I feel like a good 50% of my time playing this was loading screen, which hurts considering how small the levels are, it doesn't feel like it should take that long to load. Also not a fan of pushing a button to use the elevator, and not using that button at any other time.
But like, good show. Less than 10 minutes, so I can say it was time well spent. You took a concept, you made a game, and you didn't drag it out. Plus you put it out there for a good cause.
A tall 3d bone sword man swatted the ground in a ground pound attack in the middle of some unconstructed training dummies I was placing, and he built them all in one swing. Funniest thing I've ever seen.
Wow, you turned static cards with predetermined actions into a compelling narrative driven by the player's connective analysis. I especially love the "this doesn't make sense" action to reassign intel, which turns the detrimental random nature of a deck assigning "contradictory" cards into a reinforcement of the unreliable narrative.
I love the length of the intel columns; slightly too long for 3 cards to perfectly fit, too short to comfortably signal that 4 cards are appropriate, but just long enough that you can cram 4 in there using the generous margins on the cards.
I don't love the "the autopsy confirmed it was poison" card because it doesn't really interact with any character. I get that it has to be in the deck for pacing, so as to not reveal the means ahead of time or slow down the finale with exposition you would have already figured out. ... on a second read, it's about an unrelated official's death, which could imply that the owner of the intel either wrote the report or did the deed. Wish I'd picked up on that my first go; maybe a "several weeks ago" would have helped.
Speaking of, I love how so many of the cards describe multiple actors, leaving it open for interpretation which blank is the actor you assigned that intel.
I don't love the CIA conclusion card; I flipped that first, read it like "CIA guy is in the backseat and quietly takes control of the car" and wondered how a car maybe swerving a little would cause chaos in the crowd. In hindsight, it's clear the lead car would veer off the road and crash without a driver, and that the CIA chap is in a different vehicle, but...
What a glorious game. You turned the formula of a "whodunnit" into the present tense, a "who's doing it." You've got all of the agency in the plot as you do in a game of Clue, where the dead guy will always be murdered, but instead of coming up with an arbitrary combination of items, you're forming deep connections with these people who started out just as interchangeable as Professor Plum and Captain Kangaroo. You're not solving the murder or stopping an assassination, you're unraveling the context. I won't be playing this game again, not alone, but I will be recommending it.
and the music is a great timer. This review took the entire 19:49 to write.
Violently straightforward. Tauntingly haunted. A Taunted house, if you will. A sleeper hit, in that I was about to sleep when it hit me. Excellent game, great use of a simple character controller to the fullest potential. Kitteys petted: 1.
I looped like eight times before I went down the staircase. The lone staircase in this hell-shaped castle. I want to bet you could beat the spike hallway with only Jump High but you probably did the math and said No Don't Do That.
Excellent choice of music, even if it's not a Sylvie Original!
Every time I get hyped for a Sylvie game I remember that I am not Superstar at games but that the struggle is more important than the victory. That said, what do the upvotes do? edit: i am superstar at games now
Works well! I feel like you could have explored the concept more; this felt mostly like a normal platformer where you could look at the ball part, know what you have to do, and then completely ignore 80% of the screen as you do the bottom half's jumps, but that's the curse of the "control 2+ characters with the same inputs" genre.
But that's nothing to worry about. You had a vision, you took action, you raced the clock, and you came out with a great piece of adventure. Take pride in what you have accomplished, not shame in what more could be done.
Seems like when I offer too little and get "A bit more", it does not allow me to try another transaction without quitting the trade entirely. Deselecting and reselecting the item does not work, changing to a different one and back, nope. Cannot trigger "Hmm" again during that session.
They are planning on adding those features for the "full" demo, coming "Soon!" Background contrast will be able to be changed, and custom key binding will be available.
The text box above says "Write your comment..." so someone did ask for your opinion. And you just happened to give a valid opinion, so it's not like someone's going to retroactively unask for it.
Studies show that all things are temporary. Rules exist only for what exists, and thus are themselves temporary. If we are to be Enlightened, we must accept that which is beyond our own scope: that is, what will exist after we no longer exist?
It is with this in mind that we must apply ourselves not only to the game's Community, but to the jam's Community.
I still do not fully understand why what I did in the first 5ish levels worked, and the levels are difficult in that they require precision and forethought, but the rewind mechanic removes most of the tedium most "precision" platformers give. I have a few nitpicks I would have chosen to implement slightly differently, but to do so would erode at the pure soul presented here. Each level is crafted around the mechanics being exactly as they are, and does so well while not overstaying its welcome.
