This game is a delightful experience, featuring lovely sound and art, as well as a diverse range of enemies. It’s an impressive feat for a game jam submission.
To further elevate the gameplay, it would be fantastic to incorporate a system in which each enemy had unique weaknesses to specific weapons. This would add an exciting layer of strategy to the gameplay, with dying offering an advantage in future battles. In the final boss fight, implementing phases, like in a Zelda boss fight, would be a fun addition. Each phase could require a specific weapon or maybe a set of weapons.
With this approach, balancing the game would be crucial. It might be necessary to reduce the time limit or the penalty for death to make the final boss fight more manageable. One idea would be to provide unlimited lives but implement a combo meter, where allowing it to drop to zero would result in a “game over.” Alternatively, players could have a limited number of lives, but the game could offer a way to gain additional lives throughout the experience.
These changes would add more depth and complexity to an already delightful game, making it an even more enjoyable experience for players.