FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD46 → In the Valley of Souls Deluxe Edition

In the Valley of Souls Deluxe Edition

By syrapt0r

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall84.2847
Fun254.2047
Innovation1723.7747
Theme7403.4247
Graphics2053.9048
Audio304.0945
Humor204.1544
Mood404.1446

Comments

wooowooo 2020-04-20 18:16

I am no longer keeping you alive ;)

mantaraytv-games 2020-04-20 18:17

I love the controls, the naration and the art. Quality product, if I didn't see it here I wouldn't be able to guess it was a jam game to be honest.

curleysam 2020-04-20 18:19

Excellent! I literally went :O at one point haha! Consider my expectations subverted! Very well done my man x

solitudedude 2020-04-20 18:20

Great game! The 2nd half of the game gets really challenging but it was very welcomed. The story throughout was really creative. Greatly enjoyed it! Love when games break the fourth wall the way you did.

khopa 2020-04-20 18:25

I loved the humor of the game. It has great graphics, and a catchy music.

But... I got trapped :dizzy_face: !

Great job !

kirbloid 2020-04-20 18:25

Great use of the setup and developer commentary to add to the overall experience!

dnp 2020-04-20 18:26

Well that was fun. Reminded me a bit of the Stanley Parable just with more gameplay. The platforming was responsive and the story was good. No complaints here.

dodormeur 2020-04-20 18:27

Wow, that was an incredible game ! At first I was not sure if that was based or not on another game because of the polish that is rare to see in a compo game ^^ The story is really cool (even if the end was a bit lackluster in my opinion), it got some doki doki or undertale vibes ^^ Really cool game, and even more impressive as a compo game :)

fedora 2020-04-20 18:30

Really liked the narration and story. Good platforming. A bit annoying that you have to start from the beginning in the second part if you activate the narrator, specially since there is that "hard" jump on the bottom of the screen.

astrolabe 2020-04-20 18:30

Some jumps can be really hard, I'm not really a "platformer player" but I must admit it is well executed, good work!

2020-04-20 18:35

Great and funny game. Although I got stuck on literally EVERY jumporb. Guess I'm not that good at jump'n'runs... Anyways, your game realy made me laugh.

2020-04-20 18:40

Amazing game. I can't believe you did that so fast. My only grievances are with the controls and the end bit. I'm not really a fan of the split style controls and I'm not sure why you couldn't just let any control layout work. It just took a little while to get used to. I think that the dialogue hitboxes should be made smaller/more accurate just in the last section. It's fine in the 1st half since you're supposed to hit them, even by accident but in the last level, especially the ceiling jump ones, it was annoying not seeing the character touch the dialogue box and still getting sent back to the beginning.

lone-wolf 2020-04-20 18:40

Great work, I had a blast. Clever way of increasing the difficulty too. Are there multiple endings past the error room?

courtmac 2020-04-20 18:42

Wow! This is an excellent product for a game jam, excellent re-use of assets, definitely deserves more attention.

wzqxrys 2020-04-20 18:47

Yoooo, this was really fun, i loved the voicing and how that tied into the "janky" gameplay, really awesome man. 5 :star2:

2020-04-20 18:49

Very cool. Needs more foghorn.

urdika 2020-04-20 21:11

This is reaaaaally fun, good job m8!

ck656 2020-04-20 21:36

Really great game! Love the narrative aspect of the it for sure! Really well done.

tednesday 2020-04-20 21:48

Creative but the jump was a little sticky at times I felt?

syrapt0r 2020-04-20 22:20

Well this is a really positive response so far, thank you! Glad you enjoyed the game! To adress some of the complaints...

@dodormeur the ending is a bit weak because I simply ran out of time. I had more content planned but suddenly it was 30 minutes to the deadline and I had to end the game somehow :D

@fedora the original design would just set you back to the last checkpoint but it felt too weak since the spikes / sawblades already do that. I wanted the narrator to feel more threatening and this was the easiest way to achieve that.

again, thanks for playing everyone :D

listonos 2020-04-21 01:01

Love the dev commentaries, got serious stanley parable vibes. Probably might favorite game so far. Not bad looking, great mood, even music and sfx were great.

thibaud-ligneul 2020-04-21 09:02

I'm sad, audio didn't work for me :cry: And the game froze after like 8 sections :sob: It looked promising tho !

Edit: revisiting this comment after fixing my computer's audio problem. Well I missed the entire point of the game. Excellent idea, brilliant execution, a must play! Congrats!

flyingkiwi 2020-04-21 09:18

Wow thats a cool idea doing voice over instructions, why that feels so innovative I'm not sure but it does. Loved the little annimation, didn't seem to click about the jump orbs... Nice entry!

rufson 2020-04-21 23:16

greetings from babys from inside of python's stomach XD sorry for ruining your mental health XD Great game you have here! good job! thanks for the stream on twitch <3

2020-04-22 15:49

Very interesting game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 46 compilation video series, if you want to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/BkQLNdwwwdM

gal-afik 2020-04-22 16:03

That was fantastic! I can't find anything wrong to comment on. You created a seriously entertaining piece of art. Also, thanks for playing my game the other day!

risist 2020-04-22 16:34

Ahh i loved the meta game. It remainds me stanley parable. I'm soo sad that it ends (or actually not ends ) that fast though... Please make a full game out of this !

mao 2020-04-23 00:10

I love this concept so much. I saw it in Jupi's compilation up there, and knew I had to check out the rest of the game. The end is a bit hasty, but aside from that I can't really find much to complain about.

blubberquark 2020-04-25 13:33

The platforming was the weakest link, and the web version almost melted my laptop. There's a small bug where your player rectangle doesn't quite land on the ground but hovers one or two pixels above it, but I couldn't unsee it. All I can say is "bruh".

gustavo-christino 2020-05-11 16:39

Oh, no. Logo agora que eu estava me soltando no jogo, com a trilha sonora e tudo mais. Desapareceu o "pulador". T.T

Oh, no. Right now that I was loosening up in the game, with the soundtrack and everything. The "skipper" disappeared. T.T

End.png

gustavo-christino 2020-05-11 16:48

Análise...

1 - Mecânicas, Aprendizado e Fluxo: O jogo é um plataforma muito divertido. Aprender a jogar foi extremamente bem explicado por tutorial via áudio. O fluxo de jogo pareceu bastante balanceado também, além de jogar de novo ao começo após o tutorial, para experimentar tudo como um jogador iniciado.

2 - Gráficos, Áudio e Narrativa: Gostei muito dos gráficos de fundo. A escolha pelo personagem do jogador (PdJ) ser um quadrado eu não entendi bem (não me desagradou de qualquer forma). O áudio ficou claro e agradável. A narrativa não ficou clara, não sei se era o foco do projeto.

3 - Cultura: Parece ser uma releitura de um jogo anterior (não sei se próprio ou de outra pessoa). De qualquer forma o projeto pareceu muito bem acertado em vários pontos. O estilo de jogo que narra sobre o próprio jogo (um tipo de metalinguagem) me agrada bastante; por ser muito divertido e bem-humorado.

4 - Monetização: Creio que eu precisaria ter acesso a mais conteúdo para saber mais. Entretanto o projeto já parece bastante vendável, creio que uma narrativa seria bem vinda em algum ponto, com desenvolvimento de personagem. Só consigo imaginar o potencial para o projeto, creio que polido e estendido poderia vender em boas stores.

gustavo-christino 2020-05-11 16:49

Analysis...

1 - Mechanics, Learning and Flow: The game is a very fun platform. Learning to play was extremely well explained by an audio tutorial. The game flow seemed quite balanced as well, in addition to playing again at the beginning after the tutorial, to experience everything as an initiated player.

2 - Graphics, Audio and Narrative: I really liked the background graphics. The choice for the player's character (PC) to be a square I didn't understand well (I didn't like it in any way). The audio was clear and pleasant. The narrative was not clear, I don't know if it was the focus of the project.

3 - Culture: It seems to be a reinterpretation of a previous game (I don't know if it is itself or someone else's). In any case, the project seemed very successful in several points. The style of game that narrates about the game itself (a type of metalanguage) pleases me a lot; for being very fun and humorous.

4 - Monetization: I think I would need to have access to more content to learn more. However the project already seems quite salable, I believe that a narrative would be welcome at some point, with character development. I can only imagine the potential for the project, I believe that polished and extended could sell in good stores.

fabula-rasa 2020-05-11 21:12

Let me say, this was brilliant. I loved the twist, the evil mastermind feel. I was waiting for "What are you doing, Dave" :laughing:

Graphics is quite basic but everything else is simply brilliant. That story behind it all, the commentary - that's what really made the game for me. Thank you for this experience!

I left... before it was too late.

gameovermexico 2020-05-11 21:26

is it finish??? great.jpg

syrapt0r 2020-05-11 23:32

@gameovermexico guess the only way to find out is to disobey and come back...

andidebob 2020-05-12 13:14

A really impressive little game! The story is really cool and cleverly implemented. The platforming feels really solid too. Very well done!

lone-wolf 2020-05-13 00:38

Nice work! :tada:

2020-05-21 10:03

I loved it !

The humour, breaking the 4th wall, the audio comment that actually **reacts** on what the player do... Good job ! I'd love to play an extended version :)

It reminded me a bit of [You Have To Burn The Rope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Have_to_Burn_the_Rope) or [Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Langeskov,_The_Tiger,_and_The_Terribly_Cursed_Emerald:_A_Whirlwind_Heist)