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Vandal's Aria

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A member registered Mar 18, 2023 · View creator page →

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Thanks for playing.! Was this issue occurring in the web version or the build? The instruction is on a timer and should disappear in about 10 seconds.

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Yep so I downloaded it again and still no music. I even tried the console version and there is a lot of errors about fmod. 

I have had issues with music in Godot games before, so it might just be an issue on my end.  You might want to confirm that with someone else who hasn't worked on the game project. 

This is the room that I start in (no main menu, and can't leave):

Pretty fun little game (also we meet again!). 

Gameplay:

The gimmick of picking up weapons and using them is a lot of fun. The game is quite a labyrinth to the point where I was completely lost (not a bad thing for this genre). I wish it was clearer how much health I have. I think it's going with the fps health regens over time, but it's not so obvious.   

Art:

The art style works well and the procedural animation looks quite good for the enemies and lava. 

Music / SFX

There was no music in the game (bugged?). The sound effects feel inconsistent with each other. The jump sound particularly sticks out and sounds odd when compared with the realistic sword swing. I feel either you should stick with a more realistic sound, or go with the 16-bit style without mixing them. Given the style, the retro SFX might be the play. 

Good luck continuing the game. 

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Interesting little game. I like the concept and the art. It gave me some Resident Evil vibes, but as a 2D game. The music also added some nice ambiance. 

That being said, the game is pretty rough around the edges. I ran into a load of bugs, the bat disappearing, enemies stuck on the floor, opening the pause menu causing the game to restart, etc..

The SFX could also use an overhaul, with many of them sounding odd - like the bat hitting something sounds like glass breaking. 

Good luck with continuing the project!

Fun little game. The atmosphere and graphics work well. 

I died in the game and then the music didn't start again. Also, it would be nice to have more explanation in game about the controls. I couldn't figure out how to attack, and had to force quit the game to look on the game page. Shift is a bit unusual, but not the worst thing. 

Good job!

Pretty fun little game! The combo system is neat. 

Not too much say, although filling out the levels with more visual elements could have been nice. Also, I wonder why the walk speed is so slow when compared to the jumping. I ending up just jumping everywhere in the levels. 

Great game! The polish is nice and all the elements (art, music, gameplay) work well together. The gimmick of throwing your stick and using it as a platform was fun. 

I didn't get too far into the game (had to switch back to work), but in general found it fun. I am wondering how it will keep the platforming interesting since the stick gimmick was the major progression tool.  

Good job!

The character movement and art style works well!

Some thoughts:

- I'm not sure a limited ammo system makes sense as it currently is. The bow could work as a secondary attack alongside a melee attack. 

- The cutscene still seems a little bugged, where it will trigger the same dialogue multiple times. 

Good luck with continuing the project!

Hmm, I don't seem to be able to leave the first area. If I walk either left or right off screen the character will go invisible. 

The pixel art does look great.  

Nice, a decently well thought out experience. The art and music work well to create a unique environment. 

As others have mentioned, it's not technically a Metroidvania. You could add more keys, and require the player to unlock certain abilities to get them (ex: double jump).  

It would be nice to have some sfx to go along with the jumping and shooting.

Nice job! 

Pretty awesome little game! I got stuck after a certain character perished, and wasn't sure where to go, so I didn't make it too far. 

Gameplay:

Gameplay is good. There's a nice variety of moving through areas and platforming. 

But jumping feels a little annoying at times. I found myself sometimes hitting a ceiling / platform above me and falling to my death. The spikes in most cases are instant death. I think adding "coyote time" would be helpful. I believe that's where the player is given part of a second after leaving a platform to jump. That would help with timing some of the jumps on moving platforms. 

Art:

The visual style and animation is the strongest aspect of this game. It has a unique nightmarish look with distinct character. I love how background elements in the world are also animated (like platforms, or blocks). 

Music:

The music is good and the amount of it is impressive for a jam game (level themes, item themes, death theme, etc.). The orchestration and mixing of the tracks is also good! 

To be critical, I think the music feels...a little generic. I could see it fitting into any other fantasy type game. I think including some stranger harmonies, odd instruments and peculiar rhythms could have fit the visual style more. Take it as an opportunity to be quirky! I'm thinking of music from Tim Burton + Danny Elfman that might have landed closer to the mark. 

Overall, great job! I'd love to play more if I can make it further. 

Thanks for playing! I spent quite a while working on the ambiance, so I'm glad that worked out. 

There are a few branching paths, so you can go to another area and come back. :)

Oh I didn't even try reloading haha. I just assumed that since I ran out of ammo I'd have to find more. 

I'll probably see how much farther I can get with a mouse. 

Nice attempt! 

I got stuck on a few weird collisions and didn't die after losing my energy. 

Ahh that makes sense. That's probably a natural thing to think. I suspect you'd have run out of the bio for the shield. 

I played your game and had a lot of fun with it, good job. 

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Hey I wasn't expected to see another fps metroidvania here, but that was a pleasant surprise. 

Which engine did you use?

The graphics look cool and the audio works well. I really enjoyed figuring out how to defeat the big spider boss. The remote bomb is great, and the grappling hook was smooth and simple. 

I stopped in the big room with the grapple hooks and the guys shooting guns. One of the gun guys took me out when I was near the top. I'm using just my laptop with the mouse pad, which is a little awkward (no fault of yours). I might come back to play it later. 

Some thoughts:

- Some of the textures look odd? There's some white shapes floating in the air which I think represents a tunnel.  

- I got stuck on the rocks at the beginning when I jumped on them and had to reset.  

- I think the main pistol is a bit useless. I spend all the ammo early on and didn't find any ammo restock. It didn't seem like the pistol was displaying how much ammo it had either. 

- I wonder if those gun skeleton could shoot less frequently / be less accurate? The only way to take them out is the bomb, which requires getting close and taking damage. Maybe upping the movement speed could help a little in those encounters?

Really fun and awesome! 

Thanks for playing! I'm glad the map worked out, since it took awhile to get it to work. 

You're right about the overheat, what you visually see is a bit delayed from what's happening under the hood. I'll keep it in mind for a future sequel. 

The COEUS boss's projectiles should be shot instead of dodged. Including an earlier section with the missiles to communicate how the player has to shoot them would be a good idea. Also the colliders for the larger projectiles could probably be smaller. 

Thanks for playing! In the pause menu -> options, you can turn on a crosshair for aiming. 

I think you and I submitted the only fps games to this jam. Had fun playing this one, reminded me of Deus Ex and System Shock 2. I like the idea of being able to select different characters at the start. 

Some thoughts:

- The environments need some variety. It all looks too similar, which makes navigating a challenge. Could also add some blood and scratches to make it  feel even more eerie and survival horror like. 

- I think the game could have started a little slower to introduce some of the mechanics before giving the player free roam to enter many different parts of the map. Ex: have a section where they are stuck in a vent and you learn to reload the gun, lock pickup, etc.., before having to navigate through the large map. 

Overall, nice job!

This a fun game with some cool mechanics. I like being able to choose which upgrades to get. The character movement and move set felt pretty good. 

That being said, it feels more like a 2D platformer than a Metroidvania. Maybe spacing out some of the core abilities (double jumping, dashing) and making the map layout have branching paths could spice up the game. 

I also think adding a checkpoint before the first boss would be helpful. Having to fight through all the enemies in the previous section when killed by the boss was annoying. 

Overall, great job!

I'm not used to playing these types of top down games, so I'm sure your intuitions are right about the movement. 

Fun game! 

Hmm not much I can comment on unfortunately. 

The game runs poorly on my laptop with too much lag to play. 

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The concept is awesome and look of the game is great! The sounds were also great. 

Some thoughts:

- I found coordinating the character change (z) with the jumping (x) to be a little challenging. Maybe could include another binding for either? Although not all players will have this issue I'm sure. 

- My play session was ended by a buggy room. I got stuck in some room and couldn't leave. 

- A small detail, but if the 'fire' sound effect when shooting a projectile could be a one shot I think it would help. The sound gets cut off when shooting too quickly. 

Overall, great job!

This is a pretty cool entry and interesting to see a 2D Unreal game. I like the aesthetic, a hellish dark souls. 

Some thoughts:

- Character movement felt a little janky. The character moves a little too fast given the level design. I found myself running head first into zombies. I think if you want the character that fast, you may need to rework the levels to fit with that speed. 

- I think you should add 'coyote time' to the platforming. Give the player a fraction of a second after they leave a platform to continue jumping. 

- We beat the first boss, but from a cheese spot where the boss couldn't hit the character. Might want to investigate that. 

Overall, good job!

Thanks!

This is a really well polished entry. The animations look great and the audio is awesome. It felt good to unlock the abilities and finally use them. It reminds me of the 2D zelda games with its top down style. 

Some thoughts:

- Some of the areas feel too hazard filled. The ice area in particularly was frustrating at times to work through. The blue blob enemies are very spongy and multiply. There's also those tedious crystals which force you stand still while waiting for the animation to finish.  

- I noticed that the character direction flips depending on the mouse. So you can move left while the character is looking right. It did seem a little odd. I wonder if maybe you could slow the player in that case to make it seem like they're moving backwards?

Overall, really awesome job!

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This is a decent little entry. I like the look of the game and the contrasts in its colour palette. The character attack animation also looks pretty good. 

Some thoughts:

- The game is tiny on my monitor, meaning it was hard to see and play the game. I couldn't find a way make it larger through settings or the window. 

- I think the jump button should be separate from the movement keys. Making jump the 'z' button for example would make platforming easier on keyboard. 

- You might consider adding some other sounds (like a whoosh for jump) to create a better feel to the movement. 

Good luck with continuing the project!

This is a pretty fun and cool looking little project. I like the painted backgrounds. 

Some thoughts:

- I've had a music issue when playing Godot games before. The music was crackling and choppy. I'm on Windows, not sure if this is a bug. Either that or the music might be tied to the frame rate. 

- The art style seems a little inconsistent with oil painting backgrounds and a more pixelated foreground look. 

- I'm not sure if you can attack in the game. Maybe introduce the mechanics through game play? I believe I managed to roll at one point, although I couldn't roll again. 

It's clear the game is in an early stage, so I'm sure your team knows where improvements could be made. Good luck with future projects!

Thanks for playing!

Thanks for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed.

Thanks for playing! I might slow the character down a little and add a heading bobbing option. 

Thanks for the review! I had a lot of fun making the game, so I'm glad I took a first step in game development. 

The overheating gun has definitely been a mixed bag for people. I think most players missed the 'overheat reduction' upgrade, which can be found before the 2nd boss. If you missed it as well, it would explain issues with later bosses. I would agree that the overheat itself is probably too long. 

I think I'll add a map to suggest paths which the player can explore. Hopefully more people will find it then haha. 

Thanks for playing!

Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed. 

Really loved the cute aesthetic of your game :)

Yes, some other people have mentioned the cornering issue (which can happen with all enemies). I was thinking of making it so that after a player is damaged, they can walk through enemies for a brief period. 

The final boss has been a bit of a mixed bag for people, so it's good to hear that it was difficult, but rewarding.  I'm planning some changes for it. 

I'm thinking of making it that you can walk through enemies after being damaged, which would (hopefully) solve the issue of being cornered. 

I'll definitely try to overhaul the font for in-game and the cutscene. 

Glad you enjoyed!

It's possible that I forgot to scale some of the UI, but good that it fixed itself on relaunch. I'll definitely add a skip cutscene option.  

I'd agree, the final boss is definitely too hard. I think it was a case where the game was getting too easy for me, so I decided to throw a curve ball in that felt challenging to even me. 

The idea with the electric field attack for the final boss is that the player can use the shield to cross between the edges to move away from the boss. Quite a few people have expressed frustration with this since I don't think it's super clear. You want to walk through the field away from the boss to get some space.  You're probably right, the electric field does go on for too long.   

Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the comment!

There is indeed a cooldown upgrade which reduces the overheating. I'm hoping to implement a map which will help show you which areas you have not been to. For the head movement, I'll probably add an option to toggle it off. 

Thanks for playing!

I would agree that the final boss was a leap in difficulty. Knowing the strategy to beat it is not clear. You can use your shield to to move through the electric field and away from the boss. The shield is on a timer and will drop after the electric attack has finished. 

Another person mentioned that I should add a feature where the character can walk through enemies after being damaged, and I think I'll try to work on that.