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Sumi and the Soulless Spirits's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Mood | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Presentation | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Fun | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| Overall | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- The art (character and background) and UI are phenomenal and easily industry-level. The aesthetic is extremely charming and this is complemented by a well put together OST. I really like that it changes with each level to fit the mood. I like metroidvanias; I think you all designed that aspect quite well. The plant enemy was a clear indicator that I would need a water element that was located somewhere else, but the ghosty enemy that is transparent unless fire is present wasn't as clear to me (although that was a linear discovery so not a huge deal). Although the drawing mechanic is not new, the use of the debris as the primary mechanic was a neat spin that I enjoyed playing around with. My main issue was knowing when the slime enemies could be stepped on for a timed window or when they needed to be crushed, but a small detail and I was able to solve the puzzles in a good time anyway! --- This game was just beautiful, I'm so impressed by the quality and polish of the art. I do think it could be clearer at times where you're meant to go -- sometimes I felt like I was wandering around aimlessly until I stumbled upon something new. Additionally, the mechanic where the fire platforms solidify the blue floaty guys felt unnecessary, as I could always get the height I wanted by infinitely redrawing platforms. But again, I'm super impressed by the level of thought and work that went into getting the art to this level. From animation to voice acting, this was really inspiring! --- 36/40
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Comments
Finally, I am giving feedback on this game! It was actually the first game I played because I was very excited about the art style. Then I got stuck and wanted to figure it out before I left feedback. I eventually figured it out (I am just a little stupid). Absolutely love this one! It is very charming! The art, both 2D and 3D, is incredible. I really like the drawing mechanic. I would have never even thought of something like that, so it was just really cool to me. The fairies flying around you as you unlock them is a very nice touch.
For feedback, I found figuring out which each ability could do a little confusing out of the gate, but eventually, I figured it out. I just initially thought they might different make different types of platforms or something, but it actually just affects the different types of creatures/monsters in the world. The other thing is that I got stuck in the ending area like I think someone else did in the comments. I didn't realize I was missing one of the orbs and I walked into the ending areas and couldn't get back out I don't think.
Despite that, I really enjoyed this game. I hope you guys can make something together in the future and I am excited to see you guys in future game jams! Thank you for a fun playthrough!
I realized, I forgot to mention how beautiful all the UI elements are. You don't see that in a lot of game jams games so I was really impressed.
This game is is so cute and I find the platforming a very interesting mechanic. I really enjoyed playing a platformer but in a slightly different way. The art is absolutely amazing and the animations are very smooth. Some things that I think could be improved is having a some sort of distinction between background/foreground environment and the ground as I did sometimes try to jump to where there was no ground. Additionally, I think it might be helpful to have some sort of help/direction system to help the player find where they might go next. I did get stuck in some parts for a little bit being unable to figure out where I needed to go.
Overall, great game and I can't wait to see what you all do next :)
Ahhhh thank you so much!! It really means a lot to hear that you enjoyed the art and animations!
Yes! I completely agree that we could have done a little more to help players differentiate the foreground and background! ^ ㅡ^ Hopefully in our upcoming update, we address that better. Thank you lots for the feedback and the overall experience - we'll definitely be using it to improve our approach in future games! 💖
This game gave me a lot of feelings that I cannot organize them into words right now so I will structure my comment like this:
1 thing I liked: the art was really cute and the game play was interesting. Very well made game!
1 thing I think can be improved: some people may have a problem with being able to see the girl's underwear on the fall animation (and the character can get stuck on the fall animation.)
Thank you hasnot!! We really appreciate the honesty and thoughtful feedback!!
Our goal for this game was definitely not making our players feel uncomfortable, and if that's what happened, I'm really truly sorry about giving you that experience! ㅠ ㅡㅠ
Originally, I actually envisioned Sumi in shorts (I wear shorts with skirts and dresses!), but looking back and reading your comment I can see how it doesn't look that way. We've planned our post-jam update to address that issue so that her shorts are longer and hopefully won't look like underwear!
Again, thank you very much for bringing it to our attention, and I'll be sure to take a step back from my artwork much more often so things like that don't slip from my eye next time!
💖
such a cute game! I'm really impressed you were able to include voiceover in the short span of the jam. Sumi's character design is adorable. a bit of small tutorial might have been helpful to understand how to interact with the spirit rays, but great game overall :)
Thank you so much musicworm!! I seriously appreciate all the support, kindness and encouragement you've shown us (on the devlog and such!)
It has been so very heartwarming!
Definitely agree! I think a better tutorial would have been very helpful - and we'll definitely be more conscientious about that in the future! ^ ㅡ^ Thank you again!!
Wonderful game! The artstyle is cute and world is vibrant and alive. The way the player traverses across the world by drawing platforms is extremely fun, if a bit clunky at times. The audio and ambience were superb and the little voicelines gave Sumi a nice bit of extra character. I do think, however, that the mechanics need to be better explained within the game itself, and it was difficult interacting with some of the mobs in order to progress. There is also a sort of exploit where falling debris from destroyed platforms would activate slimes for a moment, allowing access to some areas. I ended up being locked in the area where I assume you would have to have all three faeries and seals with no way back. Overall, it's a charming game and I had a lot of fun with mastering platforming and exploring the beautiful world.
Aghhh, thank you so much for this beautiful review!
I'm soooo elated to hear that the voice lines gave Sumi more character!! ^ ㅡ^ Katiana did such a wonderful job!
Oh! Which area were you referring to? (We did plan a few areas to be unlocked using the platform debris as a mechanic!
Since you may need to step on multiple slimes at once to deactivate the laser!) But if there was an area that didn't seem like it should be unlocked or seemed funky, that would be great to know! Thank you for pointing it out! c: And yes, unfortunately we forgot to address the issue of users getting to the ending scene without all the fairies. ㅠ ㅡㅠ 💦
Super thrilled you liked exploring and becoming the next avatar! >:3
I accessed the water faerie from the area to the bottom left of it. There's a slime and a sprout there, and I assume you're supposed to use the sprout to ascend that way. I used the brief window where the debris fell on the slime to jump through the laser barrier before it closed without the need for the sprout. Unsure if this was intentional, but I hope it helps!
Wow, first of all, fantastic presentation! The team logo, the title screen, the character animations, the 3D environments, and all the rest of it was really well done! Nice work putting together the game's lovely OST and I found the voice acting snippets to be a fun addition. I thought the drawing mechanic was fun and created some interesting gameplay elements, however, there were some times I expected to land on the platform I drew but fell through it. I might be wrong, but it seemed like the spawned platform collider was a bit above the line I drew in the scene, which wasn't how I expected it would work. Aside from that, like others said, I was confused by the end of the game with the final puzzle with the three elements. I'm wondering if I encountered a bug since I was able to get there before discovering any fairies aside from the green one (and I learned that there were other fairies by checking out that let's play on the main itch page). I tried to backtrack but there didn't seem to be a way to go back once I had reached that final game area. Regardless, I enjoyed the game a lot and it was filled with charm, great work!
Wow!!! This was such an extensive review with so much wonderful commentary. Thank you so much worblir!!
You are absolutely right - there are definitely areas that might be a little misleading due to lighting/coloring schemes! Definitely something to be more mindful in the future, t hank you! And the ending - like you mentioned - is a bug HAHA 💦 Kind of forgot to consider the possibility of players reaching the end point without all the faeries, OOPS! ㅠ ㅡㅠ We've fixed that for our post-jam update though, so hopefully it won't be as bad! Hehe.
Thank you again for taking the time to write out such a wonderful review! Makes us all very happy you enjoyed it. :3
Beautiful art! Love the 3D glowy flowers
Thank you so much!!
Yes, our 3D environment artist Vyre is absolutely talented at what she does!! c: Hehe
The Music and UI are really really cute xD I love those 2D animations! I got stuck on a platform and can't advanced anymore but I'm really enjoying the platforming mechanics! I also couldn't click the quit button for some reason....
But overall the feel of the game is absolutely awesome!! It felt very smooth to play. One recommendation I have might be to have a post-processing effect and lighting effect for your environment so that it blends better with character art. I love those 2D sprites and the 3D assets would love to get it even more stylized!!
WAHHH, thank you so much!! Those compliments mean a lot from an amazing and skilled animator like yourself!
(Not to mention in 3D)!
Yes, unfortunately we didn't realize the bug in the Pause Menu (Quit/Back buttons not working) until after we submitted 💦 HAHA! But our post-jam update shall have it up and running! Also you're absolutely right! I think adding a post-processing effect would have helped mesh the 2D assets with the 3D background! :3 Thank you! Hopefully next time we try to do a 2D + 3D mix game, we can do that! ^ ㅡ
Charming game! I like the aesthetics of the level design and how tight the jump feels. I do wish the jump was tied to space bar instead of W though. The puzzles were interesting and I found some areas like in the cave or the very first time I encounter the puzzle a little stumping. I wish there were more visual cues to help guide the first encounter, especially when players would squash the first blob off screen compared to where the blocking laser was. There were also instances where I thought part of the background was part of the foreground due to same coloring and shape (this happened in the fire stone level). Overall really liked the design aspect and the creative platforming mechanic of the game! It feels very polished for a week long game jam and was enjoyable to play.
Thank you so much!! You touch on so many good points about how to improve the overall game! c: It makes us so happy to know that the puzzles were interesting and stumping... in a good way (hopefully)?!
We hope to touch on some of the mechanics you mention post-jam by adding some visual/audio cues!
Thanks again for playing!! ^ ㅡ^
The Mood in this game feels so cozy and spiritual, it's astonishing. To the movement, I'm accustomed to press space to jump. I was sometimes a little confused that I had to press W instead. The puzzles where a bit confusing at first, maybe it needs more visual clues, e.g. which cute blobs are connected to which barriers, but I managed to complete it. It was really fun exploring the forest and the cave. Visually it's top notch. Love it!
Oh my gosh, reading that you felt the game was super cozy and spiritual brings a HUGE smile to my face! That's the mood we were aiming for so I'm glad it came across well!
And definitely agree with you - I am a "spacebar" jumper as well! Given that you only need to press spacebar a few times in the game to interact with items, the much-used spacebar keystroke should have probably be used for jump and used a different keystroke for interact! Thank you for playing and super happy that you enjoyed it!
The game logo and title screen are incredibly appealing and the outdoor environments had a lot of charm with its very colorful design. The gameplay was a little bit frustrating as the connection between objects in the puzzle design didn't necessarily make much sense or alluded to. Although, the visuals and music made me play it through much longer than I would have otherwise. I did get stuck at a certain point right after unlocking the fire ability and wasn't sure where to go from there. As bgsulz said, making it so that you can jump through the bottom of the platform would be a big help in making the controls feel a bit tighter. Again, really sick visual design, especially the animation and logo work.
Wahhh thank you!! I'm so flattered you enjoyed the graphics (and that it helped you stick around for a little bit longer LOL)!
Our team was originally hoping to make the world more immersive by having less tutorial-like elements in the game, but I think the consensus is that that wasn't the best idea, hahaha! More frustrating for the player, which we don't want. We definitely should have thought about adding more cues in lieu of a tutorial to guide the user along, and will definitely put that on our to-do list for next time! ^ ㅡ^
Thank you for playing through, even though it was a bit frustrating!!
Stunning graphics! I especially like the character art and backgrounds. Like others, there were some confusing parts where the 3d aspect of the terrain implied solid ground but didn't actually collide with the player. I'm personally not one for puzzle games (because I'm bad at them), but I really enjoyed the main element/platform drawing mechanic and overall progression of the game!
Aha yes! I too also fell through some ground thinking I'd land on something haha!! Definitely something we will be updating post-jam so it won't be so much of a 'WhoaOOaa I'm falling?!' reaction
Ironically, I'm very bad at puzzle games too LOL (also because I'm bad at them HAHA)!! But I'm so honored that you gave us a shot and you enjoyed the drawing mechanic! c: Thank you for playing!!
Terrific job team! Visually, the game is very compelling. I loved watching my chubby witch character skip and hop, and the prospect of finding a new soft, round creature honestly incentivized me to keep exploring the world. The backgrounds are lovely, particularly the dark/florescent area--great work on the shaders. The synthy, pastoral music is a pleasant mood-setter, and the variety and quantity of it is astonishing! Though a bit janky on slopes, the controls are stable and intuitive. As I found myself hitting my head a lot, I think the player's drawn platforms would benefit from being one-sided (jump through from the bottom).
Overall, the general progression of the game is hugely impressive considering the timespan. I did run into similar issues to Wyatt and other commenters below with regard to solving puzzles; it took me a fair bit of trial and error to ascertain all of the elemental interactions. I also got softlocked at the three pedestals, as the strawberry prevented me from backtracking! None of this, however, was enough to significantly impair my enjoyment of this game. Amazing work!
Wowowow!! Thank you for taking the time to write such a exhaustive and kind review!!
I really like the idea of having the platforms being one sided (jumping through the bottom)! I think that would definitely make it more user friendly after you finish drawing them! (I myself was blocked in after I drew a platform HAHA)
Oh yes, backtracking from the last level is indeed missing a way to go back! Thank you for pointing that out! c: Will update that part post-jam. ^ ㅡ^
I really wanted to play this game after following the devlog, but it fails to open on my iMac. :(
Oh noooooo!!! ㅠ ㅡㅠ I'm so sorry to hear that! We're hoping to upload a post-jam update as soon as voting ends that will hopefully fix the Mac OS version of the game!
The overall direction of this game was lovely!
A little more hand-holding is needed.
I got to the end without knowing the mechanics.
Although I realized what was going on at the last puzzle, I couldn't solve it.
I reset because I thought the fire fairy got yeeted.
It turns out I didn't retrieve the fire fairy at all! I got to see a new area, at least...
I suppose user errors are better than technical errors.
This is a jam submission and it is beatable, so I'd say you focused on the right areas.
My main suggestion is to add cues for everything the player would want to know.
As for the experience, though? Great job!!! This was pleasant! :)
I hope you get a chance to make a full game one day,
I believe it would be really something. d(^^)
Ahhh, thank you Roden!
I really appreciate the super thoughtful review and commentary!! You make all really valid points - definitely need more visual/auditory cues (or just a tutorial in general). I think if a player doesn't realize when a mechanic is in play or missing, that's a point to improve upon in game and visual design. :3
I'm super glad you enjoyed the experience though! 💖
Definitely, one day . . . I do hope to make a full game! ^ ㅡ^
Wow, beautiful UI. The art and audio is also great! I got stuck where the two jellies are though
Thank you very, very much!!
Very happy to hear that you liked it!
As for the two jellies, I'd recommend trying to figure out which jellies need to be stepped on simultaneously to get the laser beam to go away! ^ ㅡ^
I really loved the art, the animation really wowed me! It was gorgeous :(
I did get confused on the second level and thought I got stuck, same as Wyatt. Also the 3d models are kind of confusingly shaped for a platformer, it's hard to tell what I can/can't step on and where the ground is.
AHH, Thank you!!
I haven't gotten a chance to play the game jam games yet, but I LOVED your thumbnails - the art is absolutely adorable and color palette is just so calming!
And very true about how some of the assets look like they should be able to be stepped on haha 💦 We (the artists) completed the assets and map creation pretty late into the jam, which didn't give a lot of time for our amazing programmer to code in all the collision ㅠ ㅡ ㅠ Definitely need to finish asset creation much sooner so it doesn't happen again!
Appreciate the feedback! c:
Loved the art. Tremendous stuff. Adorable.
Fantastic soundtrack.
Some of the puzzles were good, though most were fine.
I was confused about which way to go sometimes and didn't realize had to backtrack.
Didn't use fire for any puzzle. Seemed kind of useless as I could build platforms to get anywhere I wanted.
Wasn't completely clear which slimes needed to be stepped on and which needed to be crushed.
Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed the art and soundtrack!
You definitely bring up a good point about no real "cue" to go back and forth between locations. Will definitely consider that next time. ^ ㅡ^
As for the fire platform - they interact with a specific monster if you'd like to give it another shot! :3