FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD48 → The Rite of Shadows

The Rite of Shadows

By jaco-van-hemert

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall14863.1725
Fun15302.8925
Innovation9773.1525
Theme7323.7825
Graphics14923.0425
Audio6803.4724
Mood10123.4325

Comments

zimny11 2021-04-26 20:57

Fun game and really good music! I was able to finish it, I think :)

galina 2021-04-26 21:15

i was sending out the map twice:) other things is normal.

afuturev 2021-04-26 21:46

Very good character designs and atmosphere. The "other world"'s mood was perfectly contrasted with the overworld and the controls work nicely. I think the tiles could have been better and focus should be recovered a bit more.

andidebob 2021-04-27 06:47

A really cute little game, while I didn't like that you could get stuck in corners and just die, maybe it would be better if you just took damage but would not get pushed around? And then just add a little bit of invulnerability time. Either way I love the fact that you took the time to build actual story sections and the characters look really neat. The texts in the memories were really well written and added a lot to the vibe. And lastly the boss fights were really cool, with the different patterns and all. Very well done!

srrinio 2021-04-27 14:54

Well, most arts looks good, but you have done some systems like a chat that was not really needed for a short game jam, you could spend more time on gameplay mechanics than a history for example.

pilcrow 2021-04-27 14:58

It was fun, kinda hard to understand at first though

octopussy 2021-04-28 19:17

Could really use some simple mechanic how to replenish focus

erik-brendel 2021-04-28 19:48

Really nice idea for that topic - going deeper into your own mind. Awesome story elements :)

The gameplay was a bit too hard for me, though. I gave up after dying 5 times at the boss (the first boss?) I just lost too much focus too quick, and I don't know how close to beating the boss I was. Maybe some kind of health bar would have been nice to motivate the player.

I think, having a shoot attack rather than a melee/slash would have been nice. When fighting the boss, orienting myself, attacking and dodging his moves all at once felt a little overwhelming. Shooting him from a distance would have been easier :)

obrunomarques 2021-04-29 03:41

Nice idea, cool game and great OST

kel 2021-04-29 15:13

Game is very nice! I can tell you worked hard and it payed off! Interacting with the memories to regain focus is a good idea

antti-haavikko 2021-04-29 15:54

Nice take on the theme! Couldn't really get that into the story, I kinda felt it was spoon feeding too much too fast and getting in the way of the gameplay.

Wasn't the biggest of fans of the visuals. The colors were too muddy and murky for my liking. That help HUD was a bit too prominently placed. And everything really lacked on feedback. Enemies had to too big hitboxes which was most noticeable when slightly above them and the worse the bigger enemies were. The hitboxes could easily be shrinked down to cover like just a half of the actual sprite and it would then maybe start to feel fair. And on that same note, the sword hit hitbox could be increased and be moved with the player sprite. Just the same if a character in a run n' gun game could outrun the bullets.

The enemies were also all placed such that they got stuck on corners. And even if not that, those white barriers acted as a bit too much of a rubber band for em.

Screenshot 2021-04-29 at 18.14.51.png

And when the enemies hit you, the only feedback was that instant almost bug seeming huge knockback. At least when hitting enemies they had the red flash but it was very unclear if they were invulnerable during that or not. And the fact that your sword swings hurt you too made this missing piece of information even worse. I did try experimenting on the shooter boss on final fight with this and I'm thinking that they do not take damage when red. With that tactic of circling it when it did the multiple shots and going for a huge punish window afterwards would have actually been a good tactic but alas, it didn't work and fight was ground to a half cause you could only get two hits in per loop. Trying to hit it between the single shots was just too risky due to it somehow hitting you (even though visibly way too far) or you missing the swing because of its unpredictable quick movements.

The second level also revealed me the fact that the main mechanic doesn't really work at all. There was a pretty small window for error that you could do before your try was doomed. But of course the game didn't even note the fact that it would be impossible to beat the level even if you played the rest perfectly. I think on the final go when I actually beat the final boss(es), I only took like three hits the entire level and maybe did like few missed swings and was so close to dead that maybe just swinging the sword would have killed me.

The trance level mechanic was also quite pointless. Well useful for those slowdowns and dodging em. But if you just do more damage and take more damage, it seems like a stalemate. And it also draining the life constantly tipped it to the useless side. Or maybe I didn't understand it correctly and the damage boost you'd get would really outshine the bad sides.

The different level switching was interesting though, should have dug deeper on that one. But the sword swings draining life/energy was just not a good idea.

Anyways, good job! :thumbsup:

mrpouletbzh 2021-04-30 07:46

I love the focus gauge, it really brings interesting mechanics. To me the weak point of the game are the hitboxes of the obstacles/foes which were very frustrating as they seemed gigantic, associate with the absence of invulnerability timing it was sometimes really annoying. Also I've been softlock once, being stuck between two walls block and an enemy, which wasn't dealing me any damage and the only solution I had was to use the attack button untill my death :/

Nonetheless, I'm amazed by all you managed to achieve by yourself in just three days, and the result stays really nice overall with a lot of good ideas, so good job and keep up the good work! :)

mighty-mufflon-games 2021-04-30 10:43

Really tense atmosphere. Graphics, sounds and gameplay are great. The focus mechanic is cool.

I found a bug. When the bouncing shadows hit me, if I stand right beside the wall, I get behind it and can walk around there.shadows.jpg

olddog 2021-05-03 07:26

nice job :smirk:

agrdev 2021-05-04 23:04

Loved the trance depth mechanic :thumbsup:

evn 2021-05-05 00:36

Nice game!! It's a bit hard so I'm glad there are save points at every level. I wish there was some way to replenish more focus.