Skip to main content

On Sale: GamesAssetsToolsTabletopComics
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(+1)

Warning: Essay review incoming. 

So, I really like shooters and I have a lot of opinions about shooters. You're gonna hear a lot about that in the gameplay section. I think your game as a whole was fun, but could have a slight bit more of gameplay polish. But overall, I enjoyed it. 


Regarding art. I think the style is there, it fits, it does the job. Art isn't my forte so I'm not in a position to critique it hard. 


Regarding gameplay, I have some suggestions. I'll be making this a bulleted list to organize my thoughts. 

* So, first things first. In a shooter, making the weapon feel fun to use is the top priority. Charging up the spear then tossing it is enjoyable, but it feels like it's missing just a little bit of something. Spears aren't necessarily light weapons, but this relatively light-looking character chucks it around at high speeds with relative ease. Visually, it looks slightly off to me. It's not a horrible problem mind you. But it's missing something. Maybe some slight screen shake could help make this feel better? Maybe if you had time for sound, that could help as well? Also, maybe making it so the spear starts out just a little slower when you throw it than the rest of the travel time, even if it's just for a few frames might help? Don't quote me on that, it's just a theory. But my thinking is, it wouldn't look like it's already at top speed the second you throw it. Something to do with the animation I think would help, I just don't know if my suggestion is the perfect fix for it, I'm a bit unsure. 

* Next, I have a minor complaint about retrieving the spear. I actually really enjoy bullet hell-esque games where you have to dodge small projectiles like yours. It can make you feel like a real badass when it's done well. However. A problem I encountered *a lot* was, I'd throw the spear, miss slightly (not because of the game, but because of my own skill) or not get all the enemies in one hit. Then, it'd land right next to an enemy or a few. The problem with that is, the AI will just stay *RIGHT THERE*, right on top of the spear, and camp it. That means you physically cannot get the spear without taking damage unless you walk far enough away from the AI camping it for them to also walk away from it. It felt like I had to walk a bit too far away for the AI to get away from my spear when this happened. Also, if a 4 heart enemy, the one that throws a lot of close range knives, was camping a spear, I usually took a lot of damage or just died. There was little I could do beyond try to get them away from the spear, or just die. I struggled a lot dealing with them if I didn't insta kill them, especially if there was more than one chasing after me at once. This became really challenging with me needing to be so far away from the AI when they were camping the spear to make them move. It actually usually took 5+ seconds for me to get the spear if an enemy was camping it. That, for me personally, is too long. With the core gameplay loop being: "1) Charge up and throw the spear. 2) Dodge enemy attacks. 3) Retrieve the spear". Step 1 of that loop happens very quickly. But you spend a LOT of time in step 2, relative to the other two steps. This wouldn't be horrible if the step was just a little bit shorter or easier. But for me personally, I think step 2 of retrieving the spear was often too long or too hard due to the AI camping the spear and me having to walk so far away from it to get them to move away from it. 

* Overall, the core loop was fun. I enjoyed throwing the spear. I enjoyed the bullet hell-esque dodging of the small enemy projectiles a lot. More than I thought I would. But, I think making it feel a bit more impactful when you kill enemies with the spear would make it feel more satisfying and fun overall. 


But at the end of the day, you made a game in 48 hours and it's a fun game that I really enjoyed. Overall, you did a great job and I hope you learned a lot from this project and that you continue making even more fun games down the line! 

Thank you kindly for such amazing feedback, I appreciate your effort!