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Thanks for the feedback!

Getting rid of the base shot and adding homing to the reflected projectiles were both things I’d considered. I decided against the former since I thought “Ah, but a shmup where you can’t shoot would feel a bit off…” and I found that it was nice to be able to whittle down the last bit of the boss’s health when the damage from your reflected projectiles comes up a bit short. Though in the bit of playtesting I’ve seen (unfortunately not done ’till after the jam, ha), it was indeed the case that the existence of the normal shot tended to impede players from getting used to the sawblade reflecting.

And regarding homing on the reflected projectiles: I considered adding that but didn’t feel as though I had the time. Definitely one of the first things I’d implement in a post-jam build, though.

I’m glad you liked the concept! To be frank I myself was pretty happy with the idea and thought it could perhaps even be made into a full game, so am glad to hear the same from somebody else!

Oh, and yeah, I totally should’ve put the boss indicator at the bottom of the screen. Had some other weird idea I didn’t get around to trying where the boss’s HP indicator is some kind of line drawn from the boss to the bottom of the screen (making it easier to see where they are without looking up) but apparently missed the obvious QoL adjustment. Another thing to try changing in a post-jam build.

Don’t worry about getting frustrated on the third pattern. That one annoys even me… I can’t imagine who would deign to design such a dastardly thing!