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Dead Echo's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #32 | 2.510 | 3.286 |
| Gameplay/Design | #37 | 2.073 | 2.714 |
| Originality | #37 | 2.510 | 3.286 |
| Overall | #40 | 2.155 | 2.821 |
| Enjoyment | #45 | 1.528 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your entry fit the theme?
You use various items that emit sounds (visualized as well). These sounds are intercepted by a enemy that will follow the sounds. The visual echo lets you see in the dark and navigate a maze.
What would you like feedback on?
We did this mostly as a learning experience/try to hone our skills.
Feedback on how to make the game more juicy.
Flow of the game.
How compelling the atmosphere was.
What assets did you use (if any)?
Synty Dungeon Pack
PBR Weeper
Adobe Polygon Font
Various sounds from Soundly
Have License/Subscriptions to each of these.
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Comments
Just thought I'd share some screenies of the game since we weren't able to get any up initially. Hope you enjoy! ^_^
Hello! I must say, this game is really nice! I thoroughly enjoyed the graphics and the charming atmosphere it creates. The visuals have a certain allure to them, and I couldn't help but feel intimidated at times, which added to the overall experience.
The atmosphere of the game is spot on! The attention to detail in the walls and the presence of skeletons throughout the environment contribute to a creepy and mysterious vibe. Additionally, the mechanics, although a bit confusing at times, are quite unique and fitting for the theme.
However, I do have some critiques to offer. Firstly, I encountered several graphic and game bugs. I noticed that the floor occasionally popped out slightly, allowing me to see through it, and there was an instance where the glowing magic rock thing phased through the floor, making it impossible for me to retrieve it and requiring a hard reset of the game! even after pressing Q i couldn't do anything :( (below are the images from the games as you see)
Furthermore, I found the reaper to be quite challenging. I died a lot of times, and despite my efforts, it seemed impossible to evade its clutches, and with no checkpoints it can be very tedious. Perhaps making the reaper slightly easier by having the memories or sounds made more impactful, allowing me to avoid him more easy, or even have him stunned for a bit sometimes would be beneficial. Additionally, I wasn't aware of the existence of the inventory until later in the game, as the voice was difficult to hear. I recommend including subtitles or an objective tracker to provide clearer guidance to players.
Overall, considering the limited development time of just three days, this game is a splendid achievement. The impressive visuals and the nailed atmosphere are commendable. However, the difficulty of the reaper, the unclear mechanics, and the presence of bugs did impact the overall experience. Nevertheless, great job on creating an intriguing game in such a short span of time!
Hey! Thanks for the feedback! I think it's all valid.
If you're having problems with the Reaper, know that running, recalling the rock, and throwing the rock all makes noise that attract the reaper. The resonator also makes noise when it is placed. The different crystals have different effects as well, I tried to break it down on the game page but I don't think many people see that.
Nice graphics, interesting feel
This is a pretty solid entry. I really liked the VFX and overall atmosphere of the game, it feels like a lot of effort went into the soundscape and lighting.
Mechanically, I never really knew exactly what I was doing. Throwing the stone made rings grow outwards from where it landed, but I never processed what that was actually doing. I didn't even know I had an inventory that I could scroll through at first; when I did realize that, I gathered the first soul echo thing by randomly using stuff I had, without really knowing what I was actually doing.
I also got rocked by the reaper, I didn't know what to do to avoid it :(
Regardless, I think you did a great job!
The art is pretty and you clearly put a lot of work into this game but this is way too hard, especially without checkpoints. It took me an embarassing amount of retry to understand what I was supposed to do and even then I still died to the reaper without knowing how I was supposed to avoid him (attracting him with the resonator of sadness didn't do anything)
Very good start for a game!
I enjoy the stone throwing mechanic and it's fun to navigate the maze as you alternate throwing and picking up the stone with "Q".
However one of the key issues with it currently is it lagged immensely at first upon opening it, I don't really have the best PC, it's a bit above average, but up until you fall through the hole in the ground I was experiencing major lag, and after that everything just seemed to still run a bit slow. Along with that the stairs at the very beginning have a hole in them on the right side that you can fall through and with no pause menu or reset button it softlocked me and I was forced to ALT+F4 to reset.
This game could definitely use subtitles and some sort of reminder system to keep the player on track and maintain a good game flow. If this game is played without audio it would be quite difficult to get through the beginning without narration. Also there were points where I would forget my objective and wander aimlessly until I either remembered or stumbled upon it. The subtitles and reminder system would help great with clarity and flow.
Also the small pillar type things that speak when you interact with them can be layered if the button is spammed which creates a chaotic noise, I recommend a cooldown for the pillars that is the length of their dialogue.
That being said I still had an enjoyable time and I like the overall feeling of the game, I think with some polishing this could be a wonderful and tense game.