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I'm a simple man - I see a new game by Dri, I click the like button :))

I really enjoyed this one too, felt like a mixture between The Trespasser and Silent Paradise, it was fantastic. The ability to switch between detailed and squared maps is a great addition and the charm system is one of my favorite mechanics to customize the game to your preferred playstyle.

I found only two bugs during my playthrough:

First, in the control rebinding menu you cannot bind an action to the B button (since B goes back to the previous menu). So if you click X on the action, it tells you to press a button to bind, but when you press B, it goes back to the previous screen.

Also on that topic, there's no way to change the map toggle button - at one point I somehow bound both the change pin and map toggle actions to the same button (Y) so I couldn't really change the pin colors anymore; I had to revert the controls back to the default ones.

The other bug I found is in the charm system - you cannot unequip the first two talismans (the magnet and the extra heart). You can unequip the other ones but these two are stuck with you for the rest of the game if you equip them just once.

With that said, neither of these bugs prevented me from enjoying the hell out of this game, just like I did with your previous MV entries. Good luck with the game jam and thank you again for making these! <3

Amazing game, my dude, I loved every second of it. The using-your-HP-as-projectiles is genuinely one of the most unique mechanics I've ever seen in a video game. Your world design is top notch and exploration felt super rewarding.

Only thing that I really wished for is an ingame map - would have made traversing the whole dungeon much easier. If you ever decide to work on this game a little bit more, a map would be the best QoL improvement any player could ever ask for!

(Also maybe an upgrade towards the end to reveal all missing collectibles on the ingame map - both times I've completed the game, I've finished with exactly 350 coins remaining, needing 400 to buy that last heart piece and it's been eating at me.)

Regardless, I really hope you work on more metroidvanias in the future - you're an extremely talented developer and I've fully enjoyed Blood Pressure!

You've been getting better and better with every title, my man, and I believe this is your BEST metroidvania up to date. Masterful world design as always, graphics are top notch and the whole game is incredibly fun to play. Great job! <3

Sounds awesome, I can't wait to try out whatever you create, man! <3

This, alongside the prequel "The Lightkeeper", are the BEST small metroidvanias on this whole website. And I don't mean just best pay-what-you-want MVs, I mean BEST MVs out there, period.

The world design is exceptional, graphics and sound are perfectly selected to create great atmosphere, control is satisfying and responsive, the areas and NPCs are all interesting, the lore surrounding the games is intriguing and the exploration feels very rewarding.

I genuinely couldn't have asked for anything more from the games. THANK YOU for making them - you have a real talent for making metroidvanias and I hope you bless us with another one in the future <3

It's a really cool game that's got a lot going for it but it's ultimately let down by the confusing controls. I had to use a joystick-to-keyboard rebinding tool to at least somewhat mitigate this problem but it's a bit of a hit or miss. 

If the developer hasn't given up on this project at all, my suggestions for improvement would be:

- Add key rebinding functionality - most important part!

- Rework the bubbles part - I spend a good 5-10 minutes popping those balloons from every angle and got a dash from it only once. It was what eventually blocked me from progressing further into the game.

- Nerf the goblin enemy - these sword throws are too strong, especially for something so early in the game.

- Make enemies occasionally drop health - right now there is no incentive to kill anything.

- Increase the invincibility frames after taking a hit by a small margin AND add such frames during a dodge.

- Fix saving functionality, right now if you exit the game, that's it, your progress is gone.

- Add a map that could be shown at any time with a press of a button, not just the one that is statically placed in the middle of the room. Even a simplistic map (like the one we already have) is better than no map while you're exploring the world.

I'm really digging the aesthetics of the game, the asset pack you've chosen is fantastic and the music fits well. Map design is great and exploration is satisfying so if the above issues were to be addressed properly, I'd love to give it another shot.

PSA for all devs: if you're gonna start your game with 5 mins of unskippable dialogue or cutscene, you're gonna lose a lot of players very early on. Add a SKIP button!!!

I mashed the X button on my controller for about 4 minutes straight and eventually gave up without ever seeing any gameplay. You should really let your players y'know... actually PLAY the game.