I’m developing a similar game so it was very interesting to see how to build levels around a few basic moves!
Overall it’s nicely done, the mood is clear, platforms well contrasted with background (one of the things I was studying for my game).
I had issues with my enemies spamming attacks and the soldiers with their heavy lagging attack really do the job here. Unfortunately most enemies use the same pattern with slight time variations (Level 2 boss has more lag before hit, which means you can chain two hits before dashing, making it easier to beat than Level 1 boss - and above all, we expect a wizard to use spells not just melee - but I get the point of reusing the same code for enemy behaviour esp. for a jam).
The hardest for me was platforming though. There is a forced momentum at the end of an air dash which made me fall from many platforms. When I landed just on the edge, physics made me slip and fall anyway (better use snappy physics for this kind of game).
So I restarted the levels over and over, and since killing enemies doesn’t bring a bonus I just dashed through them, making it a pure platformer. In the end, I couldn’t get past Level 3. I could probably by trying again and again, but I’d rather spend more time on combat. cpwebmarketing’s last suggestions would probably make the combat more rewarding and platforming easier.
You could also never require the player to chain jumps on many platforms high in the air: if they fall, they just reach the “lower path” (as in Sonic) which is filled with more enemies, so a skilled warrior can always finish the level, while someone good at platforming could avoid a few enemies and speedrun.
Even if you don’t update the jam game further, I learned a lot from it already! I wish you good luck on your future projects!
Wow, thank you for the detailed review and I'm glad to hear that it was useful for you to study some mechanics - even if you learned how not to do stuff. ;) At this time jump'n'run was not my on my strong side. And I would argue it's still not, but I learned also a lot from this game.
I think I will not work further on that game, although I had a POC where I introduces moving platforms and a small shopping system. But never polished it, so I guess it stays like it is.
If you need a playtester for your upcoming game, feel free to contact me. Would love to test your game. :)
Glad to hear that! No worries about not updating, I also have many jam games more than 1 year old that stay here but were a good experience anyway. I have myself only worked once on a platformer with original levels, I want to make another one some day but I always struggle with even the most simple tilemap systems (they are generally great for top-view, but with side-view, auto-tile has so much troubles understanding slopes…). I may end up using HD with Rayman-style terrain splines instead of precise pixel art, but I have yet to test such plugins.
This game is awesome. Great overall feel / atmosphere. Please keep developing it. So much potential, would love to see more. A couple ideas: Add a thrown weapon like a dagger, limited number from monster drop. Could also be used to activate switches in the environment. Ability to turn into a bat for a few seconds to negotiate obstacles in new levels. A rage meter that builds with kills that allows a melee bite attack to restore health.
I like this game and I even tried to speedrun it, but it became a bit irritating experience, because character is not always responding to controls. Edges are a little bit too slippery (but it's not that big problem, it's just a matter of precision). But truly the biggest problem I have when I am trying to speedrun it is dashing, because it's very inconsistent. Even when I am pressing a key the shortest amount of time, character's still dashing at the short or long length randomly. It's breaking the rhythm while fighting bosses and it's messing jumps. But as I said, for casual gameplay, it's a good game.
Really cool, but you can easily abuse the boss ai - just get close to them so they always use their melee attack, dash behind them and hit them once, rinse and repeat :D Works against executioner, wizard and royal guard.
I really liked that you got to change the controls and really loved the atmosphere and music. Overall the game is fun. Quite difficult, though! AT least for me.
Hey there! I love the atmosphere you created, very inspiring! I have about 8 years of music production experience and I would love to produce your music/create the foley sound needed to push your atmosphere to the next level. If you are ever working on a new project I would love to amplify your mix!
I really like the art and music, overall the game looks really polished and it's crazy that you were the only dev working on this. One small thing about the bosses is that for all of them there was the same gimmick to kill them (which doesn't mean there were easy to kill, last one took me a while to beat haha). Great game!
I only have 2 things to talk about one is you dont really have to kill any of the enemies youve heard that alot so im gonna talk about the second slight problem and thats boss uniqeness all of them can be beaten the same way execpt the wizard you have to move him a little you can just bait there attacks then strike i feel like the king and the exe are just the same boss execpt the king attacks slightly faster like it would be cool if the king had another attack or if the exe did besides that i really like the game and a cool idea on how the dash can sometimes be overwhelming and you cant just spam dash through a level like most games with that sort of mechanic
Thanks for playing it and making a video of it. Yeah, and I definitely need to come up for a motivation to clear the levels. Any idea on that would be appreciated. :)
Hii, I've made a video about the game and wanted to share some feedback about it, hopefully it is useful to you ^^
-The idea of the game is quite cool and give me some good darksouls vibes on the bossfights.
-The gameplay mechanics are good and fun, but the need some polish as you end up finding out that not fighting enemies is a good tactic and as the combat needs to be more dynamic.
-Visually the game looks pretty great, but I've seen some strange texture artifacting sometimes while playing.
Hopefully this is useful to you :D, also if you could subscribe that would help me a lot :)
Thank you very much for this detailed review. And I definitely have to set some incentives, so that it's more rewarding to kill the enemies. Still have to come up with a good idea. :D Regarding the texture flickering I think I forgot to set an option. It will be fixed in the post-jam version. :)
I liked it, very good use of the mechanics, the third boss has taken me a long time haha I recommend taking him to a wall to hit better, one thing that I feel he lacks is the importance of killing enemies, since there is no bonuses for this, you find yourself in situations where you just dodge them and go fast to the end, outside of that I liked the soundtrack and the art, very funny!
Thanks for your comment! About the dodging of enemies... well, you have to really feeeel the bad guy energy here to kill them just because! Haha, joking, you're right, I'm going to update that! Thanks again.
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I’m developing a similar game so it was very interesting to see how to build levels around a few basic moves!
Overall it’s nicely done, the mood is clear, platforms well contrasted with background (one of the things I was studying for my game).
I had issues with my enemies spamming attacks and the soldiers with their heavy lagging attack really do the job here. Unfortunately most enemies use the same pattern with slight time variations (Level 2 boss has more lag before hit, which means you can chain two hits before dashing, making it easier to beat than Level 1 boss - and above all, we expect a wizard to use spells not just melee - but I get the point of reusing the same code for enemy behaviour esp. for a jam).
The hardest for me was platforming though. There is a forced momentum at the end of an air dash which made me fall from many platforms. When I landed just on the edge, physics made me slip and fall anyway (better use snappy physics for this kind of game).
So I restarted the levels over and over, and since killing enemies doesn’t bring a bonus I just dashed through them, making it a pure platformer. In the end, I couldn’t get past Level 3. I could probably by trying again and again, but I’d rather spend more time on combat. cpwebmarketing’s last suggestions would probably make the combat more rewarding and platforming easier.
You could also never require the player to chain jumps on many platforms high in the air: if they fall, they just reach the “lower path” (as in Sonic) which is filled with more enemies, so a skilled warrior can always finish the level, while someone good at platforming could avoid a few enemies and speedrun.
Even if you don’t update the jam game further, I learned a lot from it already! I wish you good luck on your future projects!
Wow, thank you for the detailed review and I'm glad to hear that it was useful for you to study some mechanics - even if you learned how not to do stuff. ;) At this time jump'n'run was not my on my strong side. And I would argue it's still not, but I learned also a lot from this game.
I think I will not work further on that game, although I had a POC where I introduces moving platforms and a small shopping system. But never polished it, so I guess it stays like it is.
If you need a playtester for your upcoming game, feel free to contact me. Would love to test your game. :)
Glad to hear that! No worries about not updating, I also have many jam games more than 1 year old that stay here but were a good experience anyway. I have myself only worked once on a platformer with original levels, I want to make another one some day but I always struggle with even the most simple tilemap systems (they are generally great for top-view, but with side-view, auto-tile has so much troubles understanding slopes…). I may end up using HD with Rayman-style terrain splines instead of precise pixel art, but I have yet to test such plugins.
Sure, I’ll notify you when I get a playable demo!
this is a short but amazing game
Thanks for commenting. I'm glad you like it! :)
This game is awesome. Great overall feel / atmosphere. Please keep developing it. So much potential, would love to see more. A couple ideas: Add a thrown weapon like a dagger, limited number from monster drop. Could also be used to activate switches in the environment. Ability to turn into a bat for a few seconds to negotiate obstacles in new levels. A rage meter that builds with kills that allows a melee bite attack to restore health.
Good idea, nice job man
Fun Game, Combos attacks, more enemies, more levels, more bosses and you have a comercial game in here, hope to see more from you in the future
I just say that the mage is harder than the righ hand. Really like it, the dash don't always work, but hey is funny anyway.
Here my channel if you want to take a look, not gonna lie, all my videos are in spanish.Thanks for playing. I didn't understand a word. So I hope you enjoyed the game. :D
JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA, don't worry i really like it.
I like this game and I even tried to speedrun it, but it became a bit irritating experience, because character is not always responding to controls. Edges are a little bit too slippery (but it's not that big problem, it's just a matter of precision). But truly the biggest problem I have when I am trying to speedrun it is dashing, because it's very inconsistent. Even when I am pressing a key the shortest amount of time, character's still dashing at the short or long length randomly. It's breaking the rhythm while fighting bosses and it's messing jumps. But as I said, for casual gameplay, it's a good game.
its bitmgothic.ttf? Coool :3
Pretty cool my man
Really cool, but you can easily abuse the boss ai - just get close to them so they always use their melee attack, dash behind them and hit them once, rinse and repeat :D
Works against executioner, wizard and royal guard.
thanks for playing. The endbosses should do random special attacks sometimes. Yeah, but even then it's not too hard to beat them. ;)
i think getting hit shouldn't instantly stop all movement, its so easy to fall into 2 hit combos or lose all rhythm to one hit
epic!
Music was so great!
I really liked that you got to change the controls and really loved the atmosphere and music. Overall the game is fun. Quite difficult, though! AT least for me.
damn fuck the wizard boss it sucks mega ass
Thanks for making this video, really enjoyed watching it! :'D
no problem man anytime brother :)
The last boss was pretty amusing, "ha, ha, ha".
High quality voice acting by me. :P
Thanks for playing and recording it. Enjoyed watching it. You figured out really quick how to beat the bosses. :D
Hey there! I love the atmosphere you created, very inspiring! I have about 8 years of music production experience and I would love to produce your music/create the foley sound needed to push your atmosphere to the next level. If you are ever working on a new project I would love to amplify your mix!
Very funny. It seemed strange to me that killing enemies has no reward. Makes it a speedrun to the door. Anyway very good
ye and his attacks are unpredictable too
PLZ nerf second boss, cuz he just spam fire
[spoiler]Try to stay on the upper platforms. The boss will try to cast the fire at the top. That's the best moment to hit him.[/spoiler]
lol,thanks it really worked.
Nice game
Really cool game! The controls could be a bit more responsive, but overall I like the idea, sounds and art!
Nice game,I love it, plus is it me or does dracula look like moistcritikal?
I did not know moistcritikal at all, and had to look him up. But yeah, seems to be accurate. ;P
The real inspiration was the Level Zero form of Alucard in Hellsing.
I really like the art and music, overall the game looks really polished and it's crazy that you were the only dev working on this. One small thing about the bosses is that for all of them there was the same gimmick to kill them (which doesn't mean there were easy to kill, last one took me a while to beat haha). Great game!
I only have 2 things to talk about one is you dont really have to kill any of the enemies youve heard that alot so im gonna talk about the second slight problem and thats boss uniqeness all of them can be beaten the same way execpt the wizard you have to move him a little you can just bait there attacks then strike i feel like the king and the exe are just the same boss execpt the king attacks slightly faster like it would be cool if the king had another attack or if the exe did besides that i really like the game and a cool idea on how the dash can sometimes be overwhelming and you cant just spam dash through a level like most games with that sort of mechanic
Great game but I found no reason to face the enemies.
Thanks for playing it and making a video of it. Yeah, and I definitely need to come up for a motivation to clear the levels. Any idea on that would be appreciated. :)
You have a timer (AKA a hunger meter). Damaging enemies recovers it a little. Killing enemies recovers it a lot.
it'd be cool if when you killed someone it gave health back cause yk vampire
That's a good idea. This will maybe also increase the motivation to clear the level.
good idea.
Hii, I've made a video about the game and wanted to share some feedback about it, hopefully it is useful to you ^^
-The idea of the game is quite cool and give me some good darksouls vibes on the bossfights.-The gameplay mechanics are good and fun, but the need some polish as you end up finding out that not fighting enemies is a good tactic and as the combat needs to be more dynamic.
-Visually the game looks pretty great, but I've seen some strange texture artifacting sometimes while playing.
Hopefully this is useful to you :D, also if you could subscribe that would help me a lot :)
Regards
Thank you very much for this detailed review. And I definitely have to set some incentives, so that it's more rewarding to kill the enemies. Still have to come up with a good idea. :D Regarding the texture flickering I think I forgot to set an option. It will be fixed in the post-jam version. :)
Nice, good to hear ^^, you are welcome :D
Thanks for your comment! About the dodging of enemies... well, you have to really feeeel the bad guy energy here to kill them just because! Haha, joking, you're right, I'm going to update that! Thanks again.
i made a game review on the game its my first time doing it considering the game is awesome :D
Thank you very much for making this video and this detailed review.
I was amazed that you have found the optimal strategy for the guardian. There is also a strategy that makes the wizard way easier. ;)
And I hope you did not skip the last gimmick after the credits.
i see there is a secret after the credits i thought it was just a credit since i hit space then i return to the menu i will check this out now
thank you very much the game was awesome
It took me about 35 minutes to bit all the levels and bosses. Good job on graphics Grau. Music was pretty fun
really cool, need a lil bit of polishing but I loved everything
Excelent concept and execution. This game is amazing!