Hello friends. :)
- Can't say enough good things about the gorgeous hand-painted graphics. Maybe some of the best 2D work I've seen in a jam setting. Wow.
- Charming music cultivates a folksy mood that puts me right in harvest season. Do wish it looped and transitioned between scenes more gracefully.
- I felt the movement mechanics didn't quite match well with the level design, and it was often hard getting out of places or advancing due to the jumping dash not really taking the player where they intended to go. Tried to avoid the dash feature as the game progressed unless it was absolutely necessary.
- Wasn't really sure what any of the UI elements did, and the cursor remained in-game. Later did figure out that the top-right bar is a health meter, but was unsure how / why it was increasing in maximum value. There's little in the way of explanation as to what's actually going on in the game.
- When the first combat scenario occurred, I wasn't quite sure how to fight. This is where a main menu or an escape menu is essential, because for a download-only title, menus are where the controls can be explained to the player in the most convenient way. For lack of any indicators, I just ran away from the enemy and advanced, but am not sure if that was correct or incorrect as of this writing (probably the latter since the character sprite is carrying a sword).
- Speaking of UI, the vastly quick splash screen / intro did not do the amazing graphical work justice. Information design only works if you have time to process it.
- Can I enthuse one more time about the transporting music blending perfectly with wonderful art? What a world created here!
- Got lost in the game a few levels in, and wasn't sure if I was going the right direction or any indicators of progress. I also found the platform jumping to be unforgiving a lot of the time. This is helped some by allowing unlimited lives / retries, but there's only so many attempts one can do before things become too repetitive without advancement. Was about to cut my losses a few levels in, despite totally feeling the mood and atmosphere of the game, but then when trying to figure out why my left-click wasn't attacking the enemy (after consulting the Itch description), I accidentally stepped on the enemy's head and was propelled to the top of the level, where I reached the win condition.
Final thought: Messis Mimica is an excellent start to a stylish game that would benefit from more development time, but nonetheless fits beautifully into the theme of the jam by inspiring with its hand-crafted art and heart-pleasing music.