You nailed the atmosphere of your game, it's immersive and engaging. Tutorial layout was well done, I liked it. Some things that can be improved though are the control scheme, as I found myself using "space" as my preferred dash button. Maybe other players have this issue as well. It's just a common muscle memory. You can try using "Alt" for parry, it's near the thumb.
Alongside with the parry, maybe have a basic "block" mode, where the sword stays in place when the player holds down the button. And would eventually break when enough hits are taken.
As for the challenge, it's pretty hard when it came to the cannons, because sometimes they're off-screen and takes you out before you could react. Basically it needs countdown sound cues before they shoot. You already have the visual for it, just need the sfx. 😊 Also, good thing it doesn't restart all the way to the beginning after death, and that to me is respect for other people's time, which is nice! Although I accidentally hit ESC, and all my progress was lost the first time. So maybe change that to a pause menu/screen.
I wanted to keep playing the game and ultimately face the boss you crafted, but sadly I had to move on and try the other entries too. But I had a blast playing it! You did very well, great work!
Viewing post in Idol's Tower jam comments
Thanks for the feedback! We plan to add a circle around the turrets telling the player how far their range is. And yes, I like the idea of a block action! As for the esc, that was mostly an afterthought in the last hour of the jam so that people didn't have to alt-tab to quit the game. I'm glad you liked it!