itch.io

Yes, but since they didn't move or attack you directly (lamia's would bump into you if you were careless, but wouldn't chase you), the half damage made sense to keep you from just destroying them in an instant. It created a nice sense of urgency when trying to save your friend.

If you were lucky, you could have your attack free your ally and then you'd have a few frames before the still-helpless ally just got scooped back up to deal some real damage.

Nah, no worries dude, it was a joy reading your feedback. I was very passionate about this game about 10 years ago which is why I know all these things. Then DX came out and I kinda walked away from this one, viewing it as more of a tech demo of sorts leading into the DX version.

I did notice just a couple more nitpicky things on a second glance.

1. Mirea's level 2 power up seems to be missing. Her projectiles don't gain more damage or change visually on each level up like Sachiho and TGO-03's do, she just gains an additional one per level. Level 2 gives her the upwards angled additional shot and level 3 gives her the downward one (which you have correctly implemented).

2. Enemies heal at a fantastic rate when digesting a character. So much so that if you're trying to save Sachiho with Mirea and only her level 1 shot, you're going to have a tough time out-DPS'ing her heals.

3. Escaping a grapple is not a random chance each time as you've implemented (though I do kind of like this change). In the original, it ALWAYS takes EXACTLY 10 button presses of any combination of movement, jumping, and/or attacking to escape. You do have the HP cost of each button press down pat though.

4. Lamias have a very small chance (~5%) to drop an HP MAX upgrade upon defeat. You may have already implemented this, but I didn't farm them enough to find out for myself, so I'm notifying you here just in case.

NOW I think that's everything haha.

If you want some more help or information, I do have the raw original java files if you care to decompile them.

I also have my own footage I recorded of a playthrough back in 2015. It's only ~6 minutes long, but maybe it has something unique in it compared to other vids.

Keep up the good work, mang

Yo! Nice job coding the game and making it more accessible for other people. I thought about doing this myself years ago with the raw java files, but it was too much work.

The original game is still playable with a specific link on D-Gate's website, but REQUIRES legacy versions of Java and Internet Explorer/Firefox to function properly. I've only ever gotten them to work within a virtual machine I have running Windows 7 and another on Windows XP.

I do have a few notes on inaccuracies between this version and the original if you're interested.

1. Mirea's flight/hover ability only lasts for 2 seconds before she needs to land to refresh it. In your version, she flies indefinitely which is broken.
2. Mirea is able to attack while flying. Being unable to do so in this version feels really bad.
3. Power ups (namely the Max HP one in level 1-3) do NOT respawn after screen transitions, you have to reload the level entirely.
4. Mini Pukis, once collected, NEVER respawn.
5. When a character dies, they lose all of their HP and attack/level power ups.
6. The lamia in stage 1-2 does not interact with TGO-03's cage. In this game, she deletes it on contact lol.
7. Enemies do not acknowledge other player characters in any way when they are grappling or digesting another character. (I do kind of like that they move towards/attack you in this version, but it feels awkward since they kinda just slide around.
8. The balcony at Sachiho's room does not have an invisible wall blocking the player. Rather, it has a loading zone a few pixels to the left that kicks the player back to the overworld map.
9. Delta, Puki, and the cat seem to be missing from Sachiho's room :c
10. The "HELP" icon along with the HP bar under it when a character is being grappled/digested offscreen is missing entirely.
11. The earthworm's vacuum ability (I know you're aware of this one already, but I'm including it for my own sake).
12. Jellyfish movement is a bit more limited in the original (they don't plummet as quickly as they do in this version, and generally feel a bit more "floaty"). But their movement code is WEIRD AF, so don't worry about this one too much.

That's everything that I noticed at a glance between the two versions. The general feel of your version is slightly different too when it comes to player movement, attacking, and jumping. Still, this is a great effort and gives players the opportunity to experience something they otherwise wouldn't. Great job, man.