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Chi-Kaiju's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Visuals | #1 | 4.714 | 4.714 |
| Sound | #3 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #6 | 3.429 | 3.429 |
| Overall | #6 | 3.536 | 3.536 |
| Ease of Learning | #9 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Spectator Appeal | #14 | 2.929 | 2.929 |
| Engagement | #18 | 2.643 | 2.643 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
I’m not sure what the issue is but I had a hard time getting the “OK!” button to activate, and then make it to the start of the level. Maybe it’s just me. But once I got playing the game, I really enjoyed it! I like the simple gameplay technique but the challenge lies in planning your moves quickly and efficiently, and I enjoyed how the different tactics you can choose at the beginning determine your gameplay.
Great work, definitely the funniest game in the jam and the art is just fantastic! Especially the AOE attack behind lol.
Mechanically I agree with other comments that it falls behind a little by comparison, but I also definitely see the links you drew in another comment to MMBN and Necrodancer. Honestly I've wanted to work on an MMBN-like for years and I think a rhythm element could be a fantastic addition. If you end up exploring more in that direction or just want to talk design and stuff, uh, hit me up
I really felt the rhythm aspect with the timing rewards on the bigger attacks - I don't know how intended the mechanic was, but since you can functionally extend the hitbox of any attack by one column if you time it so the scroll happens while the hitbox is still live, it felt like there was a bit more depth of execution there than at first glance, which was neat. It also felt natural that this is harder to do on the bigger, higher-windup attacks because of their delays.
Honestly, I think something that could be really freeing is just allowing direct lateral movement control, even with the autoscroll. The AOE backwards attack is incredibly strong, and the forwards AOE attack really suffers by comparison since it always covers primarily the front most column. Since the wind up is so big, you just don't know what's going to be in that column when it hits most of the time, so using it feels like a gamble a lot of the time. Being able to move backwards by even a tile I think would make that move in particular feel a lot more useful
I know obstacles were limited by time, but I think other obstacles or a health/fuel system would help a lot. Having fuel that you want to pick up and not destroy (especially combined with free movement) could immediately make things much more engaging. Needing to not just destroy the most things, but destroying strategically to weave in, nab fuel, and then setup a big attack, I think would be really satisfying, especially if the bigger attacks had some fuel cost or something
Honestly I could go on for pages about any MMBN-like design (different chip systems, impact of larger fields, alternative movement styles, One Step from Eden's design choices, etc etc) but I don't want to flood your comments, so, honestly, hit me up if you want to chat lol
Love the visuals, defo you strongest part. Very funny premise, I love that you guys referenced that Dave Mathews incident. The gameplay is interesting, but I didn't see much reason to move beyond the center line, as my attacks could reach all the other lines. I would honestly love to see thing is a grid based tactics game where you explore Chicago, but that I just my opinion. great job guys hope to see this at the arcade
- Visuals: Distinct and immediately attention grabbing! It seems to me there was a conscious decision to balance how the animations and their length would play an important role to how quickly you could attack. It makes all the attacks have weight and requires some strategizing from the player, which I think is important for any kaiju or kaiju-adjacent game!
- Sound: Great kaiju roars and rumbles, the music was kind of in the back of my head.
- Engagement: After I figured out the controls, I got into a decent flow state. Others have already said what I'm thinking in much better terms, but I generally agree in wondering if there's a way to ramp things up. Perhaps it's by simply having the scrolling move faster?
- Ease of Learning: At first, I thought I was fighting against the controls when the player kept moving forward. I'm not sure if there is a visual way to help facilitate that. Also, while the animations are great, it felt like I couldn't move long after they were finished; it gave me the impression of input delay. Like mentioned before, I eventually got into that flow state, it just took a little bit of deducing.
Lots of character and great visuals. The ability to choose your attack patterns is a great idea, though some balancing may be necessary between them, since the last two have a much larger effective area and seem like objectively the best choices. The game also gets somewhat repetitive, as there is no fail condition and other than pressing one of two buttons to hit things, there isn't much to do.
I don't think I've laughed this hard at a game in a long time. the Dave Matthews Band Incident mention made me laugh so hard I almost threw up. Insane game you got here. Absolutely in love with the 3d modeled train and the expressive and impressive sprite art- and that's not to mention the awesome sound design. The game was super neat and interesting too, of course! I love the idea of being able to pick you attacks, and the gameplay itself had a Mega Man battle Network-esque flair to it, which is MASSIVE bonus points in my book. I played 3 rounds to try all of the different attacks, and I will say I think the game would benefit from some sorta energy system to prevent you from spamming attacks (one step from eden might be a good reference), because otherwise you can sorta just stay where you are and mash one of the two buttons and get through every time with a decent score. I'm not sure if you can even die, since I never seemed to be in danger of dying once. Regardless, you guys have a super fun game that you should be proud of!
"the Dave Matthews Band Incident mention made me laugh so hard I almost threw up. "
I'm taking that as a high complement.
Glad you liked it, Scrumbo! Credit to Matt and Sam for getting the DMB River incident in there. And yes, Battle Network was a big inspiration for us. We (specifically I) tried to fit Necrodancer in there as well, but that turned out to be way too ambitious for a 2.5-week project.
Spamming one ability is a totally valid strategy (since, as you say, it’s impossible to die). But it’s definitely not an optimal strategy: depending on the ability you spam, you’ll either miss obstacles with your attack, or lose points by getting hit. So I wouldn’t expect that strategy to make the leaderboards at the showcase.
This is an insane concept and amazing execution. Love the N64-style box art. The art/animations and sound are hysterical-- you nailed the Rampage (1986) feel! I can only hope that the Indie City Games sewer rat makes a cameo appearance as a mutated super-rat. Congrats to you all on making this in such a short amount of time!
Thanks much, Grace! Credit to Zach for the boxart; that was an 11th hour addition, too! Rampage was definitely one of our inspirations, especially the palette.
(Also, I’m gleeful that you’re using the Waggle Dance as your profile picture.)
Good-looking prototype with gorgeous main character sprite animations and moody, relevant backgrounds all set into a CRT arcade-cabinet presentation. Chunky voice clips and dark but energetic music. All in all, the aesthetics are on point with this one. Falls short in gameplay with some odd design and balance choices. Screen does not smoothly scroll but "jumps" forward a tile every second or two. The goal is to dodge or destroy obstacles but there is no other threat; obstacles damage your score but score is gained every obstacle cleared so it quickly becomes impossible to die. Game can be cheesed by spamming attacks. Still, great presentation; recommend polish gameplay loop and add some enemy variety
Thanks for giving it a look, chillz! Credit for the aesthetics goes to the rest of the team: Matt, Luke, and Zach did phenomenal work here.
As you say, there was some awkwardness in the pacing; I’ll take most of the blame for this. We were indecisive early on between turn-based, real-time (like Battle Network), and rhythm (like Necrodancer). Eventually, I settled on something that sits in the middle; picking one and fully committing to it may have been wiser.
As for obstacle variety, I strongly agree, and we had plenty of ideas here: obstacles with more health, or covering multiple spaces, or moving. As is always the case with gamejams, we were limited by time, and obstacle variety paid the price.
Regarding balance, I think I have to push back a bit. Spamming one ability is a totally valid strategy (since, as you say, it’s impossible to die). But it’s definitely not an optimal strategy: depending on the ability you spam, you’ll either miss obstacles with your attack, or lose points by getting hit. So I wouldn’t expect that strategy to make the leaderboards at the showcase.
All that said, you’re not the only reviewer who disliked the lack of a fail condition, so it was probably the wrong call to rely solely on score to determine success.
Thanks again for your feedback!
I'm a fan! I love the story, the animation, and especially the sound effects and music. The "doors closing!" had me rolling and the whole aesthetic of the game just felt so great. The humor came through in the writing, the mechanics (the butt clear haha), and even the image for the cover of the game. Though interesting, I did find the core mechanic felt a bit halting and I felt like I had a lack of control over how well I did. I wonder if allowing the train to move smoothly or giving people a chance to see farther ahead could help give players more freedom and information to plan ahead a little. Congrats ya'll on a great game!