Thank you so much for the detailed critique ! It really helps !!
Yes I agree it's definitely more an early prototype than an actual game, I just didn't have the time for more with my rhythm and outside circumstances. The jagged movement is indeed from the camera moving per pixel, I don't know how to fix that yet, I might leave it tbh.
For the sound, I first envisioned it having some kinda chiming noises you could hear in the direction of the invisible targets. The music would probably be something very ambient. Though I was too busy learning programming to even touch the sound section, I'd like to come back to that later. The targets were also gonna move around.
The soul was meant to look a bit like a will o' wisp ( and a dew drop when idle ). I don't have much experience in pixel art so I'm still happy with how the sprites look for a first try !
It wasn't very refined but there was gonna have some semblance of story, or at least progression. I really wanted to add some cutscenes in the style of OneShot or Omori, since illustration ( and concept art ) is kind of more what I'm good at, but I didn't have time ofc. The figure was going to have elements added/revealed to the design as you collected lights. And the levels were gonna have different traversal elements as you progress ( like going into roots that act as funnels, jumping into a trail of footsteps.. ), the lights were gonna be able to be located through different means than just ripples ( like grass rustling in a grass field level, light trails.. ).
Yeah I could really only do the bare minimum here but I still learned a ton !
I'm glad you liked the concept !! I was pretty concerned that it wasn't enough for the jam, but nonetheless I was still proud to have put it out without any major bugs or anything. It's barebones, yeah, but I made it, I took the plunge. I'm proud of that.
Like I said, I'm definitely going to keep working on this when I have the time, to hopefully bring it closer to the vision ! It's not going to be anything grand, but I hope it'll be more than this little prototype ! Thanks again for the critique, I REALLY appreciate it !!! ^^