This was a cool demo, the character switching is a fun mechanic and it was used well to explore the world. The art style has a lot of charm and while I see that other people have been commenting on the music, I like the general vibe it has going for it, it was a very relaxing playthrough. I liked that each character had a very different function and using Zyke's parry attack was particularly satisfying. I also think it's awesome that you have the game detecting if a controller or keyboard is being used - it's a small quality of life thing, but I really like it.
Some areas where I struggled:
- I had to put the game down once cause I couldn't figure out what to do after I got Layla, even when I came back a second time I only accidentally switched characters (I was trying to go back through the door to my house to see if that would trigger anything, so I pushed "up" and there she was). After switching it took me awhile to switch back to Zyke, the distinction between up and tapping the right control stick was pretty strange to me, I would have preferred to just have all the characters be tied to the d-pad (I was playing on controller).
- The first boss was a very cool concept, but it was pretty hard to figure out and felt a bit inconsistent at times. I definitely liked that each character had their own role in the fight, but these would be my suggestions for improvement:
a. give a bigger timing window on the tail swing windup, it was pretty stressful edging just ahead of the boss, especially when I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to try to parry such a fast attack. A roar or visual queue that it's about to swing could be helpful too.
b. For the parry, I found myself whiffing half of the counter attacks, so the first time I even parried successfully the salamandar just ran straight into me and I wasn't sure if I was doing it right.
c. For the arrow phase, I think it's cool that you have to strategically plant yourself in front of the salamandar, but the rate at which fireballs came out was inconsistent and frustrating at times. It felt like playing chicken with the salamandar. Some of the times I'd jump down off the platform he was charging at and as soon as I did that's when it'd queue up a fireball.
Again, really cool concept for a fight and good utilization of characters, just some areas that can be polished to make it a more enjoyable fight.
3. The long bridge puzzle was cool, and I liked the room that had the hidden wall clues, but I definitely only found the final switch because I missed a jump while backtracking. It was also kind of strange that I could find solutions to the puzzle before even finding the puzzle itself. I heard a noise when I threw the first switch and knew that something was going on so it's not all bad, but I think these kind of puzzles are more effective when you present the challenge and then make the player explore to find the answers - the first bridge puzzle to the right of the town was really good for this.
Oh, I also encountered a bug where the first time I died after saving after the first bridge crossing I respawned back at the very beginning of the game. Quitting out to the menu and continuing my game brought me back to the save point and I didn't encounter that bug again.
Overall I had a good time playing through the game. The switching characters concept is super cool and you've got some really good ideas in there. I'd like to see it or something similar to it developed further. Good job!