Wonderful game !
I tried speed running this game (with potion boost mechanic) and it was amazingly well done. You can see it here
Now for some feedback:
Pros:
1) The unintended mechanic that saved the game
Potion boosting in the tutorial tells you to throw the potion upwards and jump as it lands. This mechanic however is inconsistent and hard to time right, making some of your jumps higher and some lower. HOWEVER THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO DO IT !!! Intentional or not, you can throw you potion downwards and have max boost every time !!!
What's more you may ask ? What if i tell you you can skip a whole section of a room in under a second ? Yes, yes you can with diagonal boost ! Simply walk and throw your potion down at the same time and you will be launched diagonally. This mechanic alone made the game WAY more fun and utilizes the most unique part of the game (potion boost).
Still want more you say ? Well, adding on top of the diagonal boost, how about a horizontal boost ? Simply cancel you upward momentum after a diagonal boost and you will be launched horizontally .
I personally don't think that these two mechanic is intended to be included by the devs, but it completely turned the game upside down from a slow and boring platformer to a fast paced high skill celling speed running game and is in my opinion, the mechanic that saved the game.
2) Decent level design
Levels don't feel repetitive, despite diagonal / horizontal boosting (which i don't think was a intended mechanic), each room felt fun and unique.
3) Banger music
Despite repeatedly restarting the game and having to listen to the music over and over again, it does not get repetitive and i enjoyed every beat ! (My favourite is the ending / credits music, it just fits so well !)
Cons:
1) Enemies have pointless existence.
Enemies feel like they are there just to watch you zoom by, and are overall just pointless since you can just skip / ignore them. I would suggest removing them.
2) Poison potion
This ties to my first point, which is there is no reason to use this potion. Enemies don't drop loot or any rewards and most enemies are just alone, so there is no real appeal to using this potion in combat given its main strength is AOE damage.
3) X for jump on keyboard.
This is self explanatory and whoever decided that X is jump + unable to bind them to other keys have a special place in hell just for them should consider binding jump to spacebar
4) A very annoying bug (invincible potion)
Sometimes when throwing a potion, it plays the animation but the potion is not thrown (invincible). Its really demotivating to have a good run ruined by something that is out of the player's control.
5) Lack of speed running tools
Where is my restart button >:(
Timer does not reset after a 2nd run, and it just starts off where the previous run left off.
6) Poorly coded potion boost
when you throw your potion upwards, it detects collision of the player and explosion and will always boost upwards even if the potion explodes above the player.
When throwing the potion horizontally, it detects collision of the player and explosion and will always boost towards the direction it was thrown at, even if the player is standing to the left of the explosion, it will boost the player to the right if the player throws the potion to the right.
Overall, although there are some bugs / changes desired here and there, this game is still amazing and got me hooked trying to get a good run. GG !!!