Hi Shru!
I just finished your game, it was really fun and cute! made for a very enjoyable evening. It was actually my first bullet hell game EVER, imagine that! And I'm glad it was : )
I was actually so stricken by the riddle, that I stopped that game, and did some googling for an hour. I wasn't able to solve it (actually, my least favorite part of the game was how inadequate it made me feel, lol), but I was able to find out that it was solvable (if you take steam at its word). Maybe someday I'll figure out how it works.
It also prompted me to learn more about whomever would put such a thing in a game - I learned a lot about you, and became a big fan - I went through all 250 of your twitter pictures, and found we have a lot of interests in common. A Baby Boomer Christian Otaku Intellectual Game Dev?! I love your moe philosophy!
It would make me really happy if we could be friends, my friend code on steam is 391497118, please add me anytime!!!
Now to give you proper feedback:
- Did you get stuck or frustrated at any point? If so, where?
Yes, I got stuck after finding my room at the hotel: I checked all the doors on every floor, I checked all the NPCs for hints, I retraced my steps in previous areas, I even tried to make something of the library with the limited information I had at the time (at one point I thought the clues were directions for ordering drinks in a certain sequence at the vending machine, haha). I just didn't know where to go, and although I saw the crate in the basement that was to be my next step, I didn't think to approach the crate in the basement on the off chance that it might be the first movable object in the game. I wish there were just a BIT more direction on that count; not to make another "heavy handed" tutorial out of the receptionist, but I don't think it could hurt to have her at least give you a hint as to what floor/area you should be focused on, at any given point in the game. - Did you enjoy the combat? Were any of the mechanics hard to understand?
Yes, very much so, and I've been avoiding bullet hell because I didn't think I would like it! I love how you rewarded critical thinking, in small intricate ways, ranging from the auspicious decision to press the attack and get close when Orobas stopped moving for brief windows, to figuring out that dodging razor walls was easier to do on the sides of the map than in the corners (and more efficient yet to follow the inner razor wall around for as long as you could), or even lining up your shot to hit as much of the side of the boss with the greatest surface area as you can. - Did you enjoy the dialogue and story? Did you think it was funny? Did you think characters were too wordy?
Yes, though I have been STARVED for a game that surpasses an 8th grade reading level, so who even knows at this point. I found most of the humor in the dialogue, but not all of it (I didn't get that sir/madame bit you explained in posts, for instance). I definitely don't think the characters were too wordy, and sanding yourself down too hard on that front would detract from your authenticity and author's voice. However, speaking of author's voice, the characters COULD be a little more distinctive from one another. As for the story, I very much appreciated what was there, but I couldn't help feeling as if there should have been more. Just a few "relics" or textual artifacts fleshing out the transition between lord-what's-his-name's era with the present one - as opposed to just throwing him in at the end - would have made a big difference, in my opinion. - What difficulty did you play on? Did you find it appropriately challenging?
I played on the intended difficulty throughout. It was enjoyable, and challenging. I died like 10-15 times to the plant, 20 times to coffin, and 45 times to Orobas. Like I said, it was my first bullet hell game, and I would definitely try another, after this positive experience. - How did the game run on your computer? Did any parts perform poorly? (If so, it would help me if you could post your PC specs!)
There was like 1 or 2 parts of the game where the protagonist sprite seemed to be lagging, but I forget which - sorry (I think I remember a grey background, for what it's worth). But I've learned I'm not the best gauge of these things (I didn't even realise blight town was a problem, when I played though dark souls), so take my half-baked opinion with a grain of salt.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz, 2808 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
16GB RAM
I really think we could be great friends, please add me on steam!! Thanks so much for the game!