I really wish that this game could be as good as it seemed... However, I didn't enjoy it, and here's why.
- Artstyle that doesn't fit the rest of the game. For example, why do the two main characters look like this? Why are aliens and plants designed this way? Why am I controlling a floating head instead of character with a body? Why character's weapon is a magic staff, is there some magic involved? Why is there a moon from Majora's Mask? These are the questions that come to my mind when playing this game. I also don't get why would you make a plain gray planet with random mountains and puddles around. I think isometric view makes it look even weirder.
- No motivation. Nothing to catch player attention. Sure, the goal is to collect some resources, find someone, go somewhere... But it all just feels boring after completing the first level. Going through one gray planet over and over isn't interesting pointless (especially on level 2). You could make dialogs with some story appearing when you explore the planet, or some side quests to reveal more backstory about characters and their personalities.
- Frustrating character movement. There are a lot more ways to show "unstable graivty" without getting player frustrated. I guess you already understand that was a bad decision.
- Too much unnecessary content. It seems like you were focused individual sprites too much, not on actual game design that ties everything up. Sure, now UI and menus look fancy and there's lot of detailed sprites. But is it really necessary? You know, sometimes less is more. You don't necessarily need to spend all week to make your sprites look perfect. A lot of developers / designers start with simple mockups, placeholders. For the future I will advise you not to rush making art before you have all your game on paper. And by that I mean you should always have a clear representation of what will be necessary for your game and what will be redundant (not worth spending time on). That way you'll always know what you should focus on. It may be main characters, because they're always on screen, it may be planets, enemies, background, etc.
- Grammar mistakes. I know that english isn't your main language, but you should've definitely found someone who would translate all chinese text for you properly. It is important, especially in a game like this, that relies on storytelling.
- Weird UI. Some of the UI is just broken (for example when you click on your items). Some of the text blends in with the background or too small to read. Inconsistent fonts makes your game less stylized and more random, so that's not what you want.
- Sound effects design. The music is well done and I think it fits in your game. But sounds effects... They're just too random (not related to each other) and have different volumes. Sometimes I had to lower my browser volume to 5 just to not get blasted by harsh sounds.
So. to summarize - it could've been an amazing game, if only it didn't ruin the experience in first few minutes... Anyway, all of you did a good job and I wish you luck with your next projects!
Be sure to rate my game and leave some feedback too :)
https://itch.io/jam/blackthornprodgamejam2/rate/379272