Play Metroidvania
Barbabian Rampage's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #5 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Audio | #5 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Visuals | #5 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Execution | #5 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Overall | #5 | 3.767 | 3.767 |
| Metroidvania | #8 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team/Developer
JD Nation
Comments on the jam
It's good.
Reference info
https://jdnation.newgrounds.com/
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Comments
Nothing more to add that hasn't been said already. I loved the experience. The 46 minutes it took me to finish it flew by. The combat is very fun and the movement in general, although it's true it can be a bit confusing with so many buttons. I hope to see more updates to this game, more types of enemies and bosses. I imagine this is not the end. Well done! :)
Thanks a lot! I'll definitely keep working on this one.
I really like the combat and feel of it, animation and sound fit together very well.
The art style very nice and unique, animation is very smooth
The combat feels satisfy when attacking an enemy, but need more visual feedback when taking damage from an enemy (animation, flashing, knockback, etc.)
The control some move can combine with the direction button instead of using separate key, like can use
"down" + "jump" = dropdown the platform
"up + attack" for uppercut,
"down + attack (on air)" = stomp
it will make a move set easy to remember and perform.
keep up the good work, I would love to see more in the future!
Thanks for playing!
It's good to know the combat has generally gone down well with everyone so far.
I actually do have a few of those moves already integrated into the unused combos.
(Well, the Stomp is an optional unlock, and the Uppercut uses Down instead of Up at the moment.
Combos including directional inputs is part of the reason I've been hesitant to use the conventional Down and Jump combination to drop through platforms (in addition to wanting to cement the R-Bumper/Shift Button as the interact/traversal button). But almost everyone has suggested it so I may relent.
A decent start.
Overall the combat and combos feel good and is the strongest part of the game, though enemies could do with either more telegraphing on attacks or better hit box detection on the player's side. I kept dying to enemies walking into me and I couldn't hit them easily. Or maybe a defensive option such as a dash or block, just a suggestion.
While I know the game was likely designed for gamepad not keyboard, overall I found myself fighting with the controls more than anything. Which greatly lowered my enjoyment.
I would recommend combining actions into fewer buttons. Especially for movement where simpler is always better.
For example hold 'down' and press 'jump' to drop through a ledge. On thin ledges when you have the upgrade just hold 'down' to start hanging from it and then hold 'down' and press jump to drop from the ledge or press 'up' to climb back up. That sort of thing, also I'd recommend going with auto grabbing ledges and vines as you jump into them, or least if you are holding up. Basically I feel all the climbing stuff could be smoothed out a bit more if moved away from its own separate button and tied to regular movement and jumping controls.
I can understand having crouch be its own button especially for controller, but I'd recommend seeing how it feels by also having crouch on 'down'. For controller you could try seeing how crawling feels if it works by tilting the stick diagonally downward.
All of this is just fuel for thought because right now the controls feel really bad on keyboard as I constantly have to shift my hand, but that may be a me problem.
I had a quick look at your dev log and noticed you were struggling with the exploration part of things as your game is more focused on combat. Personally I think your game would do well by doubling down on the combat side of things first, even if that makes it more of a fighter brawler with exploration elements as a side.
Have you heard of the game Guacamelee!, that too is a metroidvania with a more combat oriented game flow and heavy focus on combos, might be worth looking into.
Anyway keep up with the good work.
Thanks very much for the feedback!
A lot to think about. Especially the controls, which seem to be a recurring issue (in this and my other Metroidvania).
I appreciate the suggestions on the controls, and they may be the way to go, though it would require overhauling the combat too, e.g. Grabbing and Stomping already use the Down button.
On the flip side, maybe I could consolidate some of the fighting controls to free up other buttons.
I'll check out your recommendation. Maybe it'll help me rethink some stuff.
There's nothing stopping you from using 'down' for both attacks like stomp and for dropping through ledges. Basically if you hold 'down' then press 'kick' you stomp, but if you instead press 'jump' and only if you are on a thin platform you drop down.
As for auto ledge grabbing, while that can be a problem you could always consider special 'ledge attacks' where the character quickly pulls themselves up into a rolling kick or some other attack. Or, if you hold 'down' whilst on the ledge then press 'attack' you could do a dive attack off the ledge. i.e. turn the weakness of automated ledge grabbing into a new tool for combos and moves. Fuel for thought.
As I said definitely look up guacamelee, that game does a lot of what you're trying to do and there's no shame in looking up what someone before you has done and taking what works.
I'd also look into how they handle movement and ledges in Super Smash Bros as while that's a pure fighting game, it balances solid combat with snappy yet simple platforming controls.
But of course that's not to say it wouldn't take a lot of work and thought in overhauling your control scheme. Rome wasn't built in a day. And you don't need to take in everything I've said. Pick and choose what suites your project best, I'm by no means an expert myself.
And finally here's a little rule that's always handy to keep in mind, "Keep it simple stupid".
playing this after having played the initial upload really shows the work you've put into it.
As i said in my last review, the art style is really cool and you've even further improved the combat, i specially enjoyed the more crowded fights where the environment was part of the battle with the use of spikes, the exploration was pretty good and felt like it had a good pace to it, so congrats on that.
On the more awkward side of things, i really missed the "walking" animations on the crawl and ledge hangs, but i get that to meet the deadline you'd prioritize other stuff over that and it's not like it makes the game unplayable at all.
Also, I played on controller and honestly the control scheme felt kind of awkward, specially the use of the right bumper and trigger for hanging/crouching/dropping through platforms. I think the game would really benefit from rethinking those controls a bit. Another thing i noticed is that playing with the joystick instead of the D-pad makes some of the moves kind of tough to perform, it seems like there needs to be a bit more margin to consider a direction as a "down" input, this was specially noticeable trying to pick stuff up.
And i'd say that's about it, I really enjoyed my playthrough, the combat/exploration pacing was good!
(if you haven't yet, make sure to revisit my submission, it's gotten a substantial update since the first upload)
Thanks for the updated feedback.
I definitly agree about the analogue stick. I've accidentally stomped and climbed or lowered ledges when I didn't mean to.
Though could you go into more detail about the issues with the bumper?
Other people have expressed uncetainty with it, but I've been hesitant of changing it.
(The idea is that since I'm trying to integrate a combat system that uses a lot of face buttons and even directional inputs, the R-Bumper is meant to be a "Shift Key" to smoothly swap to traversal controls. Like how in Arkham City, if you held the R-Trigger to crouch, you could pop in and out of vents quickly.)
(Thats why I haven't used a typical Down+Jump to go through platforms, since I anticapated the player could accidentally drop through a platform when they meant to jump after performing a combo. Of course, if what I've gone with creates different problems, perhaps I do have to rethink it.)
I'm definitly gonna get round to your new update.
Since there's so few games, this'll be the first Jam I get to 100%.
Hello,
Your game is so fun! I just want to keep playing it and have this combat mixed with some nice exploration. It would make a great game.
The animation of the aerial attack seems like standing, but I even found it fun and a sort of a nod to 30 years old beat them up games.
Really nice, congratulations, please let me know if you keep working on it.
Thanks! I've definitely neglected the exploration part of the game so far. Trying to address that before the deadline.
Though it's good to know you're liking the combat so far.
The art style, animations and hit effects/sounds are awesome! it feels a bit weird for the air attacks to use standing animations, but overall it's pretty enjoyable.
Thanks! I am planning to fill out the sprite index, though I don't like thinking about all the work that's gonna take.
What engine are you using?
Gamemaker 2.