Hey there, thanks for joining our jam!
It's an interesting little take on the super hot theme. The slash movement felt weird, I understand that it's supposed to be used to close the distance, but I often had to use it as a dodge instead, since if I tried to use it to close the distance I would still get shot by a bullet. I also initially expected it to slash in the direction of movement, not the direction of aiming, which threw me off a bit. It almost felt kind of redundant, because if you took too many shots it usually means you're either not close enough to even use the slash properly, and the movement distance is generally way too short compared to how far away from corners the enemies usually are. As well as that, the player movement is a little too fast, in that a tiny bit of movement generally is enough for an enemy to shoot at you and have the bullet be almost too close to dodge. I think it would have benefited greatly from a key to slow down movement, in fact, so I could get proper peeks around corners, or see an enemy at the edge of my screen and still have time to react.
Having the life friend is a fresh take, but it felt a lot like an escort mission, even though the friend had a gun, it was usually useless since you're always taking the lead, and it generally doesn't take the chance to shoot at enemies. Escort missions, I believe, are generally some of the most disliked mission types available, and for good reason. It is supposed to provide a challenge, but without being able to control what the character being escorted does, it tends to feel more RNG-based rather than a direct reflection of the player's skills, which can be frustrating.
The game itself runs smoothly, the UI is simple and it works, but the overall color scheme is jarring. A red floor, with red tiles, red walls, red enemies, and even a red page, all very fluorescent, isn't very visually appealing. That, combined with that visual effect that comes with moving, makes it a little difficult to look at. The audio feedback and music was good though, high-paced and arcadey.
I think overall it is an interesting take, but kind of frustrating to play. I think I tried about 10 times to get past that 4 man wall in Level 1, and just couldn't do it, even trying to cheese them and shoot them off-screen. The controls weren't quite there, because even a tiny mistake was extremely punishing. It could definitely use some polish, but I think the concept itself is quite fun.
Congrats on completing a solo game, and thanks for joining the jam!