...no way to go fullscreen properly, huh...?
...no matter, I'm not one to let something like that stop me, even if it makes it harder to play and see what's going on.
Okay. So, if you just want the short version:
- The short version -
This is a neat concept with a lot of potential, amazing visuals, and a great soundtrack, but it's held back heavily in gameplay by some pretty big problems that I'll be getting into later that make the customization mechanics of the game less cool than they seem at first... and also, as I already said, it's a bit hard to see since you can't go into fullscreen.
Now... the long version.
- Why a long version at all? -
The reason the rest of this is so long is because there's a lot to talk about here I feel like, since there's a lot worth talking about here since this game is actually pretty interesting to me. I don't anticipate writing nearly as long of comments on other games here, by the way. I need to ultimately play more games here, but since this is one of the first ones I'm playing, and most people couldn't even get past the first fight, I feel like I should probably try to leave more detailed feedback myself to try to help make up for it if possible.
- The things I like! -
As everyone else has already said, the music is absolutely phenomenal here.
Also, while I have to dock points from the visuals over the lack of ability to go fullscreen making it harder to see the visuals, the spritework is ultimately pretty well done, fitting the theme quite well. This also really does feel pretty spot on to a gameboy game, I'll also add, aside from the use of some sample-based sound effects that sound closer to something the gameboy color would've done, not the gameboy.
Like... this does actually basically feel like it could've been a real gameboy game, so, y'know, nicely done on that!
The visuals are moody, the monster designs are neat. I like that the backgrounds are different in each fight and fit the foe you're up against, it's a neat touch that I can't say I expect to see in what is, I would like to remind, a gamejam game. Each foe in the game also has a unique sprite. That's neat!
Also, the idea behind the gameplay is neat! Customize a monster and then send it out in a turn based RPG battle? The customization is a bit limited due to not having more parts, but I mean, having that mechanic at all in a gamejam game is unexpected, it's pretty neat to see here.
So far as the visuals, the presentation, and the concept goes, nicely done! You have something good going here.
In fact, overall, despite where I'm about to be going with this, I actually like this game overall. So, please don't take the criticisms I'm about to give the wrong way. I just kind of want to see this game or a game like it live up to the raw potential this has on display better, and without proper feedback I worry that it might be hard to make the improvements which would be needed for that to happen.
- The things I have slight gripes with but which aren't a big deal -
Before I get into my big issues I had with this thing... slight gripe with the sound effects and music: The sound balance doesn't seem fully consistent, especially the victory theme which I think sounds a bit louder than everything else. Not that I uh... expect perfect sound balance out of a gamejam game mind you, so, no biggie, just thought it worth a mention.
- The part where I start talking about the gameplay and how it's fairly ambitious to try to do something like this in a gamejam and I have good things to say about the concept but still need to lead into the next section which isn't as positive and oh no this section name is really long for some reason -
...unfortunately...
Things fall apart a bit when it comes to the actual gameplay.
I understand this probably happened due to a lack of playtesting. It's hard enough to explain a battle system like this when you actually have time to work with, and you uh... didn't have very long given the constraints of a gamejam. I respect the attempt to even attempt something like this at all in the time constraints of a gamejam, it's quite ambitious.
So, for what it's worth, I want to, before criticizing... uh, a fair bit... about the gameplay, just say that I am still pretty happy that you put this out there at all in that time, and that honestly I wanna see the issues with this fixed some day because there's definitely potential here, there's a vision.
To reiterate something I said earlier: The idea of customizing a monster and sending it out into battle is a fun one! I like that much. It's a good concept for a potentially really good battle system. I want to see that idea done well, and I'd love to see you do it some day.
Also, I actually did like experimenting with builds for a bit to figure things out at first... until I stumbled into what my biggest issue is:
- The unfortunately rather long explanation of why I don't like the battle system as much as I wanted to -
Due to some things that I'm pretty sure are oversights in the battle system, as far as I can tell, there's meaningfully only one strategy that can actually particularly work in the first fight, and the other two fights are actually easier from there since basically the same strategy wins those too. (Technically there's a few part combinations and attack combinations that work, but they don't feel like they actually impact the approach taken enough to matter. More on that later actually.)
Now, I will say, this is probably partially because, as far as I can tell, robot repair appears to be bugged and seems to do nothing, making going robot body instead of monster body a bad idea. If not for that, it's possible there'd be more strategies that could actually be useful, and one of my biggest gripes would at least be a bit less of a problem. I'm not sure though, given I don't ultimately know what that ability is supposed to do.
As is, as far as I can tell, the best build is monster everything except monster arms (go robot arms instead, it is necessary from what I can tell). In fairness, on paper, you can use either leg set, but one of them has an attack and the other doesn't, so it doesn't really change gameplay much outside taking away an option from you that, while not necessary, is helpful.
To explain why I use this build: This build gives you a powerful attack (thanks to robot arms) while still being able to do anything after attacking (thanks to having access to hammer head), making progress possible to make since, far as I can tell, you need both.
For a game focused on customization, I'm going to note it's usually a good idea to try to make it so the different choices provide different pros and cons. Not just hypothetical stat changes that technically change things, but ideally ones that require you to think about how you play the game differently. I feel like this game's combat would be a lot better if there were more things that worked more like that.
For example... Imagine if the salvo attack reduced your attack power after you ran out of uses for it, meaning you needed to be careful to not use the second use of it until you know for sure it'll win the fight. It'd add more risk-reward to figuring out when to use it. Or what if using "exist" enough times let you restore a use to a move that has a limited number of uses, making it meaningfully different from null? Things like that would help make battles feel more dynamic than they current do and incentivize experimenting with builds more.
There's potential here, that being said, just in case I haven't made that clear already.
Anyway... a lot of luck seems to actually be involved here, in trying this more than once. Enemy attacks seem to kind of just randomly hit a lot harder sometimes and it kind of just makes you lose even if you use the right strategies. Not entirely sure how to feel about it, but ultimately it honestly doesn't change my verdict much.
To reiterate: I do ultimately think I like this game despite not liking the gameplay in practice. I want to be clear on that. Hopefully this comes across as intended as an attempt at constructive criticism.
- How to win, since a lot of people seem to find the battle system confusing -
So, that being said... what do you have to do to win, given a lot of other people sound like they weren't able to and may need to look here for help...?
Use hammer head twice on the weaker enemy so you take less damage. Then, finish off the other with two salvos followed by spamming hammer head. (If you want, you can also use steeltoe shatter before the salvos, it does seem to improve the odds a bit, but it's not necessary).
Fight two can then be won by using your salvo twice and spamming hammer head, potentially using steeltoe shatter before both of those, or after the salvos and before hammer head.
Fight three actually seemingly requires monster legs, since steeltoe shatter seems to need to be used as part of your strategy to win that one, so basically just do the fight two strategy again but now you have to use steeltoe shatter at either of the two points I mentioned for max possible victory odds.
Hope that helps anybody who wants to see all that the game has to offer!
- Final... verdict I guess? Why is this so long oh no how did I write a wall of text this long here -
At any rate... I really liked the concept here! I just wish that it was executed better. That being said, I wanna see creativity like this more, so uh, hope you don't mind if I keep an eye out for any future projects you may make because I do wanna see what you do next from here!