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Feedback comments for LD55
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| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | JustMars's comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25 18:00:52 | Bring on the Blocks | ♥ 1 | Surprisingly good puzzles, would have loved for there to be more of them. Nice solo entry! | |
| Apr 25 18:41:15 | 40m 23s | Ballad of Lead Shroud | ♥ 2 | A solid premise, but a bit lacking in the execution. The story was interesting, but felt somewhat rushed. Gameplay wise there could have been more to do, perhaps some puzzle elements or more exploration. Some of the graphics looked quite nice, for example the paw, most of the props and the character models, but the environment itself looked a bit bland. Visuals effects like the rattling doors were a nice touch tho. The soundscape was suitably moody and contributed nicely to the overall atmosphere. I think that the story telling could have benefitted immensely from voice acted dialog with subtitles, instead of the text prompts that interrupt the gameplay. But considering that the game was a solo entry, I feel like it turned out quite well. Good job overall. |
| Apr 25 19:26:45 | 45m 30s | The Demon Cube | ♥ 1 | Had never played an auto battler before, but based on this one I can see how they could be quite satisfying or even addictive xD. Not sure about the balance or how much you can actually strategize, but somehow the act of choosing the lowest number from contract list, watching your block/cube wreck others ones and pressing buttons to upgrade stats was somehow quite enjoyable. On paper the concept seems boring, but in practice it somehow wasn't. I would have continued playing if the game would not have frozen in the transition screen, but maybe that's for the best cause otherwise I might have kept on playing for god knows how long... xd Having more info about contracts such as enemy descriptions etc. could have made the game make more sense so one could strategize more. There was a mention of some skill feature in the game that sadly didn't make the cut. Extra stuff like some sort of skills could have spiced up the game, but I feel that the core fundamentals are quite solid as they are. Somehow the block aesthetics didn't bother me at all. It was fun to see the number of enemy blocks go up. Transition animations looked quite smooth, but the UI (especially buttons) were a bit dull. Having sounds could also have juiced up the game significantly. All in all a surprisingly enjoyable entry, good job! |
| Apr 25 19:58:19 | 31m 34s | Spell the Spell | ♥ 1 | Interesting idea layered on top of a cool puzzle game. While I can see how typing the random names of actions could get a bit frustrating in the long run, it was tolerable for the short length of the game. The puzzle gameplay was nothing groundbreaking, but it was enjoyable enough and its mechanics were implemented well. The pixel art looked nice, but the font used looked out of place. The ball sprite could have rotated or used some sort of animation when rolling on the ground as it looked a bit unnatural sliding on the floor. Solid work with music and sounds. Great entry overall, keep it up! |
| Apr 27 12:57:08 | 40h 58m | 9 Hours Till Chaos Comes | ♥ 0 | Despite the pain of having to read a wall of text to get the hang of it, once you go through the effort to learn how it all works there is a a great game underneath it all. I would even go as far as to say that gameplay-wise this was one of the best entries I have played during the numerous times I have participated in Ludum Dare. Great work on the game design front, although sadly the lack of tutorial makes it all go to waste for many players, as most of them they will likely give up due to not knowing what the different numbers and icons mean and how the different mechanics work. The game would be fantastic if the instructions on the itch page were explained to the player in a non-intrusive way within the game itself, as ignoring the lack of tutorials everything else is in a great shape. The graphics were extremely charming, loved the designs of the lil freaks, the icons looked really nice and the 3D-aesthetic suited the rooms really well with the minions scaling smaller depending on their "depth". Elements such as the comments that the creatures spit out and the random naming of bosses were all really nice touches that add to the overall charm and mood of the game. Music was also quite nice, and the sound effects were quite suitable too. LD entries rarely work in both mood and humor categories, but this one succeeds in both of them. A few non-tutorial related issues: - It's a bit confusing that you have to press enter twice to start the game for the first time (and 3 times to retry). It says press enter and after that there is an empty room with no indication to press enter again. - I encountered a bug (in the post-jam/fixed version) that if you lose the boss fight and try again then the boss stays on the screen in the subsequent run(s). - On "narrower" displays with aspect ratios larger than 16:9 (16:10 etc.) the right and left most freaks start to get cut from the view. The camera should keep the gameplay elements in the frame by adjusting the view size based on the display's aspect ratio. All in all a great game with a lot of potential. Had fun playing it after the initial struggles. Excellent work! img.png |
| Apr 27 13:26:39 | 29m 31s | Unsummoning Dark Creatures | ♥ 1 | The sense of scale is refreshing. Love the design and animation work of the giant enemy creature, it reminds me of Scarabs from Halo. However, the other assets (environment, player etc.) look quite bland compared to the enemies. Gameplay-wise the idea is interesting, but the execution feels a bit lacking. In terms of audio, the soundscape fits nicely with the scale and mood the game is striving for. The WebGL version was a bit laggy and the gameplay could have done with more balancing and polish, but overall this entry was quite nice. Good job! |
| Apr 27 13:55:56 | 29m 17s | The In Between | ♥ 1 | Amazing work for a solo entry! Reminded me of the Dinosaur Polo Club games, which is an achievement in itself. Graphics are a bit programmer-artsy, but they do their job. Sounds and music are also pleasant enough. Interesting interpretation of the theme. The instructions at the beginning were a bit obtrusive, and despite their presence the gameplay still felt a bit confusing (although that could be a skill issue on my part). A proper tutorial where the different elements would be taught to the player in a more intuitive manner would have gone a long way, but considering that all of this was made by a single person within 72 h I can see that there probably would not have been time for that. Great entry overall! |
| Apr 27 14:28:57 | 33m 01s | Autobahn to Hell | ♥ 1 | Outstanding graphics! The colors, animation, effects etc. all looked very cohesive and extremely stylistic. The bubble dimension looked especially cool. The music was great, but the lack of sound effects was disappointing. The gameplay felt good, and the theme of summoning was there. I ran into a bug in the final level where the boss enemy got stuck (or something like that) after I drove past it, which caused me to have to restart the game, but it was not a big big deal thanks to the relatively short length of the game. Overall a really solid entry, excellent work! |
| Apr 27 14:46:10 | 17m 13s | The Wheel | ♥ 0 | The wheel was satisfying to move. Innovation 100. |
| May 1 11:11:30 | 92h 25m | Waves of Chess | ♥ 2 | A unique idea with a solid execution! Graphically a bit plain, but the style was consistent. Not sure why the pawns suddenly gained superpowers, but I guess it was to make the game less tedious. Good work! |
| May 1 11:32:37 | 21m 07s | DESTROY THE WIZARD | ♥ 1 | Great job for a solo entry. Gameplay was solid, liked the different weapons and variation in enemy types. Graphics were nothing special, but the animations were suitably juicy. The sound effects that were present did their job, but there could have been more variation. Lack of music during gameplay was also a bit disappointing. Good work overall, keep it up! |
| May 1 11:57:09 | 24m 32s | The Summoning | ♥ 1 | A promising concept with a decent foundation lacking in execution and polish. There are quite a lot of systems going on which is a nice accomplishment for a solo entry. In terms of visuals I feel that the characters could have looked better with smooth shading instead of being flat shaded. UI is quite generic looking, but gets the job done. Lack of audio is unfortunate, as it could have juiced up the game considerably. For a solo entry made in a weekend I think the game turned out quite fine tho. Good job, keep it up! |
| May 1 13:40:34 | 1h 43m | Golem Guardians | ♥ 1 | Really cool game! Switching between characters felt smooth, but with there being three of them, I would have preferred to have them mapped to distinct keys instead of having to do the mental gymnastics of navigating between them with Q and E. The text in the intro appeared way too slowly. Thankfully it was skippable, but the speed was painfully slow for those who want to read it. Dashing could have used some visual and/or auditory indicators as its effect was hard to notice. The mechanic of standing on a colored glyph to power up your attacks against enemies of the same color could also have used some clarification. I initially thought that the colors of enemies indicated which attacks to use on them (red fire, blue projectiles) instead of where to stand. The graphics were a bit mixed, but I liked the overall style you were going for. The lack of sound effects was a bit disappointing, but the music was quite nice. The menus and options were really well done. I liked how you included the debug stuff in the options, was interesting to see them. The performance was perfect even on WebGL. Had some difficulties entering full screen, but thankfully the in-game fullscreen option helped to fix that. An excellent entry overall with a lot of potential to be taken further, great job guys! |
| May 3 19:11:48 | 53h 31m | The Last Oasis | ♥ 0 | The idea of summoning life to a desert is very intriguing, could be a promising concept for a full game. The title screen is really beautiful, the music and the art give a really soothing, peaceful vibe. I can see some inspiration taken from Zelda (the wise tree, the mushrooms and the flowers feel somewhat familiar...), but the oasis theme and the character designs bring a unique touch in the mix. Gameplay-wise the tutorialization could have used some work, but the instructions on the site helped with understanding what to do. Some visual indication on how to summon a tree could have helped, as even with knowing that there was some pedestal where one can use the seeds, it was not clear you had to go to the tree stump. Not sure if there was an end goal, but If there was one then it could have been informed to the player in a clearer way. Growing an oasis is an interesting concept, and this entry shows that it has merit. Good job! |
| May 3 19:31:06 | 19m 18s | Brew Some Unique & Appetizing Potions! | ♥ 1 | Really cool looking and unique graphical style, great audio work and solid gameplay. Animations etc. look suitably juicy and the game feel is excellent. Instructions could have been included within the game itself, but other than that not much to criticize. Extremely impressive results, especially for a compo entry. Outstanding work! |
| May 3 21:15:12 | 1h 44m | Conjurers Catacomb | ♥ 2 | AMAZING compo (!!!) entry! Was really impressed with both the quality and quantity of the puzzles, they were all really creative and fun. Graphics were also really polished. The cloning mechanic could have been explained better and audio would have been nice, but otherwise the game was shockingly great. Keep up the great work!img.png |
| May 3 22:06:20 | 51m 08s | Spectral Fingers | ♥ 0 | Loved the ambiance. The gameplay actually felt what I'd imagine a spirit would experience trying to move the damn thing while some of the kids are trolling each other xD. Very stylistic entry with a well executed concept, great work! |
