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Charge Forward Please's itch.io pageJudge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- A great game with very fun challenges and fluid gameplay. The game fits the theme well with a unique take on platformers, adding a element of run optimization with the tools presented to the player which made the repeatability of the levels engaging and satisfying. The animations and drawn in art style are very fluid and feel punchy when i impact enemies with the sword. The music is very simple but feels like their is room to explore and craft into a strong main theme. The GDD is well thought out and mechanics are clearly explained and shown with graphics to help define their meaning. A fantastic start, keep making cool games!!
Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/196QEJcE5Wp2FyI6XCuDuTfd_oAKfco1Wqtk0abScFHQ/edit?tab=t.0
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes sir!
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes ma'am!
Summarise your game!
As the player character runs wild, you manipulate her movements by swinging the sword around.
includes a tutorial and two stages.
the idea is to try to finish a stage as fast as possible to get the highest rank at the end.
Controls:
WASD - for directional controls
R - reset stage).
SPACE - pause gameplay
ENTER - return to titlescreen
press R in the stage-select screen to change the direction associated with certain moves .
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
Taking quite a literal interpretation of the theme,
instead of controlling the one wielding the sentient sword, the player will take the role of said weapon itself, guiding the hero instead. Making you (the player) the literal weapon.
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
Is trying to find the most optimal route fun?
Did the tutorial convey the primary mechanics well?
Did March try her absolute best?
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Comments
wow the animations are awesome in this , also very fun and skill full game, probably be back to try and finish that 2nd level as its super hard, nice game
This game really has legs, no pun intended! It's got great feeling controls and that Meatboy-esque "try, fail, instant reset, repeat" gameplay loop that's really addictive. The tutorial is really well-made, and the general aesthetic of the game is fun and a little silly in the best possible way.
It seems like the skill ceiling could be really high, I think speedruns of this game could be wild. That being said, in my opinion the skill floor is pretty high too; meaning, I haven't been able to finish either level yet after about half an hour. I think I'll echo what some of the other commenters have said, the sanity meter is a little strict. My suggestion though is this: the current meter is correct for an experienced player; after all, I'm assuming you are able to beat the stages as they are now. I think stages would benefit from having multiple difficulties, where easy might give you way more sanity to start with, and as you get better you can play higher difficulties.
Overall, I'm definitely excited to see where this project goes since you're planning to continue it.
The animation is smooth and well made! I also love the concept of the game. It has a lot of potential. The combination of control may add depth to the game. I really looking forward to future updates!
Thank you for trying out the game!
I will take a break from this project (likely a mere few weeks) because I may have overworked myself for the jam.
But I am still collecting feedback and thinking of ways to improve how the game is designed.
In other words, I certainly have plans for continuing development soon.
I loved giving this game a try - the art and music are charming, and the sense of momentum feels great! I couldn't make it past the bit on level 2 with the spikes on the floor and ceiling, but getting used to the primary mechanics felt really rewarding ^^.
My only suggestion (if you don't mind) is adding a sort of coyote time for the walls (so there's a small window to grab onto them, even if you hit one) in mid-air.
Great job!
I don't mind suggestions! I love suggestions!
Thank you for trying out the game and thank you for the comment! I'll definitely write it down since it sounds perfectly reasonable to expect something like that from such a game.
I'm really glad I tried this game out! Flinging March around with the sword feels good, the story's fun and lighthearted, and the high-speed gameplay is very very cool. However, I'm a bit of a rubbish playtester and can't get past any of the levels (aside from the tutorial) no matter how hard I try. There's not enough sanity for me and I get really lost and stuck in some of the pits. Though, of course, this can be pinned on "skill issue." Great game, I want to see more come out of it!
Thank you for this uplifting comment.
It is true that I did design these levels perhaps a bit too difficult. I wanted to to encourage the player to learn how to move around as fast as possible.
Right now I see two options to improve your player experience.
Would you prefer there to be more sanity to finish stages or an option which makes the sanity only go down when hit by monsters?
(Not guaranteed to implement one of these, but it helps coming up with a way of making the game more accessable.)
Once again I would like to thank you a lot for this feedback.
I am also thinking of toning the difficulty down and unlocking a hard mode after finishing a certain amount of stages, (imagine world 1).
Speaking honestly, given that the incentive for the player is to go as fast as possible, I'd say more sanity would be the more appropriate of the two choices since it's effectively acting as a timer. However, I realize this might make the game way too easy, so take that with a grain of salt.
I do have a suggestion though that you might find interesting; knowing how long the level is could actually be really useful information to the player. I'm not saying add a map because that could give away too much information, but I would say a progress bar would be really handy. The further along you go through the course, the further along the progress bar gets so the player has some idea how much further they have to go. It could also add a sense of "hurry up" to the sanity meter and really add pressure to the player's snap-second decisions: do I go for this monster or do I only have time to run to the exit?
This could clutter up the player's GUI though, so ultimately the decision would be up to you.
Difficulty levels would be awesome! I could definitely see this game doing well with speedrunning and optimization communities in trying to find the fastest route through each of the levels, and adding harder and harder challenges like that would really get the competition going!
This is really good feedback! Very interesting to hear and makes me realize that this game could be much more if I make the correct design decisions. So thank you for thinking along with me!
I'll definitely be storing what you said in my mind as I decide what direction I want this game to take, since I am not 100% sure of it myself. You may notice that the two levels have completely different "design-ideas". So there is some stuff I'll have to think about before continuing development.