A lot of it just had to do with the fixed jump arcs, though the static screen-based camera with sharp cuts when moving between screens definitely doesn't help either since it makes jumping to the next screen a gamble until you've memorized where everything is in the void above/below you. Overall it just feels very clunky to control, which is something I just don't enjoy. JK managed to overcome a similar high commitment control scheme by having an extremely granular charge-jump and very appealing characters, but I think overall these types of games just don't appeal to me as much as other people seem to enjoy them.
Viewing post in Shadow Peaks (Demo) jam comments
That's unfortunate to hear. But thank you for playing regardless. We have played with the idea of making difficulties. Various forms of the game with different nuances to allow new players to progress but still possing a challenge to experienced players. The main two were casual and traditional. Casual being where you can control the player while in the air and have infinite checkpoints and traditional with how the game is now. If this casual mode was added, would you say that it would fix some of the annoyances for you and pose a more bearable challenge?
I don't think either of those are the issue as much as simply the controls needing to allow for more player expression. At the moment it feels like the only real way to express skill is through the timing of the double jump, which can work, but due to the fixed jump height and jump arcs often just feels like the game isn't as responsive as it should be. I feel like it's probably just my personal preference and it's likely not the right call for the type of game you're making, but going back to the example of things like JK and GOI they both allow for an incredible amount of player expressiveness in setting up the jumps even if you're the mercy of physics once you are in the air.
There is also the other factor of the game properly recognizing collision, often if I hit the corner of a ledge the game would get stuck in a falling animation where I couldn't move, grab the ledge, or jump off the wall; but if I let go of the movement command I would then get locked into a freefall and just have to eat the lost progress rather than simply grabbing the ledge below like normal.