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Hey, thanks for trying it out again, been a while :)

Super stoked you liked it!! and yeah, a steam release is definitely coming haha; the game has come such a long way since the game jam version LOL

Thanks again for the kind words-- I'll be keepin my eyes peeled for your next big project as well ;))

Great writeup, super interesting to see your development process and overall thoughts.

The 'cuphead' parry (in hindsight, this inspiration should have been obvious to me, not sure how I missed it! :p) is a really fun callback. Imo, cuphead's parry mechanic is quite lackluster: in the context of that game it feels undercooked and slightly out of place. I think you did a much better job of executing on this mechanic using juice + the added combo meter. It's definitely the most fun part of the gameplay loop, and it's evident a lot of care and time went into making it feel great.

Your postjam thoughts really hit home for me. The "not enough playtesting" + "game is too difficult" sentiment is so real. I'm fortunate enough to have someone who is always available to playtest / give good and tactful feedback; I've definitely had moments where I was super excited about showing off some mechanic, and then it just... doesn't work. And it feels pretty awful, lol. Still, showing the game off to friends is the best part of the game dev experience for me, and I'm finding increasingly that moments like these are why I find the whole process so engaging and fun, even if the feedback is really negative at times loool.

One thing I've learned (especially from this jam) is that it often doesn't take much adjustment for something to "feel" good, at least on a level that's good enough. For my submission, this adjustment was the shader effect for the ball that causes it to visually 'squish' in midair and 'bounce'. For your project, I think making the parry hitbox bigger would immediately fix the 'difficulty' issues people were having all on its own (which I see you're already addressing in the upcoming update :D).

Really cool post and game. I will be on the lookout for your future projects, haha. Thanks for sharing!

Good stuff!

ty my goat

Thanks for playing!

Thanks for playing! And yes, I agree. Could've definitely used some music, but we unfortunately ran out of time.

Really fluid and well-designed. Except for the lack of checkpoints, the combination of graphics, sound, and well-designed platforming was a real pleasure to play. Thanks for the great submission!

Really fluid and well-designed. Except for the lack of checkpoints, the combination of graphics, sound, and well-designed platforming was a real pleasure to play. Thanks for the great submission!

Nice visuals. I also really like the work you put into the enemies. Nice submission!

A bit buggy, but still charming nonetheless! The text speed should definitely have been faster though, that was the most frustrating part. Thanks for the submission!

Wow, that was fantastic! Such a great take on the theme. I really enjoyed the way you used both audio and visuals to really cement the transition.. Thanks for the great submission!

Great submission! I really enjoyed the aesthetic and feel of the game. I especially like how interactions with different characters play out (portraits/different font styles). Figuring out the controls to open the inventory/map was a bit frustrating ("I" for inventory, "M" for map) but not game-breaking. Thanks for the great game!

Hi there-  thanks for the submission! I managed to collect all the stones and find the "ending." I like what you did with the theme. The artwork is also very charming.