Solid idea and well-executed! There are some things that struck me that I'll mention (note after writing this review - I'm sorry it's so lengthy!):
By the very nature of how bullets are shot, players who approach weak spots will deal with fewer bullets and have an easier time, which is good! It encourages offensive play and interaction with the core mechanic, AND has the bonus effect of emphasizing the secondary mechanic, which is the bullets bouncing off walls and persisting (because the bullets likely won't hit the player as they're being shot). Truly synergistic design, and felt fun to engage with!
The highly defended enemies which were surrounded on all 6 sides were interesting because they didn't start with a weakspot - you have to create one. And doing so also leads to more bullets bouncing around. In theory, I don't dislike that - but when a player interacts with that sort of mechanic for the first time, it's a bit confusing and uncomfortable. The reason for that is the very same efforts the player is doing to open up the enemy and win are also hurting the player's chances; in that way, it's different from how missing shots for example will lead to bouncing bullets as the latter is due to the player's error.
From a purely numbers and fun perspective, I don't think that the actual mechanic needs changing - perhaps it could do with a simple disguise. Maybe when the player shoots these defenses, the bullets turn green instead of red, and the defense could make a meaty sound effect (like a crack) and show some particles to let the player know that their efforts are paying off. You likely know better than I do the best way to address this issue (if needed!), so I'll leave it at that!
Ultimately, this is the sort of game that I think would particularly benefit from clear and satisfying particle/sound effects (especially upon hitting the enemy). As for the gameplay, I think you've made something really solid! It's a unique and excellent concept turned into a fun game - great work!
appreciate the in-depth review! I definitely agree that those things need some more clarity, and thanks for letting me know that the focus didn’t work - I’ll have to take a look and see what I can learn from that. Thank you!
yep, you’re exactly right about the bug, the bullets you shoot clash with the wall before they get a chance to fire! I’m kicking myself for not noticing, but I’m glad you enjoyed regardless. Thanks for playing!
Super cool game! I really enjoy the patterns and the visual impact of the disco level. What I love most is how theatrical your bosses are, and how ingrained and important the dash mechanic is in these fights. I think the most "bang for your buck" type of adjustment for this game would be to add a strong sound effect for when the player is hit; some extra impact there would make this game truly addicting, and I think would add an extra motivator for the player to try again. Overall a unique and beautiful experience - thanks for making this!
appreciate it! On my game page, I have a line about your weak spot being the brightly-colored square in the center of your ship. Would putting that in a more prominent place somewhere in the actual game help?
Hey - thanks for sharing! It's a super unique concept. I think there's one key point that adjusting would improve this game the most: don't let holding a key down create multiple responses. That way, the player will have more control over how they want to move the character. Great art and novel concept, keep it up!
Awesome game, superbly designed! I won with a time of 8:09. It was quite tense as I lost most of my health early on, leading me to play super carefully, but I managed to get through it. Perhaps because of this experience, I noticed that you've designed this game really well while including speed down grades. In many games, losing speed is a death sentence - but in this game, you can make up for it with strategic planning. Also, I REALLY enjoyed the dungeon floors you made, with rooms and passages and traps! I could image a 100 floor sort of dungeon crawler with this concept, with bosses and unique enemies. I feel like you created a truly solid game with an enjoyable loop; if I had to give some criticism, I would say: try to add some craziness! Whether it's changes to the way the player attacks, or moves, or a fearsome and unpredictable enemy attack (used sparingly), I think it could add a lot of personality to your game. With how solidly you pulled everything off in this game, I think you could make good use of such a technique.
Fun game! The driving factor that got me to complete the game was the leaderboard. I think it could use a directional shooting mechanic as the enemies in the waves come from all sides, and it might introduce some more nuance and variance for the possible high scores. Overall, great work!
Very COOL!!! The COOLEST game I've played so far. Games like these are the sort that truly heal your soul. If you continue making games like this, you will be doing the world a favor - I mean that. I think some of the most important things you could add to this game would be a sound effect for when the player ship gets damaged, and a level select menu. Regrettably, I died in space - but I enjoyed every second that I played your game. Great work!
Awesome game - the visuals, sound, and gameplay are all fun and engaging - I especially like the VN section! I really enjoy the boss and its attack patterns, but the enemies get to be annoying. It feels unclear about what to do about them as they spawn instantly after being defeated, occasionally spawn in groups of 4, and often will even spawn just before and persist during the boss's attacks, which makes it awkward as I have to avoid their bullets which overlap and become near impossible to see, but more importantly, their fat bodies. I've tried a few different strategies such as hanging near the top while ignoring them until the boss begins an attack and then killing them, playing near the bottom and killing them before they have a chance to shoot me, ignoring them altogether, but each time they become the focus of the fight and keep me from enjoying the boss's fun and unique patterns.
That said, the core gameplay is polished, and the mechanics are well-made! The visuals and audio fit amazingly well with the game and its atmosphere, and the designs have such a personal touch to them. I thoroughly enjoyed the VN section, and I think I'd love to see a full game made in a way like this. Great work!
...and I think I've succeeded! I have yet to beat my own game at the hardest difficulty (I came close...), but I thought I should share my chief inspiration so that people who are looking for a game like mine will be able to find, try out, and critique it. It's a game where a rat with big shoes to fill goes on his first space adventure to fight against the invading Meowster's army of fungi, cats, and robots.
By the way, how was everyone's process? This was challenging for me because I haven't made very many games before, and I struggle a lot with being timely. I know it may not look like it, but I spent almost my whole day every day for 10 days just working on this game! I lose focus and get tired easily, so I put on some anime in the background to help me keep on task. Also, later on in the jam, one of my friends offered to help me out with some graphics - she's the one who made the cover image and the awesome character portraits!
Feel free to talk about your own struggles or experiences in the comments! Or ask questions, or for suggestions...anything, really :]
Wow - awesome game. I have to say, props for the awesome writing! The pop-in pirate dialogue and especially the writing for the powerups was filled with personality - it's not something I see every day. Great work!
Awesome game! Beat it on both easy and hard mode. I enjoyed the bouncing bullet aspect of the game, and it led to some funny moments when a swarm of homing bullets was locked in on me when there were no enemies about. The boss fight was super cool too, I liked how you had to preempt your shots to nail him when he becomes visible. Super fun, super impactful, and truthfully I can't think of any criticisms besides "consider adding an ultra-mega-hard mode"!
Charming game! I don't mean to sound cheesy, but this game makes me feel some type of way about the impact that human activities have had on animals and their habitats. Thanks for making this!
Fun idea! Reminds me of the chansey minigame in pokemon stadium 2. This type of game desperately needs a timer or some sort of count, and maybe some cannonball crash sound effects and animations for when it hits the ground. Good work in getting this finished!
Super addicting! I feel like it wasn't made clear enough that the special ability is unlocked at level 5. Visuals were great, I feel like sound effect balance was off. Player getting hit sounded way louder than any of the other sound effects, and I would have liked to hear the sound effects for shooting/killing an enemy better. Great job on chopping and chiptuning the menu music - the result sounds great, and I like the stereo effect!
Aw man, I wish I was good at this game, but I'm just not! But anyways, this is a super unique concept, and the visuals/audio/gamefeel are top-notch. I only wish I was just a little faster, maybe then I could dodge more bullets. But all in all, well done!
Solid game - from a gameplay standpoint, I think this game is solid and knows exactly what it wants to be - kudos! But, I feel like this game is a little stiff. You have a hamster guy and you have aliens, but I don't sense their personalities. This may be an unusual bit of feedback, but when a hamster goes into space, I imagine some unusual things to happen, but the aliens looked run-of-the-mill to me. Don't get me wrong - the art was fantastic and well-executed, but I think it lacks personality and I think that takes away from what motivated me to play this game. Make it a little weird, go crazy! That's my thoughts, anyways. Also, about the music - you chose a good track! It fits well and it never got annoying despite its short length. I would have liked if you selected a few more and had multiple selections fading in to each other, just to liven things up.
Well done! There's so much I want to praise, but I'll try to keep it succinct. Visuals, audio, music - amazing. I'm impressed how even though I couldn't tell visually where my hurtbox was, my brain understood - good job! The gameplay is solid thanks to that intuitive element as well as the variety of enemies and how they are placed. I also appreciate the score multiplier mechanic, and the choice between bullets vs. blades made the gameplay fun. From a personal standpoint as a gamer, this is the sort of game that makes me realize there's bigger fish! I defeated the first boss but swiftly lost to the second, achieving a score of 5,132,480. Thanks for making a game that I enjoy enough to be proud of the score that I get!
This is well-made and polished! It feels natural to control and the variety and spectacle of the attacks are superb. I do wonder about the shield though - it seems to me that it accumulates corruption faster than any of the attacks would really threaten to, and while I think it could potentially prove useful on phase 7 for dodging bursts of attacks as you get to a new location, it still seems too damaging of an option to choose, unless you know when the wave ends. But I do understand that it's a difficult balance to strike - make it too useful, and it might cheapen the player's experience. So I think you made good decisions in making this game. Well done and very unique and well-executed concept, thanks for creating this!
Wow - a truly clever concept. All video/audio/gamefeel elements perfectly communicated what needed to be conveyed, but what I'm most impressed with is the implementation of your idea and how it affects the gameplay. This feels like a game made up of several good decisions hoisting each other up - from having more than 4 types of hells, to the individual characteristic of each hell itself, to player movement and lack of confounding elements, I could probably go on. Very solid - well done!
