Thanks a lot for playing and thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it.
On Windows, the controls were difficult to puzzle out. I had to press R2 to enter instrument mode, then L2 to amplify? in order for any notes to be played. So R2-L2 every time I wanted to play notes, then R2 again to move.
Yeah, I was afraid that the control scheme might be unintuitive. I wasn't able to get anybody else to playtest it before the deadline so that was a bit of a blindspot for me. There definitely needs to be a better tutorial (or y'know, a tutorial) and more feedback as to which mode you are in.
I considered dropping the requirement of using L2 to control the dynamics as that would streamline the controls considerably. However, since playing your instrument makes noise and how loud you are directly influences whether you can be heard by enemies, using less pressure on the button to play softer was intended to be a big part of the experience. Then you get a trade-off between likelihood of being discovered and the amount of light you get (the lights resonate with the notes you play and the softer you play the less light they emanate).
Probably need to rethink the controls a little in any case. :)
The next time, I was able to puzzle out the final sequence and play out the final door without that final book. I think randomized or longer passcodes would be an easy fix for the rogue save scummer.
Haha yeah, you're right. I was aware that the game can be speedrun in like 10 seconds (challenge accepted?) if you've played it before, so in that sense it is entirely optimized for the first playthrough and really has no replay value at all. It's sort of by design, since I actually put a lot of thought into the game's soundscape and the melodies. It wouldn't have the same effect if it was entirely randomized. For added replay value though I could just make more melodies and door types and make it impossible to cheese the game unless you've already discovered them all.
spoiler:
The melodies should also probably be longer since there is a one in six chance you guess right by just mashing distinct buttons in a sequence. I didn't want to overwhelm people who don't have any experience with music since the complete melody is already relatively long.
Anyway, all good ideas that I'll have to consider, but that being said I was mainly trying to focus on creating a singular experience.