Just finished playing through it, and got all the collectables, thought I'd share my general thoughts.
Firstly, this is awesome! So incredibly cool to see Pumk and Alley in 3D, and the models are top notch! Seriously can't wait for this to be finished.
I'll get my issues out of the way first. Most of them are technical, and I imagine most of them will be fixed once the game is closer to being finished, but thought I'd point them out anyway.
- I love the Jak and Daxter inspiration when it comes to double jumping, needing to time your presses to get maximum height instead of just mashing the jump button. However, the jumps feel a bit clunky. Having to hold the jump button to get more height sounds fine, but you have to hold it a little too long to get to maximum height, and I think the max height is a little too high if there's a double jump. I also think just tapping the jump button gives way too little height, so it often feels like you're wrestling with the jump controls, making sure to firmly hold down the jump button long enough. I also don't think it's necessary to need to hold the jump button on the double jump, a simple tap would feel much better. The jumps feel a little floaty as a result of this, it feels like Pump stays in the air a little too long. The initial jump's animation is a bit jittery as well, like 2 animations where put together without enough frames in between. The double jump doesn't have this problem, so I imagine it'd be an easy fix. I don't mean to rant too much on the jumps, but I feel they're often the most difficult yet most important part of a platformer to get right. The potential is definitely there, just getting the right feel is essential.
- Similar to the jumps, the dash move can also be a bit wonky at times, specifically when holding the jump button at the end of the roll. The momentum comes to a crawl, and the height gained is minimal. Not entirely sure what the intention for this move is, if it's like the roll jump in Jak, where pressing the jump at the end of the move gives Jak a ton of height, or if it's meant to be chained together with more jumps and rolls. Either way, it feels quite sluggish to use, at the moment. I initially thought it was an issue with the dash move itself, but I realised afterwards it was because of holding the jump button.
- It's pretty easy to get out of bounds at the moment. Throwing Alley Oop somewhere, then switching before she hits the death plane lets you walk beneath it in some spots. Some areas will teleport you back to Pump no problem, but there were big patches where I was able to walk under the death plane for quite a while.
- Speaking of, it's also quite easy to scale a lot of the walls and get out of bounds. I imagine just applying the sliding effect on most walls would fix this issue, because as it is, it's a bit inconsistent which walls make you slide.
- Alley's running speed is a bit too slow. I get it's supposed to be, but it feels a little too sluggish at the moment. Just a small increase in speed would make it feel better.
- (I might just be dumb, so ignore this one if this is the case). Trying to get the collectables on the bridge at the very start felt super unintuitive. I went through the bridge, and went to the right, and saw 2 platforms leading up to the top. But the first platform was too high to jump onto, so I jumped on a rock around the corner, used the dash move to get onto the first platform, and went from there. Not sure if this was intentional, but this specific platforming challenge didn't feel finished.
- I do love the look it's going for, but it can be a tad dark. Increasing the overall brightness a smidge, or just having a brightness option would be nice.
- Not sure if this level is going to be in the final game, or it's just a test area, but it feels a little too big and empty for its own good. When it comes to open 3D platformers, something very important for level design is being able to tell at a glance which way you're meant to progress, and which paths are quick and optional. This obviously isn't a hard rule, but there was a few times where I wasn't sure which way was the proper way, and where I could explore freely before progressing. The vast empty rooms don't help with this, but I imagine more platforming puzzles and enemy encounters will fill up these levels once finished. (A bit hard to explain my point without giving specific examples, apologies!)
- I played with a DS4 controller, and there were a few instances when reading the instructions where the R1 sprites weren't loading, instead there was some code-y text referencing the R1 button. I'm sure it's a simple fix!
I think that's all the issues I've got, so let me gush about it now!
It looks absolutely fantastic! I love the art direction, I love how dark and gloomy it is, and I love how blocky the environments are, very PS2 like! The particle effects are also incredibly pretty. The collectables look amazing, and are really satisfying to pick up with that cool pick up animation. I have to say it again, Pumk and Alley look incredible! Really awesome to finally see them in 3D, especially since I missed out on getting one of those Pumk plushes :(
Being able to play as Alley is also so cool. I can already imagine some awesome environmental puzzles using the two of them.
The hidden collectables are also super cool, really had my head scratching for a while trying to find the last ones. Also, being able to throw Alley into ones far off in the distance is such an awesome mechanic, and is funny as hell. Her animations when being thrown are so cute!
Encountering the one enemy in the demo had me stuck trying to figure out how to beat it, but once I figured it out, I thought it was a really cool designed fight. More puzzle like fights like this throughout the game would be a welcome addition, instead of just flaming enemies that run towards you without thought.
The sound design is good, if a bit simplistic, though I think it adds to the charm. The music is super cool, I can't wait to hear more of it!
Aside from a few animation hiccups I mentioned earlier, the animation as a whole is really well done. The flame effects when burning stuff looks super cool. My only nitpick is I think Pumk's face should change when doing her flame attack, maybe open her mouth with a more angry face or something?
Also, the title screen is really cool, really love the vibe and just how good it looks when starting up.
If there's anything I forgot to mention (which I probably did) I likely enjoyed it. This is a super good start to the project, and I'm really excited to see the final product. The story has me super excited as well, I can tell it's gonna be a fun time! Awesome job to everyone involved! Also, I took a picture of the lizard on the rock, do I get an award???