itch.io

Thanks for checking out Dawnfall! 

This is my first jam entry, and any feedback is truly appreciated: bugs, difficulty, controls, art, story, or anything you think could be better. Feel free to be honest, as every comment helps me improve the game.

If you run into a bug, please tell me what you were doing when it happened and I’ll get it fixed as soon as possible.

Thanks for playing!

tormentdev

Thanks for letting me know! I'll take a look and fix it. Really appreciate the feedback!

I really like the graphics.

I think the main menu could be a bit more user-friendly, with the "Start Game" button on the left and more visible.

One thing that could be improved is the loading time. Waiting around 1 minute and 30 seconds to join a server and start a match feels a bit too long.

I also had trouble with the "End Turn" button, as it didn't seem to work for me.

It would be great to have a small tutorial to understand the mechanics better, and maybe some bots to play against so new players can try the game without needing other people.

Overall, I really like the visual style. I think the game has potential, just needs a few improvements to make it easier for new players to get into!

The game looks fun and I really like the art style! I found the controls a bit difficult to get used to, though. Maybe making them a little simpler would help. Keep up the good work!

Thanks a lot, really glad the old Zelda vibe comes through! And thanks for the honest note on the music — the dissonant chords aren’t meant to disorient, that’s just how they came out, so this is useful feedback. I’ll revisit the chords and keep the beeps as they are. Out of curiosity, was it in a specific area or across the whole game? That’d help me track it down.

Played a few runs, really like the cozy vibe and the core idea of feeding the fire. A few things from my side:

• Controls: I instinctively tried WASD at first and nothing happened, so it took me a moment to figure out it was arrows/mouse. A quick controls hint on the title screen (or adding WASD support) would help a lot for first-time players.
• Difficulty curve: after a certain point it feels almost impossible to catch anything. Maybe the ramp could be a bit smoother, or give the player a little more breathing room before it peaks.
• Fox visuals: the fox could use a small visual polish pass. It’s charming already, but a bit more detail or animation would make it stand out even more as the main character.

Nice work overall, the run-2 ember idea is really cool. Keep it up! 🦊

Hey! I played up to level 5 and really enjoyed it. The art and the music are great, and the core gameplay loop is addictive. Here’s my feedback:

What I liked

• The art style and the music fit the game really well.
• The core gameplay hooked me.
• The movement controls feel good.
• The scarecrow tutorial dialogue is a nice touch.

Bugs

• Level 2 death loop: I got stuck in a loop where I kept dying and respawning over and over on the loading screen. Maybe the player is spawned or takes damage before the level has finished loading, or the respawn point overlaps a hazard. Spawning the player only once the level is ready, plus a short invulnerability on respawn, could fix it.
• Level 3 soft-lock: if you jump down at the end before killing every enemy, the game says you have to kill them all to continue, but the jump isn’t high enough to get back up, so you’re stuck. A barrier before the drop, a way back up, or showing the warning before the jump would fix it.
• Level 5 bonfire: when you respawn at the bonfire, a skeleton spawns right on top of you. Invulnerability on respawn, or keeping enemy spawns away from the checkpoint, would help.

Things to improve

• Jump: when you barely touch a wall or a corner, the jump gets cut in half. It feels like any collision resets the vertical velocity. Corner correction, and only cancelling the vertical velocity on a real ceiling hit, would make it feel much smoother.
• Controls: J and K for attack and interact felt a bit awkward. Rebindable keys or more common defaults, like E to interact or Z/X, would help. So would gamepad support.
• Combat: it comes down to spamming the attack button. A short combo with its own timing, a dodge or dash, a block or parry, or enemies that telegraph their attacks would add depth.
• Enemy variety: more enemy types would make it less repetitive as you progress.
• Story / intro: a short intro explaining who the hero is, what’s happening to the village and what the goal is would give more context before the tutorial.

Overall it’s a really solid base with a lot of charm. Great job, and good luck with the jam!

Played it through. The atmosphere has potential: the soft light radius on a dark harbor is a nice core image.

Honest feedback: right now it feels like walking a dot over to other dots. Lighting a lantern doesn’t change much in the world, so there’s not much reward or reason to keep going. Some ideas:

• Make the world react when you light a lantern: nearby windows turn on, the street gets brighter, a sound plays. By the eighth one the harbor should look alive compared to the start.
• Make the unlit lanterns easier to read: right now they blend into the background. A faint flicker or glow would guide the player without a map.
• Give the player a bit of character: even a tiny figure with a walk animation or a lantern in hand would help a lot over a plain circle.
• Animate the water: a slight shimmer or reflection of the lit lanterns would sell the “harbor” part.
• Add some stakes: a fading light meter or lanterns that dim over time would turn it into a small route-planning challenge.

The base idea is calm and nice, it just needs more payoff for each lantern. Good luck with the jam!

Thanks for the feedback! You're right about the attack range, I'll update that soon, along with some other changes. The intro cinematic is on my list too. Glad you liked it!

Hi everyone! I've just released the free demo of Dawnfall: The Descent of Shadow, a top-down action-adventure in the spirit of the classic 2D Zeldas: explore, solve puzzles, find secrets and face bosses you have to figure out yourself, because nobody explains them to you.

You are a young squire of the Royal Guard of Alborada. On the night of the red comet, the Royal Augur betrays the crown, kills your mentor and bewitches the King before your eyes. Wounded, with the King's medallion clutched in your fist, you flee into the forest...

What's in the demo

• The Prologue and the full Chapter 1: a village to help, a hedge maze, hidden caves and two bosses.
• Sword, jump, bow and bombs, plus the powers of the talisman fragments.
• Puzzles with pressure plates, logs, braziers and jumps over gaps.
• Secrets everywhere: four heart pieces per level, buried treasure, cracked walls.
• Chispa, a fox cub you rescue, who follows you and digs up treasure.

It runs on Windows and right in the browser, in English and Spanish.

Play it here: https://tormentdev.itch.io/dawnfall

The full game is still in development, so feedback really can change what comes next. Which boss gave you more trouble, the Gardener or the Abyss Gargoyle? Where did you get stuck? Even one line helps. Thanks for reading!