I was blown away by the cutscenes and the artwork. High quality aesthetics, and a lot of it!
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This is my rubric:
[ + - - - - ] 1 - Missing
[ + + - - - ] 2 - Somewhat Present
[ + + + - - ] 3 - Present
[ + + + + - ] 4 - Well Done
[ + + + + + ] 5 - Outstanding
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Theme (5/5)
[ + + + + + ]
You made taking a deep breath not only a core mechanic, but also a central feature in your narrative. It was well implemented, and gave me a sense of calming down in the midst of adversity.
Gameplay (5/5)
[ + + + + + ]
I'm saving the bugs for the "Implementation" phase. As far as the overall gameplay experience, I felt like I was the archer; a hero with nimble climbing skills, and the capacity to focus with my breath and take aim at the monsters unleashed upon the world. Every aspect of the game was complimentary to my experience as the archer.
Implementation (3/5)
[ + + + - - ]
It was a stable game with everything working together to provide for a great experience. If it weren't for a few issues with the mouse aiming controls I would have probably rated it higher. There was a point during the second part of the game (coming out of the water) that the mouse controls completely bugged out on me until after I respawned again. Specifically I couldn't aim properly, and any attempt to click would be read as a "deep breath." Furthermore there was a gap in the middle of that same level that seemed nearly impossible to jump. It took me awhile to realize that I had to let myself fall before jumping to get across. There were other very tight obstacles that felt more like a chore than an experience, which is why I didn't rate it higher.
Presentation (4/5)
[ + + + + - ]
Breathtaking visuals. Everything felt like it was on purpose. This was far more than I expected from a game jam. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because some of the lighting during gameplay made it hard to differentiate between environment and enemies. Maybe this was on purpose too, but it was enough of a distraction that it broke the experience a bit for me.
Creativity (3/5)
[ + + + - - ]
Your team is very artistic, and no-doubt creative to be able to bring everything together in this way. That said, nothing about the game stood out to me as new, innovative or unique; impressive, but not novel. There's nothing wrong with that. What you did was amazing. Sometimes it's nice to feel at home with something familiar. You pulled that off with a high degree of class.
I enjoyed your game, and I could learn more than a little from your performance. The capacity to bring a team together to deliver this level of quality is something that I envy. Well done.