Hello everyone,
You may have watched it live during Indie Live Expo: Elfin Force by TacoBee has won the PGMMV Game Development Challenge 2020! Congratulations!
Here is the ranking and some comments about the games from our judges that we're very excited to share with you.
Full comments will be sent to the participants individually.
4th Ex Aequo
Pentacore Beta Demo by Mythril Age
Here is a message from Richard Lems: "A metroid inspired game! I love metroidvanias so I was excited to get started. The game begins with a great little introduction. It really draws the player in. The graphics are minimal but look pretty good, everything is nice and consistent. Presentation wise, this game is really doing a great job!"
and another from Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya: "While simple, progressing through wide maps with the auto-mapping function and non-repelling wall kicks was enjoyable. I also liked the system where you recover energy by evading or beating enemies depending on how much remaining energy you have"
GemVenture [DEMO] by JetGames
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya has some comments and advice "I really enjoy the spin attack, it is a lot of fun.
At this stage, the gems scattered throughout the stage does not seem to have any effect.
In the many additional stages to be added, the game definitely needs to give players an incentive to collect the gems. I found this game familiar, then I realized it was the same creator who made Canyon Climb. "
...and so does Takumi Naramura ! '"A simple but difficult jump action game that is flawlessly made. However, there seems to be no other progression method other than the one shown. Before anything else, I would recommend switching the current BGM with one that is more uplifting."
3rd Place
TOWER project DEMO by airbox
Richard Lems is very enthousiastic about the game's combat "Building up momentum in combat makes you feel like a true badass and I loved that." and wants to see more. "Once I got to town things became more interesting and the game shows a lot of potential for the future.
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya agrees "I enjoyed how the sword-swinging and magic motions changed depending on the directional keys.
It is well-balanced and the fact that mid-air braking isn't effective makes me want to master it even more.
Graphics, music, and sound effects are all excellent and very well made.
I also like how allies throw you recovery items during battle, which doesn't make the game overly difficult"
Takumi Naramura comes with somemore advice for the creator "The main actions are all implemented in the game but perfecting the difficulty curve (i.e. stage construction), should take priority. "
2nd Place
Eadus Ending by beenbaba
This entry was actually Richard Lems's big favorite "After logging in to Eadus Online, I’m greeted by lovely characters and a beautiful world. I really like where this is going! Quickly poking around the menus, it seems not everything is working yet, but a lot of it is. Great potential and a real surprise to see something so advanced made with the software. "
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya is also very curious to see more "It was nice to have different attacking options at the beginning but I found using regular attacks only to be the most fun.
The monsters are cute and I also liked the music.
Considering this is still version 0.11, there should be a lot more to come. Personally, I am curious as to what the game has in store for the characters."
Takumi Naramura stills comes with constructive comments "The screen reminds me of Mega Man Battle Network, but unfortunately I have never played it before so I found it hard to understand the rules. All functions are unlocked, which may be the case because the game is still in development. To avoid confusing players, functions should be unlocked gradually, giving players more functions slowly so they can learn the advantages and disadvantages of each function."
Winner
Elfin Force by TacoBee
Richard Lems's comment: "Starting up the game I was immediately impressed with the presentation. The UI animations are polished and slick and the title screen was just beautiful. So I was hyped from the start and was eager to get playing.
The shooter gameplay was solid, with a fun twist in that you can reverse your secondary weapon direction. In games like these, I tend to hug the bottom of the screen so I have maximum reaction time. But for this game I had to rethink that strategy and was forced to train my reflexes for dodging.
Overall I had a great time, the transitions in gameplay phases were also executed very well with warnings in the UI etc. The soundtrack was also very fitting and got me in the right mood for playing. "
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya is hyped by the graphics :"All visuals from the splash screen to the game's opening are very well-polished, complementing the cool title screen music, prompt introductions, controls, and the characters.I also like having the ability to skip at various points of the game as it makes repeated playthroughs smooth. "
Takumi Naramura was impressed too: "A very well-made throwback of the old arcade shooting games. I'm sure it took a lot of effort and time to implement all the ideas and effects present in the game."
Again and again, thank you to all the participants, we're grateful for your time and your efforts. Please keep working on your games and don't give up!
Check out all the submissions here.