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ryusui

Feedback comments for LD50

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		ryusui's comment
Apr 7 02:35:30		The Demon Trainer	♥ 1	I don't know for sure but I think the game might be bugged? It gave me the Star Jump routine three times in a row and despite giving me feedback for my button presses I don't think any of my exercises actually got counted towards preventing my aging. Or maybe I misunderstood the mechanics? At any rate, I love the gameplay concept. The rhythm mechanics actually work quite well, even if I didn't really get to experience any of them other than the Star Jump past the tutorial. (For the record, I didn't turn on Easy mode. ;)) I feel like this would mesh really well with gamepad controls.
Apr 7 02:44:33	9m 03s	Arboressence	♥ 2	I feel like maybe leaving the dialogue in French was a mistake? Speaking as an Anglophone, it left me a bit confused; I didn't really get anything out of it. Maybe French vocal quips with English subtitles would've worked better? This said, the graphics are GORGEOUS. I just wish the gameplay didn't feel so clumsy - it feels less like I'm being asked to "delay the inevitable" and more like I'm stuck flailing against an overwhelming enemy with an arsenal that fires too slowly to be really effective. The flamethrower is SATISFYING, though, even if it's tricky to get it to actually hit what you want. INCINERATION TIME!
Apr 7 03:00:43	16m 10s	Civil Servant	♥ 3	Inspired by Papers, Please, huh? -satisfied printer noises- I really quite enjoyed this, even if towards the end it was evident all I really had to do was reject everything that came my way. I mean...assuming 1. the part about "only accept forms from these cults" applied to all subsequent days and 2. "Preystianity" (as opposed to "Praystianity") was this game's version of "Cobrastan." (If not, sorry to all those cultists I wrongfully rejected!) The final ending pic was cute, too. Dying's not so bad if I get to look at that. XD If I have ONE issue it's that the "click to drag item, right-click to use it" mechanic felt a little clumsy. I think I would've preferred it if you simply clicked and dragged to use the tool, and the tool returned to its original position afterward.
Apr 7 05:26:18	2h 25m	The Runs	♥ 2	The most delightful time I've ever had trying not to crap my pants. XD I love how the music picks up tempo as you accelerate - in fact, the whole acceleration mechanic (rewarding careful steering!) gets some high marks from me. That said, I feel like the collision detection is a little unforgiving - I think it would've been more fun if I didn't have to be so precise sliding through doors at high speed. I also love the puzzle/exploration elements - finding the key, wrench, and plunger, fixing the pipes, and all five pieces of toilet paper (even if four out of five of them are right next to each other in the corner of the map XD). I'm not sure whether to appreciate or be disappointed in the fact that the items are all in fixed positions, though - once you know everything is, the challenge is mainly a function of "how fast can you do it," though that means speedrunners are sure to have fun with it! XD
Apr 10 19:06:30	85h 40m	Mythical Mediator	♥ 4	This was freaking incredible. I can't remember the last time I played an FMV game - it reminded me a bit of my time playing the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective games on Sega CD (though with MUCH better resolution and sound quality - you'd have needed three whole discs to fit this game in its entirety!) The performances and interactions got a laugh out of me; I especially liked the idea of the God of Nature as a friggin' luchador. The gameplay itself is perhaps a little thin, but that's vastly outweighed by the amount of work put into the FMV element. I can't believe this was made in just three days!
Apr 10 21:46:48	2h 40m	Oedipus Rex	♥ 1	I'm really glad I noticed the hints that the different paths I was taking were leading up to something instead of simply being caught in a loop - I'd have regretted missing that ending. XD Glad to see people still using Love2D, on that note - I switched to Godot for my game jam development a while back, but Love2D still has a special place in my heart, and it's nice seeing it used for unexpected things like a text adventure!
Apr 10 22:11:28	24m 40s	The Subtle Hourglass	♥ 1	WHOOF, that was BRUTAL. Pretty soon I was spending more time trying to avoid getting killed by my own time clones than making actual progress. The combat feels a bit sluggish, and I don't like how the game makes you sit through the "rewind" animation - a game like this should keep the respawns short and sweet. Other than that, I like the overall concept. There's some nice pixelwork going on here, and it's clear that you've packed a lot of stuff into the house, though I think smaller sprites/bigger rooms would help make things feel less claustrophobic (and make it less likely you'll die from friendly fire!)
Apr 11 04:06:41	5h 55m	Impending chemical catastrophe	♥ 0	I really like this! It's neat seeing a unique take on a puzzle game. I do think the controls would've been more intuitive if you controlled the dropper rather than the test tubes (as it stands, it feels like the controls are backwards!) I also will admit I had trouble keeping straight which colors result in a neutral compound - thinking that maybe you could have some kind of visual indicator on each drop, showing which colors it consists of (and hence what colors it's missing)? It would definitely be nice to make the game colorblind-friendly!
Apr 13 22:43:00	66h 36m	Flupye Ranch	♥ 2	I love the concept, plus the gameplay element where your fire spells are a double-edged sword - I just wish the spells had clearer effects? They seem far too wispy and not pyrotechnic enough. Selecting spells also feels like it should be mouse-driven; I have to take my fingers off the movement keys in order to switch spells. Could I also suggest having the repair spell simply function as an AOE? Leave damaged fences in play, and have the spell restore them. (In fact, having AOE markers for spells indicated would be another useful gameplay improvement; it'd be easier to use spells if you could see precisely where they'll hit before you cast them!)
Apr 13 23:24:07	41m 07s	TimeCave	♥ 1	This is a beautiful game, but I simply don't have the patience for it. ^_^; Death is punishing and it's effectively random - there's no visual indicator for how far a jump will take you. It took me at least a dozen times just to get up to the second floor of the cave, and when I slipped and fell into the pit and had no recourse but to die and restart, I simply gave up. I really hate to say this: this game really isn't fun at all? Dying on hitting a wall is frustrating, all the more since, again, you can't tell where a jump is going to land you. It's not like Dark Souls, where you have enough feedback to determine what move to make next and a decent amount of margin for error if you make a mistake; this game demands trial-and-error experimentation but also brutally punishes any mistake you make. (Imagine if Dark Souls sent you back to the last bonfire if you ever took damage for any reason!) Add a visual indicator for jumping and remove death on collision, and you might have a lovely, chill exploration game here; as it stands, the theme you've nailed here is less "delay the inevitable" and more "death is inevitable."
Apr 13 23:34:38	10m 31s	Beavers Inc.	♥ 1	Big fan of this one! Absolutely nails the retro vibe. The gameplay is also really solid - dam placement is critical, as is maintaining your resources (in terms of both lumber and workers). I'd love to see more levels! My only issue is you asked not to be rated in audio; I would absolutely give this game good marks in that! XD
Apr 13 23:48:06	13m 28s	Under Performer	♥ 1	I love the graphics style, but gameplay-wise I think this could use some more time in the oven? Normally I'm happy for a tutorial/instructions in these, but the game keeps shoving directions I've already read in my face and they get in the way of actually doing the minigames. Also, the paper jam minigame requires WAY too much button-mashing - I managed to get the bar all the way full, but it still wasn't enough? One more technical thing: I had some REALLY ugly screen-tearing. I don't know if it's a universal issue, but it was really distracting. I don't know if fixing it is a simple matter of enabling Vsync, but please consider it.
Apr 14 00:02:59	14m 53s	Evacuation of Zorkid	♥ 1	Interesting concept; very barebones presentation. Some basic sounds or better visual feedback would've gone a long way.
Apr 14 00:09:55	6m 56s	Biscuit Brawl	♥ 1	DELIGHTFUL. Giving me some intense FFXIV flashbacks with the target indicators followed by attacks. The lack of audio is a huge minus, but the graphics are good. There's one thing I really don't appreciate and it's the fact that the game not only forces fullscreen but changes my screen resolution. Please consider making the game run in 16:9 without tampering with my screen settings. Even Windowed mode would be much appreciated.
Apr 14 00:20:00	10m 05s	Grounded!	♥ 1	The concept and execution were really solid here! At first I wasn't sure about the abstract nature of the problem-solving or the guests, but I definitely warmed up to it. (A thought, though - maybe make the visual elements mesh better with the background, or vice versa? The BG is lovely but I do think this game could absolutely work with a more minimalistic geometric look.) If I had one problem, it's that it becomes impossible to solve any problems that spawn in the left side of the bedroom - there's no way that I could tell to push by the two guests to get over there. Not a huge deal, since I didn't have such problems anywhere else, but it did bother me a bit that no matter what I did there'd be a couple problems I could never reach. ^_^;
Apr 14 00:35:23	15m 23s	Scuttling Is Painless	♥ 0	This is the second game I've played this Ludum Dare where you play as a robot with an unforgiving charge jump mechanic. To be fair, this one was a LOT more forgiving (that one punished you with death on any stray collision whatsoever), but I think I've officially had my fill of charge jump mechanics. I couldn't finish; I couldn't figure out any timing that would let me scale the collapsing platforms in hydroponics. Either I jumped early and couldn't make enough height, or I jumped too late and the platform fell anyway. And as noted by others, capsule collision on a platforming character is an abomination. It shouldn't be possible to land with both feet visibly firm on the edge of an object only to slide off anyway (or get stuck at a weird diagonal).
Apr 14 01:21:17	45m 54s	The Final Clue	♥ 1	I haven't played a Twine game this stylish in years. I will say, however, that I'm not sure text-based presentation and real-time mechanics are a good fit? I like to take my time reading and I don't like how the clock is always ticking; it makes it hard to enjoy the writing. ^_^; Speaking of - a text-heavy game like this definitely could've benefited from an editing pass. I'm going to guess the writer was either not a native English speaker or was very, very pressed for time; the grammar errors and odd word choices didn't detract much from the experience, but they did stand out.
Apr 14 01:31:12	9m 55s	M.A.D.D.	♥ 1	This is a game that gets better the more hectic it gets. Turtling was a viable strategy but that didn't entirely offset the tension of how my walls were getting chewed through quickly by the hail of bullets by the end. My only gripe is that the orientation of the walls is based on the player's facing, and the player's facing is based on their movement. It's not a TREMENDOUS issue, given that the walls can be pushed around easily, but it's hard to be precise placing them to begin with.
Apr 14 01:55:19	24m 07s	Explon't	♥ 1	Graphically, this is incredible. Controls are just a little on the clunky side, as is the "lollipop get" animation, but everything looks so GOOD it's hard to take marks off. My favorite thing is that you don't even have to land on enemies to kill them - stomping the ground nearby is enough to send them flying.