had a fun time playing it and really enjoyed the art!
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STYX's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
BOSS DESIGN | #52 | 3.489 | 3.489 |
SOUNDS / MUSIC | #77 | 3.426 | 3.426 |
FUN | #83 | 3.266 | 3.266 |
Overall | #83 | 3.284 | 3.284 |
CONTROLS | #99 | 3.149 | 3.149 |
ART / VISUALS | #106 | 3.543 | 3.543 |
USE OF THEME | #146 | 2.830 | 2.830 |
Ranked from 94 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game's take on the theme
The player exchanges weapon with the boss it kills, there is also an story implementation but it's a spoiler
Did your team create the vast majority of art and music during the game jam?
Yes
Did your game use PlusMusic?
No
Did your game use Playroom?
No
Did your game use generative AI art?
No
Comments
A good game with very good visuals. It's only the controls that I didn't like: I find the choice of keys not very ergonomic.
Good game anyway
One of the most difficult games i have played in the jam. First boss was easy, second was difficult bcs it's patterns are very unpredictable and hard to avoid but when you use the dash and special attacks effectively you can beat it. Third boss was easy too. I don't know if it's intended as a weakness but i go near it spam kick then dash away from it when he throws the bomb, then go near it and spam kick again, rinse and repeat. I felt like i cheesed the game but what the hell :) 4th boss is like impossible level difficulty. Again it's attacks are totally unpredictable, no telegraphing. Special attack is almost useless against it. Every time i try to do the special attack on it i get hit and it does so little damage. Definitely not worth it. The most useful tactic for me is to get near it spam kick and dash or jump away from it like i did it on the 3rd boss. But it has a shit ton of health and can kill you with like 2-3 hits. I managed to take it's health down to half. If i tried more maybe i could have kill it(i think i almost tried 10 times)but there was a bug which annoyed me so much that i quit playing it at that point. When it corners you to the edge of the screen, there's no way you can escape it and it beats you to death while you scream in frustration. Jump, dash, nothing works at that point and i died like i think 3-4 times.
Other than that, the artstyle of the game is not bad especially considering that it was handcrafted by you in a month but i saw very good 2d art in this game jam. I agree to other comments that the art looks inconsistent. The background images are too muddy. Character design needs some work as well. I like the visual design of the bosses as well as their attack patterns.
To make it short, it's a fun and challenging game. You gotta fix some bugs and may consider adjusting the difficulty a bit. Nice work!
Thank you for the lengthy feedback, I really appreciate it.
I have rectified most of the point you mentioned in your review; boss's collidors, attack patterns, special attack damage and much more has already been fixed and I will further look into the other points you mentioned, Thank you for playing.
Really awesome boss design. All the attack patterns felt really rewarding to learn. I only played through each boss once (it looked like there was a ‘rematch’ for each boss afterwards?) but I’ll probably come back to this to beat all the rematches.
I didn’t really see the difference between punch and kick (I used kick most of the time). The controls were also a little strange: special on V was what threw me off (maybe it could have been HJKL instead of JKLV?).
Every attack pattern felt really thoughtful. For example, I love that the archer has the triple arrow attack which forces you to jump, while most of his other attacks can be dashed-through. It’s a really nice mixup and satisfying to recognize.
I really liked this game, nice job!
Has a really solid art style. The boss move set is varied and creative. The cinematic presentation gives it an air of quality. Amazing job!
Very fun game! The fights were nice and balanced. Good animations, very polished, way to go!
Hey!
I'll focus on constructive criticism in my comment, but that doesn't mean I don't agree with the others in the section about the pros, especially the art.
Notes:
There is a minor visual glitch when the first boss exits his ball state, for a moment, the ball sprite appears where he had started.
Personal opinion (what I felt as a player, and each player is different):
1. I saw you can climb over the first boss with the dash, but being able to dash through him would speed up the fight a lot in my opinion. I found myself hitting and running a lot.
2. If the second boss corners you with one of those beams, and appears next to you, you'll pretty much lose a whole lot of your health or die. You can negate that by avoiding the corners, but it would be nice if there was a way to escape getting stuck like that.
Thank you for the feedback.
I have fixed the visual glitch, thank you for letting me know.
I initially wanted to let the player dash through the bosses but that made the fights very easy, Now I have tweaked some boss's attacks and allowed the player to dash through the bosses, Let's see how the bosses feel and I will further tweak it accordingly.
I really don't know how to fix the second bug you encountered but I will look into that as well.
The second one isn't a bug. I wanted to add what I felt as a player too, rather than just a developer, and I felt that part be a bit more unfair, rather than fun-difficult. That is only an opinion.
Aside the visual glitch you've fixed, I didn't run into any glitches. The second boss fight went without issues, when it comes to how the attacks and patterns were performed. The overall experience was definitely good.
The intro is impress immediately! I mostly agree with what was said by other speakers here, so will not repeat, instead here some ideas ahead on the impression: It would be cool that if you collect some items on levels, you can later exchange them for various goodies with the boatman. Also, he takes you to the location you deserve. You give him an object that can be considered a key, he will no move without it. That item always contains the accumulation of the skill that you demonstrated in the arena/level. The higher you go, the further the boatman will take you. Also PCG levels would be cool for this project. The gameplay experience leaves the impression of unsaidness, that there is more here than is revealed. So.. keep it up man!
That is a very creative way to expand on the gameplay, Adding a shop like section is something I was originally trying to implement but had to cut it due to the time constraint, I also love the idea of having more interactions with the boatman as *spoilers* it makes the final fight way more heavy in regards of the narrative *spoliers*.
I don't really understand how PCG can be implemented in this sort of gameplay but I would love to hear more about it.
Thank you for such great feedback and advice, I really appreciate it.
game is good, art is beautiful and complements with the music each boss attacks is telegraphed nicely. story blends well too. but i only have some issue.
the timing to dodge the 2nd vor's 1/2 hp phase is just too tight for me. idk if its bad rng or what but i must go from one side of the screen to the other. might just be my skill issue tho.
controls a bit weird for me. i always pressed W to jump while it should have been SPACE since im not really used to use SPACE to jump on 2d keyboard oriented games. specialability using V is also a weird thing for me feels like it could be the I key or something
Awesome how many art you created during the jam. Each boss feels very unique. Good job
Nice work! I like the unique feel of each boss and it felt satisfying to finally beat each one! I do wish the boss weapons could be used a bit more often :)
amazing design and gameplay. movement and attack are nice ,bosses are hard just enough. beautiful background and sprite that really sell that underworld of the damned vibe special attacks are a bit lackluster imo maybe because of its damage but overall its an amazing game
I was the 70th person to rate you, somehow that feels like I broke a social convention. :C I'm sorry.
Awesome game! I really like the animation of the elephant boss losing its head lol.
Great game! The sound effects and vibes were fantastic. While playing, I observed that after defeating a boss and exchanging weapons, I couldn't use the acquired weapon despite trying all the controls. It might be my inexperience, but I wanted to bring it to your attention. Overall, excellent job!
Really nice work, super solid boss design and simple but effective combat mechanics. Great job!
Very solid game here. Nice mechanics and movement. Good Aesthetic, art and general vibes. Very Enjoyable experience. Could definitely see it getting a full release. I appreciate that the thematic linking lets you have an instant restart to the boss instead of having to reset from the beginning each time.
Nice game. I like the vibes. The combat is interesting. The controls were a little difficult for me but I blame that on my inexperience with keyboard gameplay since I usually use a controller. Overall, 4/5. Good work.
The bosses are great. The art is also really cool. I learned the boss pattern after a little bit of time. I really liked playing the game
If you are interested, can you please play my game. It would really help.
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