Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• For me, Ghost Wizard played like a horror game. It doesn’t overly explain itself to you, and the cutesy look of the graphic hides a more sinister setting. I don’t know if it was intentional, or a byproduct of the program, but my screen would also flicker strangely at random moments. There was also a moment in a later area (no spoilers) where I found myself trapped and knew I would die and it was rather spooky. I was able to get what I think is quite close to finishing the game, but wasn’t able to figure out what I think was the last puzzle to “escape.” Also, I really liked that your meters track Coherence, Influence, and Knowledge – and Knowledge in particular was interestingly integrated with the rest of the game. I’m not sure that Ghost Wizard was designed deliberately as a roguelike. Of course, the meaning of that differs for everyone, but the author has even included an “adventure mode” along with the “roguelike mode” that indicates to me that perhaps their heart wasn’t really in the roguelike frame. And while the placement of some things in the world seems lightly randomized, the map itself seemed static to me. I think the game has more in common with a metroidvania; I even at times felt the game play was similar to the recent Minit, hunting a single map for the notable, quirky items (spells) needed to proceed. Taken on those terms, I wanted a slightly tighter relationship between the powers you unlock and the puzzles you’re solving in the world. Sword and bow are almost identical. Candle seems redundant with Fireball. I never found a use for Acid Cloud. Maybe I needed to do more exploring…however, the world is pretty hostile to explore. Enemies are easy to defeat, but only by spending Influence, and Influence is difficult…or inconsistent…to regain. This meant that in later stages of the game I found myself crossing the entire map to try and scrounge a last few bits of Influence, to then go back and unlock the next step of a puzzle. Having more consistent ways of regenerating Influence (even if they unlock at later portions of the game) would have made less “busy work” for me. A final note is that I really did love the world building in this – it can’t be overstated.

• A simple but interesting roguelike. The stats and descriptions give a unique and very charming flavor. Some enemies don't really contrast with the backgrounds, which can be confusing.

• Completeness:

  It's complete game, but with rough edges. Some issues are annoying: navigating through forests is not pleasant due to movement scheme, 'x' key closes game immediately, no instructions, no obvious goal.

  Aesthetics:

  Graphics is really pleasant - font, solid blocks, limited use of animations and non-standard characters. Truly retro feeling! I like this pastel palette, also.
  

  Fun:

  This game has potential, and I'd like to see more polished post-campo release. But for now... Well, not bad, but could be better. Maps are kind-of Zelda-like, basic combat mechanics are a bit arcadey and reminds me Binding of Isaac a little (wsad to move, arrows to shoot - or cast spells), "resource management" (coherent vs influence) is nice little twist... But some issues are too big to be ignored. Maps, even if pleasant, are big and empty; lack of obvious goal doesn't help either; due to limited movement (4 directions, seems impossible) it's hard to win encounters tactically.

  Innovation:

  As I wrote earlier, coherence/influence dependency is nice twist on usual hp/mana mechanics.

  Scope:

  Reasonable for 7DRL.

  Roguelikeness:
  

  Let's say, 85%.