Dang, the art choices here reminds me of Helltaker! Even down to the white hair and the hell premise! Let's go through the game:
The Good:
The intro into the main menu, whoever did the art for that, deserves a LOT of props. The game doesn't begin when you 'press play', the game begins when you 'launch the application', and everything that happens after that should be the invitation to play. Think God of War (the latest one, PS4), on the first playthrough, the 'press-play' is a seamless transition to Kratos cutting the tree. We're not 'starting the game', because the game has already begun by that point.
This is exceptionally true when the music cuts in, the beat starts before the title screen and main character dances to the music. Well done! I think it would've been a stronger punch if the dancing was in rhythm with the music, and begins when the drums kick. In other words, an extremely strong invitation to play.
The gameplay itself has a simple, premise that does not require any tutorial reading in advance, as the included tutorial explains everything needed at a good pace! Great tutorialisation, into the actual game.
To improve:
The controls itself could have more simplification. Rather than having Z to move, and arrow-keys to change direction seperately, why don't you just merge them together? Especially since Z to move is already bound to the beat anyway, so just having arrow-keys dictate where you want to move, removes the number of keys to know. This suggestion comes from personal playtesting where I feel compelled to turn the character on-beats, even if it's not punishable.
Additionally, instead of having a seperate button for 'stance-change', why not just have it so the player must hold the button for one beat long and release to do the charged attack? This will reduce the controls needed down to 2 : arrow keys to move, Z or hold Z to attack/charge attack.
This raises a few concerns about trying to attack skeletons behind you, what if you make it so players don't take damage by 'moving into the skeleton's square or vice verse', but rather, the skeleton becomes a physical obstacle and will attack the player in beats, rather than simply dissapearing on collision with player?
Ultimately these are suggestions, and they will demand much more in-depth exploration through prototyping and more gameplay testing.
Also it seems like the game has a much more casual approach to it than other hardcore rhythm games where it is non-punishable to stand still and wait (and I don't mean the falling spikes). This is exemplified by the combo meter only increasing on more enemies killed in a row, rather than keeping on-beat with all your actions. A very interesting design approach as it has less emphasis on simply being on-beat at all times.
Comments
Dang, the art choices here reminds me of Helltaker! Even down to the white hair and the hell premise! Let's go through the game:
The Good:
The intro into the main menu, whoever did the art for that, deserves a LOT of props. The game doesn't begin when you 'press play', the game begins when you 'launch the application', and everything that happens after that should be the invitation to play. Think God of War (the latest one, PS4), on the first playthrough, the 'press-play' is a seamless transition to Kratos cutting the tree. We're not 'starting the game', because the game has already begun by that point.
This is exceptionally true when the music cuts in, the beat starts before the title screen and main character dances to the music. Well done! I think it would've been a stronger punch if the dancing was in rhythm with the music, and begins when the drums kick. In other words, an extremely strong invitation to play.
The gameplay itself has a simple, premise that does not require any tutorial reading in advance, as the included tutorial explains everything needed at a good pace! Great tutorialisation, into the actual game.
To improve:
The controls itself could have more simplification. Rather than having Z to move, and arrow-keys to change direction seperately, why don't you just merge them together? Especially since Z to move is already bound to the beat anyway, so just having arrow-keys dictate where you want to move, removes the number of keys to know. This suggestion comes from personal playtesting where I feel compelled to turn the character on-beats, even if it's not punishable.
Additionally, instead of having a seperate button for 'stance-change', why not just have it so the player must hold the button for one beat long and release to do the charged attack? This will reduce the controls needed down to 2 : arrow keys to move, Z or hold Z to attack/charge attack.
This raises a few concerns about trying to attack skeletons behind you, what if you make it so players don't take damage by 'moving into the skeleton's square or vice verse', but rather, the skeleton becomes a physical obstacle and will attack the player in beats, rather than simply dissapearing on collision with player?
Ultimately these are suggestions, and they will demand much more in-depth exploration through prototyping and more gameplay testing.
Also it seems like the game has a much more casual approach to it than other hardcore rhythm games where it is non-punishable to stand still and wait (and I don't mean the falling spikes). This is exemplified by the combo meter only increasing on more enemies killed in a row, rather than keeping on-beat with all your actions. A very interesting design approach as it has less emphasis on simply being on-beat at all times.
Very catchy, and very ULTRA indeed!