It's cute, and I like shmups. But losing time as health doesn't really lead to a lot of mechanical depth. You can barely save any time at all by staying close to the enemy and focusing, there isn't nearly enough potential benefit to outweigh the cost of a 20 second penalty for getting hit. The risk reward is all outta wack.
I could've swore I noticed a graze mechanic on the third boss at some point? I think I gained more time somehow? I have no idea how that works or how it happened, and it's impossible to look at the UI while playing.
I love the art and music, but fighting the same two guys over and over just felt like a test of my patience primarily and my skill second. The third boss is super cool, and really fun, but the second one is way harder and also simple in a boring way. It's too frustrating playing through the first two repeatedly to reach the third boss so I never beat him.
I have no idea why I struggle with the second boss, but it's too hard for me to overcome. First one is relatively easy (at least the pattern is), and I couldn't reach the third boss consistently, but it also didn't seem that hard, with a manageable pattern. Also - third boss design is really cool, very intimidating. Moving hands hurting you caught me by surprise.
I like the twist of "you lose time if you get hurt", it's a cool change, and I dig the idea of a "boss rush shmup". I'd only wish for a practice mode for bosses that you've already beaten.
I suck at bullet hells and got stomped by the second boss even after trying for quite a bit. I like the idea of a time based health pool and the first boss is awesome and I enjoyed learning it. I do hate the fact that you need to beat the first boss over and over and over, I would split the game into a hardcore and normal mode, where in the normal mode you get a checkpoint for each boss and can just focus on the one boss, and then try your hand at hardcore where death brings you to the beginning. Other than that no real complaints, I like the art and the menu is good so far.
I like this game, it's tough but very fun. Took some hours to beat, the second boss seemed random at first, but after several tries, I started dodging everything without even looking at the bullets
The graphics are simple but well done, everything works well together. The music is nice too, I like how it's synchronized with the second boss spin attack.
I've read that the game is finished, but some small additions would be very nice, like a pause button, volume sliders and an easier mode with checkpoints.
I played the game, I like the idea of a "boss rush game" but I dislike the way the time counter works, if I get hit two times in a row at the beginning of a battle, that's -40 seconds and then I only have around 15 seconds which are not enough to deal the necessary dps to beat the boss.
I think the game would be better if you just put some lives to the character and the time it's only there like a Time attack score.
Imho the time loss thing is pretty punishing, because even if you later play perfectly if you made a mistake early on you will still lose, pushing players to restart often and early but after seeing until the end, i now understand that the time limit is an integral part of the game loop.
I tried a few buttons but didn’t find the one for attack. Had a bit of fun just trying to survive until timer hit 0, figured maybe that was the win con. I would go back and play proper, but I also can’t stand the flashing.
Of course I activated the code right away, hehe. Looks very cool! But I couldn't turn it off, I also wanted to play as misty.
I liked the first boss. It is a simple pattern, but it can be learned. The second boss I feel I had no time to react and no clear way to learn the pattern. My bullet hell skills reflexes are low.
Sometimes my character wouldn't shot at all, why is that?
I tried using focus shot, but my keyboard wouldn't register some key combinations being pressed so I wouldn't be able to move. I think it would be better as a toggle.
This game might be too hardcore for me, I have no idea how will I learn the third boss if I have to do the two first ones every time.
Thank you so much for playing! Also sorry I should've mentioned, to switch back you type in "minty" on the title screen.
The bullet limit for the character is pretty low, so if you miss some shots you won't be able to shoot again until a bullet goes off screen.
Yeah keyboard has been pretty finicky for a lot of people and I do apologize for that.
Also a tip for anyone trying to learn the bosses: watch how they behave on the game over screen. There's no random elements to any of the bosses so if you wanted to you could study their patterns.
-Playing on controller. I find it weird that you say ENTER/START for game begin, but only say "R" for restart, it should also say SELECT.
-Cute pixel art.
-Having bullet shoot rate tied to the amount on screen feels crap for a bullet hell, this isn't like NES Metroid where the range is so short to compensate when missing.
- Got to the gyroid, this pattern is way more annoying than the other boss. Also, getting damaged from touching boss feels a little annoying, but probably necessary to avoid easy safe spots.
-Took me several attempts to realize that TIME LEFT was actually for your death, not the boss. This is extra confusing since I've played games like Touhou where you can wait out phases. I don't know if you really need to explain it before hand, but maybe make it more obvious when you die to it, like making it flash red when emptied.
-Hold up, I just realized that my time goes down when hit. It isn't so obvious since the time is always changing anyway, and you're looking at where the action is around your character, it's easy not to notice the time getting cut when you're hit.
-Gyroid bullet 'pattern' makes me mad, mostly because I need to do the boring pumpkin boss again each time. I find the randomness and the arcs make it annoying to adapt to. Also, killing the orbiting circle feels pointless, it takes almost as long to kill it as the boss outright, and all it does it make the pumpkin shots a little more energetic.
-Skull dude is a fairly fun bullet pattern setup, died though.
-Seems like I actually carry some extra time between fights depending on how well I did, this was counter to my assumption of being reset, which I thought would let me be a little reckless on earlier fights towards the end. Getting hit once in pumpkin gave me 2 seconds, but a no hit gave me 10+.
-Finally found the 'focus' button, now I can get higher DPS if I get close to enemies. Or at least I think so, the limit based on bullets on screen makes it hard to tell if doing it from a distance is higher DPS since it becomes spotty in fire rate.
-I learn that low time also effects your next battle. This feels mean, a player sucking doesn't even get the baseline of 60s to beat the next boss.
-'Damage' of bullets seem random? Unless I read it wrong, the blue shots of Gyroid deal 20 seconds of damage, then another time it was like 2 seconds? I really don't get it. ([later..] Actually I guess it's just me getting confused from invul frames after getting hit?)
-Got to skele man again but died after the same amount of damage dealt to him as last time, I do not feel convicted enough to grind the previous fights to beat him.
Short and sweet I guess, if you expand upon it at all please add a continue system, or at least a practice mode.
Thank you for playing and providing video feedback once again! I don't personally find it that egregious (I actually toned it down during development) but I can see how some might think otherwise, especially if you're playing in a dark room at a high brightness. I don't plan on making any changes to the game since it was just a fun side project for Halloween but all of the feedback I'm getting here will be useful to improving future titles.
You should have a standard Game Start button. The game does not teach you its controls. There are no volume controls, and you cannot pause the game. The first boss should ease you into learning your character's movement, instead of introducing relatively complex tracking shots from the beginning. The presentation + music are good, but that's about it. The mechanics are boilerplate and actual game design is below par. There needs to be a gradual build up of complexity and difficulty as you go through bosses.
Comments
It's cute, and I like shmups. But losing time as health doesn't really lead to a lot of mechanical depth. You can barely save any time at all by staying close to the enemy and focusing, there isn't nearly enough potential benefit to outweigh the cost of a 20 second penalty for getting hit. The risk reward is all outta wack.
I could've swore I noticed a graze mechanic on the third boss at some point? I think I gained more time somehow? I have no idea how that works or how it happened, and it's impossible to look at the UI while playing.
I love the art and music, but fighting the same two guys over and over just felt like a test of my patience primarily and my skill second. The third boss is super cool, and really fun, but the second one is way harder and also simple in a boring way. It's too frustrating playing through the first two repeatedly to reach the third boss so I never beat him.
fun game but movement feels a bit sluggish, idk what focus does since it seems your already moving at minimum speed
I feel like having HP decrease the timer isn’t the best way to go about it, but neat little game otherwise.
I have no idea why I struggle with the second boss, but it's too hard for me to overcome. First one is relatively easy (at least the pattern is), and I couldn't reach the third boss consistently, but it also didn't seem that hard, with a manageable pattern. Also - third boss design is really cool, very intimidating. Moving hands hurting you caught me by surprise.
I like the twist of "you lose time if you get hurt", it's a cool change, and I dig the idea of a "boss rush shmup". I'd only wish for a practice mode for bosses that you've already beaten.
I suck at bullet hells and got stomped by the second boss even after trying for quite a bit. I like the idea of a time based health pool and the first boss is awesome and I enjoyed learning it. I do hate the fact that you need to beat the first boss over and over and over, I would split the game into a hardcore and normal mode, where in the normal mode you get a checkpoint for each boss and can just focus on the one boss, and then try your hand at hardcore where death brings you to the beginning. Other than that no real complaints, I like the art and the menu is good so far.
I like this game, it's tough but very fun. Took some hours to beat, the second boss seemed random at first, but after several tries, I started dodging everything without even looking at the bullets
The graphics are simple but well done, everything works well together. The music is nice too, I like how it's synchronized with the second boss spin attack.
I've read that the game is finished, but some small additions would be very nice, like a pause button, volume sliders and an easier mode with checkpoints.
For a side project this is amazing! Keep up the great work!
Neat game. I suck at these but I got to boss 2.
Thank you for the video feedback! I always love seeing that
I played the game, I like the idea of a "boss rush game" but I dislike the way the time counter works, if I get hit two times in a row at the beginning of a battle, that's -40 seconds and then I only have around 15 seconds which are not enough to deal the necessary dps to beat the boss.
I think the game would be better if you just put some lives to the character and the time it's only there like a Time attack score.
Imho the time loss thing is pretty punishing, because even if you later play perfectly if you made a mistake early on you will still lose, pushing players to restart often and early
but after seeing until the end, i now understand that the time limit is an integral part of the game loop.
carry on
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2290727465?t=0h29m9s
I tried a few buttons but didn’t find the one for attack. Had a bit of fun just trying to survive until timer hit 0, figured maybe that was the win con. I would go back and play proper, but I also can’t stand the flashing.
Reached the second boss Video:
Of course I activated the code right away, hehe. Looks very cool! But I couldn't turn it off, I also wanted to play as misty.
I liked the first boss. It is a simple pattern, but it can be learned. The second boss I feel I had no time to react and no clear way to learn the pattern. My bullet hell skills reflexes are low.
Sometimes my character wouldn't shot at all, why is that?
I tried using focus shot, but my keyboard wouldn't register some key combinations being pressed so I wouldn't be able to move. I think it would be better as a toggle.
This game might be too hardcore for me, I have no idea how will I learn the third boss if I have to do the two first ones every time.
Thank you so much for playing! Also sorry I should've mentioned, to switch back you type in "minty" on the title screen.
The bullet limit for the character is pretty low, so if you miss some shots you won't be able to shoot again until a bullet goes off screen.
Yeah keyboard has been pretty finicky for a lot of people and I do apologize for that.
Also a tip for anyone trying to learn the bosses: watch how they behave on the game over screen. There's no random elements to any of the bosses so if you wanted to you could study their patterns.
Only got to the spinning cactus but holy shit, it's intensive.
-Playing on controller. I find it weird that you say ENTER/START for game begin, but only say "R" for restart, it should also say SELECT.
-Cute pixel art.
-Having bullet shoot rate tied to the amount on screen feels crap for a bullet hell, this isn't like NES Metroid where the range is so short to compensate when missing.
- Got to the gyroid, this pattern is way more annoying than the other boss. Also, getting damaged from touching boss feels a little annoying, but probably necessary to avoid easy safe spots.
-Took me several attempts to realize that TIME LEFT was actually for your death, not the boss. This is extra confusing since I've played games like Touhou where you can wait out phases. I don't know if you really need to explain it before hand, but maybe make it more obvious when you die to it, like making it flash red when emptied.
-Hold up, I just realized that my time goes down when hit. It isn't so obvious since the time is always changing anyway, and you're looking at where the action is around your character, it's easy not to notice the time getting cut when you're hit.
-Gyroid bullet 'pattern' makes me mad, mostly because I need to do the boring pumpkin boss again each time. I find the randomness and the arcs make it annoying to adapt to. Also, killing the orbiting circle feels pointless, it takes almost as long to kill it as the boss outright, and all it does it make the pumpkin shots a little more energetic.
-Skull dude is a fairly fun bullet pattern setup, died though.
-Seems like I actually carry some extra time between fights depending on how well I did, this was counter to my assumption of being reset, which I thought would let me be a little reckless on earlier fights towards the end. Getting hit once in pumpkin gave me 2 seconds, but a no hit gave me 10+.
-Finally found the 'focus' button, now I can get higher DPS if I get close to enemies. Or at least I think so, the limit based on bullets on screen makes it hard to tell if doing it from a distance is higher DPS since it becomes spotty in fire rate.
-I learn that low time also effects your next battle. This feels mean, a player sucking doesn't even get the baseline of 60s to beat the next boss.
-'Damage' of bullets seem random? Unless I read it wrong, the blue shots of Gyroid deal 20 seconds of damage, then another time it was like 2 seconds? I really don't get it. ([later..] Actually I guess it's just me getting confused from invul frames after getting hit?)
-Got to skele man again but died after the same amount of damage dealt to him as last time, I do not feel convicted enough to grind the previous fights to beat him.
Short and sweet I guess, if you expand upon it at all please add a continue system, or at least a practice mode.
Video Feedback:
Honestly i would have played it more but the flashing from the boss taking damage was too much.Thank you for playing and providing video feedback once again! I don't personally find it that egregious (I actually toned it down during development) but I can see how some might think otherwise, especially if you're playing in a dark room at a high brightness. I don't plan on making any changes to the game since it was just a fun side project for Halloween but all of the feedback I'm getting here will be useful to improving future titles.
You should have a standard Game Start button. The game does not teach you its controls. There are no volume controls, and you cannot pause the game. The first boss should ease you into learning your character's movement, instead of introducing relatively complex tracking shots from the beginning. The presentation + music are good, but that's about it. The mechanics are boilerplate and actual game design is below par. There needs to be a gradual build up of complexity and difficulty as you go through bosses.
How's that game collab going big guy?
What collab? :^)
Happy belated Halloween! Type "boo" on the t title screen to play as the PAT Fairy