thank you for making this, this is pretty fun to play! I haven't completed the game yet, but have spent some sweet hours w/ it to experience the majority of core features -- so here are my initial thoughts (ctx: I run HoloJam):
<this was done 2024-07-15, on release day>
- I dig the wide variety of choices in the soundfonts and themes frfr, it's a visual fun feature but I appreciate this sort of attention to detail and customization
- that is a sweet and lofty premise... ayo? I will be the first takodachi to win lets GO 😤
- the controls are uncommon, but simple to learn and also remappable! glad you left the defaults in the game description, but I would also recommend introducing the player to them the first time the game opens, if they're unfamiliar / if you launch on Steam for accessibility!
- I really adore the classic nature of this battle system, it feels good and rewarding when you do attacks right + pretty punishing when you mess up or overextend... early on it is pretty simple and there's not much strategy, but as you progress, it gets more involved and you begin to require strategizing to survive (affinities and debuffs both). reminds me a lot of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and does well to honor that base -- the battle core does not differentiate itself as much in core gameplay except in the Lexicon (which is a nifty multi-run enabler for skills) and the distinct matchups of enemies + how to defeat them, but it is still fun regardless!
- I do wish there was a way to more easily view the status effects of an enemy as you uncover their weaknesses / strengths... unless it's here somewhere and I'm crazy LOL
- menu navigation is effective, but the input feels a bit long! i.e. not very snappy, which impacts how quickly you can navigate the UI (expected to be pretty quick for this style of game)
- the map navigation is pretty clean, I like its procedural nature. I do think there could be more of + more varied tiles that the player can trigger or avoid, to increase the sense of tension (not necessarily difficulty) the player should get when navigating these dungeons!
- the bosses between levels are a good touch! I like the base setup where each boss can have some cool mechanics and even require the player to move around the arena -> would like to see more in this direction!
- I like that the floors get increasingly crazy w/ progress, but I did feel during tanking / after defeating enemies (once you overcome the power jump), the loop became as simple as nav'ing the dungeon for loot and then going on to the next... combines with the interactive environment point above, could be something there to multiply the engagement factor
- the enemy power jump between levels is noticeable! you'd best be prepared to step up or steadily grind it out until you're powerful enough to continue LOL (even with limited tools/skills to do so early on, I enjoyed this)
- the shop items are varied, and feel pretty balanced to use -> does take a bit to build up currency to unlock the more powerful items, but thought the ramp-up in earning was balanced to justify the power scale and thus felt good
- I also dig the character development when not running Abyssal, thought it was a good idea because the game's progression is more accessible to less-hardcore players
in short, fun quirky takodachi dungeon action! will definitely playing until I complete the game using different tako types 🙇♂️