Thanks for playing!
It's not bugged, it's just poorly primed because there is only one jumping spot in the entire game... there's a part of the river that's only one tile wide with the earth being bare on both sides.
Viewing post in The Symmetry of Remorse and Penance comments
Thanks for playing through to the end! Many had given up at the reactor fight, not realizing that you can just ignore the ghasts and power it down (both reactor fight and cyborg fight are winnable, but you need to know what to do).
And also very happy you enjoyed it! Writing emotional stories always makes me nervous if I won't overdo it lol.
Oh, I didn't even get into the reactor fight! I realized right away I could walk in-between them, and since they disappeared after I turned off the reactor I never bothered flipping it back on to try lol.
Does the scene change if you win the cyborg fight? I figured it was scripted to lose, so I didn't try too hard but if it has a variation on the scene I might go back to try again... If not, I got my butt handed to me handedly enough so without extra motivation I probably won't go back haha.
I didn't think it was overdone! All of the scenes were short enough none of them overstayed their welcome, and the writing felt quite realistic for the situation. My only complaint was I wish the game was longer, rather than just being a snapshot of a story since I liked it so much!
That's quite a compliment! Thanks!
I had to fit it within 30 minutes of play time because of the jam rules, but the original plan was that the "back-and-forth" go on for 4~5 times. The choices young Lydia made would influence what events occurred on the ghost ship, and the choices made during those events would in turn influence the choices available to young Lydia. After finishing the intro scene I realized it's never gonna fit (like, duh!), so changed it to the linear, story-driven format that it is now. Might revisit the concept in the future though.
There is a short bonus cutscene if you win the battle, yes... so if you happen to have a save just before that, please do give it a go. I don't think it's particularly hard as long as Lydia stays alive long enough to do her part (which, admittedly, requires some luck).