WOW! This is incredible! There was a lot I liked about this game!
The controls are tight and feel good. The sound design did a lot to make shooting feel effective and powerful. The world design was pretty great, moving from level to level. And the game did a great job of progression, as I progressed the enemies slowly got harder, and were gaining new abilities. It was challenging and I was always taking damage, but it felt like there were always the right amount of health pickups when I needed them. I am SUPER impressed with the balancing and difficulty progression you were able to execute in the short time we had.
With the little beggar guys, I was feeling frustrated with them for a while because if I helped them, I couldn't afford upgrades! I started ignoring them because I just wanted to save up to power myself up a bit first, but eventually got around to sparing some bits when I could. They wanted SO much money! Until later on, someone came up to me and gave me a HUGE power boost, and then it clicked... And I wished that I had shared more with them... I'm sure that entire experience is exactly what you were going for, and you got me! After that, your interpretation of the theme really clicked, and it created a memorable
moment. I also appreciated the passive-aggressive menu at the end saying "you could be nicer next time," lol.
What a great experience, great sound design, great balance and progression, lots of ideas brought together and they worked together well. Oh, and the boss - THAT was cool and incredibly impressive. It felt like a great way to "judge" how I had done throughout the rest of the game.
The only idea I'd have is to make dodging a possibility somehow? Or maybe a smaller player hitbox? Just something to capture the "bullet-hell" feel of dodging and weaving between enemy bullets.
I love this one! Fantastic work!