Game is really well polished but has some aspects that make it not as enjoyable for me
If you want to revisit my playthrough at any point its here
Enjoyability 3/5
Game overall is pretty fun to play but has some issues that hinder enjoyability. One of these is having blind hits where you hit a bomb upwards for an offscreen obstacle to then hit it back down. Another one is the fact that the ideal state for the bombs is for them to explode and explode things with them. This just doesn't feel satisfying to me since having to use more balls is seen as a punishment in pinball and theres never really a state where a ball can have a great combo due to things like trapdoors eating them leading to samey gameplay with no peaks of hype
Possible post jam improvements:
- Don't consume the bomb unless the player makes a mistake (this would alter the style of the game so take it with a grain of salt but its one way I feel would make it way more fun to play)
- Having a way to preview the parts of the level and where things currently are (you can pause gameplay while the player is looking)
Accessibility 4/5
Game has the usual accessibility features people usually add in in jam games (volume slider + window/fullscreen). The addition of the volume slider before the gameplay is nice but it only affects one type of volume which leaves two types that could be too loud for people. Addition of the tutorial being a part of gameplay (slowly teaching controls) is a nice addition although its not immediately obvious you can explode anything (including the back wall)
Possible post jam improvements:
- Rebindable Controls
- Subtitles (you don't have much dialogue but there is some)
- Make it more clear what is affecting what. e.g. point out the wanted posted are what refill bullets (im assuming they do, I thought it happened randomly in my run)
Originality 5/5
The game is pinball but it definitely manages to do its own spin on it with things like the explodable terrain. And it feeling more like an adventure rather than score chasing.
Audio 4/5
The audio is nice and works well with the game (with the sound effects on everything + voice acting) but the background music is not the greatest and feels like it could be a lot better to fit the vibes of the game
Visuals 4/5
The visuals of the game are great and compliment the game style well. Things however don't really feel alive due to the static nature of them. Things like the bombs just being one static sprite