itch.io

I will fully admit that I didn't grow up with an NES, that I'm a casual who reads VNs and plays match-3 for fun, etc. But I did complete a couple of NES games on, uhh, alternative hardware, and Zelda 1 was one of them, and I did beat it. So I am familiar with the game itself, and I don't have anything against the art, audio and other visual aspects of Yancy - in fact, I think they are the best features of the game. The game looks REALLY good, and the way sprites move and the map transitions animate feels faithful, I didn't have any trouble with it. Maybe they are just a tiny bit smooth, to be AUTHENTIC, but who cares. They work fine and they get the job done.

However I did have trouble playing the game. There are 3 main issues I have.

1) No invulnerability frames. This one is pretty simple to explain - you get hit - you don't have any time to recover or regroup. Very noticeable for the "Fist and head" boss in the research dungeon where the head spews a chain of fireballs side by side. If you get caught up in it - it's over. And this would've been fine, I can understand the lack of i-frames if the answer would be "git gud", but...

2) Not all enemies telegraph their attacks. Specifically the octorock-likes to the right of the first screen, same with blobs shooting arc balls. They attack the moment they stop. And if their placement is extra dickish (like the right screen from the spawn) - it just kills the fun when you can't consistently pass through a second screen of the game. Yet other enemies - like the skeletons, or the rock floating heads in the research dungeon - have no problems telegraphing their attack, and thus being WAY easier to deal with. Longer sword doesn't help - in fact, in my experience it was way easier to get screwed over by the octorock-likes because it takes more time to attack.

The placement seems very intentional, and unless I'm supposed to learn the time of cooldown of the octorock-like attack - I don't see a way to reliably kill them without taking damage - attacking one from behind the rock leaves you exposed to the attacks of the other one. I cannot fathom a way to reliably kill them in a reasonable time. (reasonable = short, since I consider these octorock-likes trash mobs due to them being so early in the game)

3) And lastly - the only way of not getting hurt by the projectile is running away. It's tough, since you get locked in once you attack. Zelda avoided this problem by giving you a shield that blocks projectiles if you're facing the projectile and not attacking. Without it the second screen to the right becomes, in my opinion, too hard to reliably pass through without taking damage.

I get the feeling that you want to make "harder" zelda, which is fine. But it's just too hard for me, especially if it's like that from the get-go. There seems to be close to zero foreplay. Again, it's fine for mobs that do telegraph their attacks, but when they don't - it feels like the only way to figure out the way to progress is to bash your head against the wall until one or the other cracks open. Potion is an invaluable addition due to the lack of i-frames, but at the same time - I would like to save it for bosses, not for trash mobs next to the first screen of the game. 

Sorry, but getting killed over and over again is not fun for me, especially to trash mobs. The difficulty spike is just too big.

Two other notes:

1) Skeleton projectile passed through the rocks. Dunno if it's a bug, but it feels inconsistent with other projectiles. I expect to be able to hide behind a rock from a projectile, especially since I don't have any other means of blocking them.

2) Your game seems to try and resize itself to size 0,0. I had a daemon running that unblocks resizing for games, and your game immediately shrank itself until I found out the issue and killed a resize unblock daemon.

Played the tutorial, couldn't beat the test level.

Animations and models are FANTASTIC. Walk animation is a bit jank, dunno how I feel about it, but idle and shooting animations are so good. Grenadier seems to be using the machinegunner animations - I assume they just don't have their separate animations yet.

After the tutorial I was a bit confused about Rush/Hold modes, they didn't seem to do what the tutorial explained. Either that, or I was being stupid, but my units kept attacking even when standing still in rush mode.

Test level is a bit bs, enemies have more reinforcements than me which is... Unfair, especially on an almost flat plane map. But assigning units to squads works, giving them different commands works too.

So it works, I think, even though I couldn't beat it.

Also - first time I lost the test - the stats were not shown on the defeat screen, had to restart. Worked the second time.

A really neat game. Sprites and human SFX are pure soul. Took me a bit of time to figure out building, but it went pretty smooth.

One thing I found out - spamming workers to take out the monsters seems to be a very viable strategy, especially since the dwelling is so cheap and you respawn is almost instant.

Also encountered a bug - one enemy just wouldn't die even though its health was zero. Encountered that for a goblin and for a bee.

Also - didn't enjoy the fact that enemy spawnpoints kept spawning on the map. I assume that means I need to cover the whole map in dwellings/control points, but it's pretty bothersome, especially since the map is pretty big.

Overall it works fine and is pretty fun to play!

Nice CRT aesthetics. 

LR Hand mechanic is a bit confusing, took me a bit of time to understand what's going on (at first I thought only 2 leftmost elements affect spellcasting). Same with the "Charge" spell - took me a bit of time to figure out what's going on.

Speaking of charge spell - it breaks the game. Costs almost nothing to cast, and when you charge to 500+ - the game kinda breaks. Bubble spell makes the game lag, most other spell just start spamming over and over again. Which is very cool, but also very not balanced. I also managed to get an item that gives me +1HP per cast, and Charge 500 + Spell makes you basically immortal. Very cool, but at that point I wished I had more enemies to kill - cuz they were dying too fast.

My biggest complaint is - when the spell is casting - you remember the first mouse position (at the moment of click) instead of the last (at the moment when the spell casting is finished and the projectile/spell effect is being summoned). It makes it very disorienting and hard to aim.

Very, very cute main character. Though she's perpetually grumpy.

Movement works great, but lacks some QoL to blend it all together - like pressing the opposite direction to "uncling" from the wall. Vertical platforms are a tiny bit wonky. And the "sliding" half-pipe (at least I assume it was for sliding) either didn't provide enough momentum for me to consistently slide (I did do a dash), or it needs another surface with less friction to work properly.

Got an occasional frame dip here and there, but I think it's fine.

Some areas didn't give me a drop shadow, so platforming between moving platforms was hard. In general the air movement seems just a bit too fast for my liking, but I think that's more of a personal preference.

A good start for a mascot platformer, keep it up!

It's alright. Did the "full grave dig" run and the "Find the vampire and run" run. Didn't enjoy tapping arrow keys to move, would've been nice to be able to just press them to move.

Some of the grave names are funny. 

Either needs a tutorial or something else. I didn't understand what's going on at all

Works well enough. Gameplay seems like a standalone "Isaac's Heart" from "Binding of Isaac", which is an interesting idea. Looking forward to more content though, cuz right now it's a very early prototype

Very fun to drive around, feels VERY nice. Works really well with the controller. I like how the suspension looks, adds a nice little touch to the overall experience. 

The car moves backwards at the very beginning, I'm assuming that's a bug with the "0 acceleration". Also bumping into trees feels like the car doesn't have that much weight.

What I was trying to say - random numbers and rolling them is not fun at all. Seeing a number pop up on screen without any flair is... meh. So you do want some sort of animation, be it a dice drop or a sword swing. The reason I called it "gambling" is because in my opinion/experience the main appeal of dice rolling is the suspense - and that's a core for any gambling game. Waiting for what number will be rolled, stuff like that. I honestly don't know how to avoid the gambling association if you're gonna have dice for attack. (now that I think about it - tabletop games also use dice, but they also rely on the same suspense as the gambling games, so not that far off imo)

The animation is fine, but it comes out of nowhere and is not well explained. Also it triggers right after the roll, so in regards to the crab claw - I think I didn't even see the original number that I had.

Considering your game is all about combat - I'd focus on that - monster sprites/animations, attack animations (including player attack). Anything that would make the game look more game-y, I guess.

0 блинов в Блинодаре/10

You're an absolute madman for making an Atari2600 game, big props for that! Managed to last 4 minutes and 20 seconds (it wasn't intentional). Very impressive stuff, I can't imagine how hard it is to make a game for such old hardware nowadays.

I will now appreciate the work of the barista at my local coffee shop even more.

Seriously, the mechanics are SOLID. I got hooked almost instantly, which is great. Everything works fine, and everything became hectic once I ran out of my pre-made coffees and milks. I understand that it's self-imposed, but still - it is quite an achievement. 

I think it can become very fun, gave me Viscera Cleanup Detail vibes. Looking forward to more updates!

An autobattler that requires thinking? Whoah!

Good prototype, works fairly well. A bit wonky on the big screen. Love the fact that you can carry undead units into later battles, though it may also give the player a chance to snowball.

Spellcasting takes a bit of getting used to, I didn't fully get it from the tutorial.

But I quite like it, hopefully you'll keep working on it!

Music is an absolute BANGER, sets the tone just right.

Definitely needs better visual cues for what's going on in the cypher screen, took me a bit of time to understand that the keyword is "Key". Other than that it's pretty simple. Combat is... I dunno. It's alright, I guess, but I'm not too hot about paid abilities.

Very curious about where you take it, I think it can be carried with good writing, cuz the story seems very intriguing.

I really dig the graphics, they are very cool. Otherwise - it seems to work as expected. Lock-on mechanic would've been useful on keyboard (my PS5 controller didn't work for some reason). It is just a tad slow for my liking.

I feel like this one is treading towards a coom game. Why do lizards have boobs?

Graphics (shadows, to be precise) are a bit glitched in the first cutscene. No interpolation between the animation frame is an interesting choice, I kinda dig it.

Very nice and feels very polished. A bit too much stuff on screen, but it's not annoying, so no complaints there. Very wacky bosses.

It's a bit less like a touhou shmup and more like a gladius shmup, which I assume is the inspiration. My only feedback would be - all characters feel the same - the only difference I found were the bullet patterns (which are not very distinguishable, and I found the beam consistently more useful), and a tiny speed change between the left guy and everybody else.

A bit buggy, and I attribute it to being a WebGL game - sometimes the transition hitboxes moved around the screen.

But it has the heart. I really dig your AI art usage, an actually great way to use AI art. That being said - jumpscares are very goofy. I'm not complaining though.

One more nitpick - item usage is a bit moon-logic-like, using a knife on the house is... Well, I would've wished I knew that the house was interactible.

Otherwise - it's a neat little horror game, reminds me of old html horror pages. 

Clown ending is the best btw.

It's alright, it's a start. Needs better tutorial and better visual cues for stuff. 

My general feedback would be - it needs A LOT of visuals. Generally gambling games are not very fun unless they add flair - the suspense of the roulette wheel, wonky physics of the falling dice, spinning slots and fireworks of getting a 777 - that's what fuels the gambling addiction. Without it - it's pretty mindless, at least in my opinion.

It's an alright start, but needs A LOT more meat on the bone.

Big improvements since previous DD. Dunno about "relative mouse mode", feels like it would suit a controller better. As usual - hat mechanic is great, kudos for new weapons (tri-gun sucks btw).

I like the style, I like music. It choked a bit on a large monitor, but oh well. Also - train boss is a pretty big difficulty spike. Still manageable, but I wish you'd get an indication that you're actually hurting it - it took me a bit of time to realize that the goal is to take out the turrets.

Good stuff, please keep it up!

First of all - BIG props for masterful audio design, I was consistently holding a brick clenched with my anus muscles the whole time. The silent drums in the background are a really nice touch. Leaving the radio turned on while you get out of the car - man, that was so bad for my nerves. I also noticed some other details, like crunching sounds and then a loud "Moo" (shouldn't it be in reverse?). 

The graphics are serviceable, I actually really dig the red mist covering everything, that's really neat, adds to the nervouslness. Dunno if the track is randomly generated or you just have multiple maps, but it's also a nice touch, along with some random landmarks along the road. The wendigo running across kinda got me the first time, the "standing in the middle of the road" monster was too on the nose. Loved that the box starts shaking, at first I thought it was the physics, until I started paying attention. Only wish I could've opened it...

In general you have a lot of tiny little details that really bring the game to life. It's awesome. I'm no horror fan and I'm easily spooked, but I really liked the experience. 

People have already mentioned, but there are a lot of bugs. Mouse not being properly bound to the window, bad respawn after monster death. I will mention only one thing - after a couple of runs I started figuring out the scripting for the encounters, so the spooks were not as effective (I was still nervous due to ambient sounds, that's how effective they are).

Anyway. It's a really, really cool game you have here. Needs a lot of polish, obviously, but I hope you stick to it and don't abandon it.

Very neat start for a flightsim. Controls better than GTA:SA Toy Biplane, and I couldn't ask for more. Obviously needs more content, but you probably know that already.

The physics go crazy if you hit something face-first, and if you go zero acceleration - the plane goes backwards. Also I kinda expected Q and E to make you do a full barrel roll, not just flip. Also for now the usefulness of them is undefined. Maybe they could be changed to not flip, but rather roll, so that the player could have more freedom to dodge bullets?

Great writing, great style, interesting story and a very sovlful menu. I very much dig the noir-like hardboiled detective shtic. No idea if you're serious with it or if it's more of a parody, but I like it a lot. Again - writing is good, funny at times. Really gets you invested in the main character and the story. Great stuff.

Controller button layout is awkward - square acts as a menu/cancel button, which is very unorthodox - usually it's triangle/start for menu open/close and circle for cancel (PS5 controller). And I found a bug - there seems to be a section when the movement inputs are ignored somewhere on the up-left of the left stick. But it's minor, and the D-pad works fine.

Huge props for mac build, absolute legend. Will try it out on my own time some time later. And yeah, looking forward to a full release!

A very calm, very chill game. I like pretty much everything about it, and everything is there to help you get into this "zen" zone - from animations to sfx and music. It's a very simple concept, but it's done beautifully, and it works. I absolutely love it.

If I were to complain about something - I guess it would be about items taking some time to get used to. But then again - it's pretty much a non-issue, and the tutorial definitely helps.

It's a great game, and an insta-buy for me when it releases.

New character is hnnng-tier. I really dig your style - both in terms of character and in level design. Tutorial is nice, but too railroady - wish I could fail. I did fail a couple of times - but it softlocked the game.

Very nice progress, keep it up!

Very, very solid controls. You nailed the platformer aspect to a T. Climbing, jumping, air control - everything's there. Very good stuff.

Character design is great, she's very well animated, little clouds of dust are a very nice touch. 

Looking forward to what you're gonna do next with this prototype!

Feels like a base for a twist on Space Invaders, which I think could be pretty interesting. Right now there's not much going on - it works, enemies die and even move, occasionally. Or try to move.

But please don't use SFX that make me deaf. Some of the sound effects were too loud.

Really not a fan of browser games, especially for those that have a lot of action.

Artstyle is alright, pretty cute, a little bit flashlike. Bombs are very gimmicky, I was kinda expecting them to be screen clearing while they are... not. Witch hitbox feels like it's too big.

And occasionally the bosses stop attacking. Afterwards the game will crash. Couldn't play very long due to crashes, unfortunately. Needs a lot of polish.

Artstyle is very cute, I dig all the different faces she makes. Kinda reminds me of Xiao from Dark Cloud.

Writing is pleasant, I love a bit of banter going on between the MC and the girl. Looks like a good base for a solid, wholesome and comfy game.

But mouse detection/highlight is broken unless the screen resolution is 1920x1080

Very interesting game. I dig the setting, but the locks confuse me - I kinda understand what they mean, but I don't understand how (and why) the lock status changes. Tutorial works like a charm and helped me a lot - in fact I quite like the combat aspect, even if sometimes I get wiped.

I got ambushed by invisible skeletons out of nowhere, no idea if it's a bug or a feature - needed quite some time to figure out how to notice them. And I don't think corpses should have a turn - nothing happened to them, they just skipped every time.

Ui is a bit clunky, but it's fine for a WIP game.

Also - can you please provide a binary next time? Playing in browser is very cumbersome.

Art and music is great. Levels are suprisingly tight. I'm not too hot on "money being spent every second of flight", but it wasn't an issue to me.

Secrets are fairly noticeable, though sometimes robot buddies reveal them by shooting enemies behind the secret walls.

My only complaint would be about the screen resolutions - 2/3 were too small (had to change my screen resolution), while the last one was bigger than my 4k monitor - I guess that's a bug.

But the game is pretty fun, I really liked it.

I really like the new art, some of the card art is very memorable.

Upgrade UI is a bit of a mess, and kinda breaks on 4k resolution.

Tutorial is a very welcome addition. And either I remembered stuff from previous playthrough (doubtful), or the crafting is a bit less convoluted this time around.

I'm not a CCG player, but I like it quite a lot. Seems easy enough to get into and start playing.

Great to see you're incorporating feedback from previous DDs. Love how the watchers have different spawn circles depending on their appearance. Mines and fire watchers spawn circles are way too similar still (I noticed they are red and yellow when I rewatched the VOD, but I didn't notice that during gameplay). The red barrels are much, much more noticeable, which is great - now I can die to enemies and not to barrels!

Upgrades are a VERY welcome addition, so is the tutorial. I also dig the "Hold the button to mix stuff", also very welcome.

The only thing of note right now - all enemies are weak to poison, so you can ignore mixing most of the time. Though I guess this won't be an issue once there are more enemies.

Keep it up, great stuff!

Chapter 2 starting out very strong. Got some problems with the boss, guess it's there to teach me how to use the character.

Loved the appearance of some characters from Ch1.

Music is fantastic, as usual. 

Car movement is EXTREMELY slow, wish it was faster. And I got a bit lost on the map - I know there were literally arrows pointing where I need to go, but you can't expect me to see a big map and not explore? Nice (a)woken reference. Wish there were some points of interest to interact with on that map (I didn't find any if they are there).

What's up with one of your party members fighting doggy-style, ass-first? It's... uh.... unique?

Arthur wrecking shit up when? Can't wait to see what he's got cooking in Ch2.

There's a very noticeable learning curve for controlling the characters, but it feels good, especially once I started switching mid-fight. Both characters are pretty cool, though it seems like ice collision is bigger than the sprite.

Desperately lacks a tutorial - I didn't figure out that I can upgrade my characters until someone told me that.

Managed to get the boss to stage 4 without any skills, just by levelling up.

Took the boss down in a couple of seconds after I learned some skills.

Game is VERY stingy with healing potions, dunno if that's intentional, dunno how to feel about that (I managed, somehow). Also lost my first mythril armor to drag-n-drop outside of the inventory box. Felt bad about that.

It's a solid start, even if rough around the edges. I liked it, even if I had a pretty rough start with it.

Very rough around the edges. Dialogue works, movement works. Dash effect is pretty cool, but camera moves slower than the character, so you can actually run off-screen.

I see a fellow SAM enjoyer. Dunno if you run it in real-time, but it mangles some words, unfortunately - you have to "tune" and type them more phonetically for it to actually pronounce them properly.

Interesting stuff. Please don't be overreliant on sam - it can get stale pretty quick.

Cute character and nice movement. Controller works like a charm, didn't test on the keyboard.

Everything works exactly as intended - jumping, climbing, wall hopping. Air control is good. 

There's no "underwater" shader though. Collected all the bones.

Feels like a great base for a mascot platformer!

Deserves a title. Seriously.

Fantastic stuff. Seriously - it's a lot of fun. Very tight, very punishing, very rewarding - just like a shmup should be. Screen Clear charge is fairly generous, but not to the point where I could spam it. Getting a couple of hits before you die is a blessing, makes it so much easier.

Patterns are good, and enemies are masterfully balanced - those with "harder" patterns die faster (like bats), while those with easier are a bit tankier (like skulls)
First boss is easy, especially he does a screen clear every time you kill a phase. Second one is a bit tougher, but I didn't find him unbeatable.

Took me a couple of tries, but I beat the final boss with just one death.

Big props for fantastic sound design - audio cues for "bomb ready" and "you got hit" are such a blessing and a necessity. 

Controller is botched. Keyboard is fine.

Good stuff. Great, even. Had a blast.