could've been clarified a little more at the beginning part.
Rated 5 stars in all fields, this is one of the best games I've played so far! (Also had me cussing several times. I managed to beat the last level though! XD)
Limitation breeds creativity, so they say. (Something along those lines anyway) Thank you for trying out my game, I will say that this is probably my best work so far! :D
Seems like the pikes (green enemies) were tricky for a lot of people. X'D I dunno, I didn't want the player to just vanquish them right on the spot, wanted to make sure the player was working for every kill. Perhaps I'll tone things down for the first level though, when I put out a "complete" build for this project.
Alright, I was able to play it this time! ^_^ I enjoyed that entry! Some nice music and pixel art going on here. I feel like the shield makes it too easy to chump the waves though, and I kinda wish there was a swish effect to go with my sword swipes; particularly, to indicate the zone my attacks are hitting.
Thank you very much for playing this on stream! It was great seeing my game through a player's perspective, I felt I got some good insight for how I could improve.
Thank you for playing! Yeah, after watching this game played on stream, I've got some notes written for how I could maybe fix some of the kinks. later down the road.
Maybe it's not the best game out there, but for the limited time you had to produce this it still had some fun visuals. Only thing I'd have done differently was not make the enemies' eyes visible when the area grows dark; the game felt a bit too easy and I quit at around 500 meters.
This was tricky, though most of my deaths I had blamed the lack of predictability; seems like enemies will spawn from anywhere, and I can't seem to anticipate the movements of some of them.
The game wasn't bad, though! I rather enjoyed this entry.
