FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD50 → Sakura Shrine

Sakura Shrine

By arzi, runicpixels and Danae

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall3933.7569
Fun7613.3168
Innovation4723.5266
Theme8203.5466
Graphics504.5772
Audio324.3170
Humor7182.8855
Mood1004.1969

Comments

woahitsjeff 2022-04-05 01:01

Beautiful game! A bit difficult to grasp because I kept trying to pick up the petals, but it didn't seem to work, unsure if I was doing something wrong. 😅

saryah 2022-04-05 11:27

Lovely game, I tried "carrying" the petals to the towers, but apart from two I couldn't light any others, and I also got stuck as invisible at one point. Apart from the that, a nice little game that I'd like to play more of if there's a bit more instructions on how to use the petals. :)

arzi 2022-04-05 13:20

@woahitsjeff @saryah There were some bugs and we added a couple of more messages giving more instructions, hopefully it's more playable now :)

goat 2022-04-05 13:47

Really cute game! I love the theming and all the individual little prayers are a really nice touch. I think a background track would be nice and maybe a popup when demons are close to the tree? I found it hard to know when I was under attack until it happened :P

very-bad-bunny-studio 2022-04-05 13:50

sakura.png An amazing work of art! I would like to know if the art and music were all made by the team, because everything turned out so visually amazing!

I think the sound effects break the mood a bit, (I believe they were made in sfx), but not much.

The gameplay is also interesting, and it was a different way of thinking about the tower defense genre and the theme.

Congratulations!

arzi 2022-04-05 14:05

@goat Yeah, we should definitely have an indicator when the demons are closing in! Thanks for the feedback!

@very-bad-bunny-studio Art is made by @cheezegami and music by @danae!

runicpixels 2022-04-05 17:27

@very-bad-bunny-studio I made the art myself using Aseprite! Happy to hear you like the art!~

deylinia 2022-04-05 17:47

Wow the graphics and mood-setting was amazing on this!

david-york 2022-04-05 17:49

Beautiful game. I really liked the feel of the world. The area was just the right size and the interaction with the world really resonated with me. I wish more RPGs would have this much care into them!

makio64 2022-04-05 17:56

The music was outstanding and add so much to the mood!

Playing it remember me some old chinese drama I watched long time ago!

The discussion with the demon was really fun!...

..Well I coudnt save the Sakura and felt sad about it but congrats to the team for all the job!

mopifish 2022-04-05 18:00

SOO Good! Great art, mood, feel, and idea :) I loved it My only complaints is that some wishes were hard to distinguish their type, and it was also difficult to keep track of where demons were. Great entry!!

michael-wingfield 2022-04-05 18:02

Very beautiful game. And the music was very well done. I also enjoyed the story. The gameplay needed a bit of work, but overall it was a fun experience. Great job!

pev 2022-04-05 18:02

Very nice graphics and sound. I wasn't able to save the sakura though :(

reispfannenfresser 2022-04-05 19:01

This was such a lovely experience. The art and music was beautiful and the story fit the theme very well.

It took me a while to realise how to play. I missed the demon at the start and walked around aimlessly trying to understand how I'd get petals :smile:

Once I figured it out it was very fun to beat and discover the different endings. The prayers added a lot of personality and variation to the game.

I don't know if this word makes much sense in the context of a game, but this game is well composited. Everything fits the overarching story. Even the tutorial, end screen and restart button.

ginxel 2022-04-05 21:12

I really love the graphics and the music but it took me a while to figure out what to do

iguanana 2022-04-05 22:15

This is great given the time constraint! I love the art, and the concept is really unique. I had some difficulty figuring out where some of the petals were supposed to go, and the character seemed to disappear when I got hit by a demon and respawned. Well done overall, though!

saikai 2022-04-05 22:39

The Art is really top notch quality. Sadly my first playthrough glitched out and i was unable to progress further.

phillip-scott 2022-04-05 23:00

The Art is amazing! but waaaay too much text for me personally - couldn't figure out the main mechanic with the petals - taking them to a specific place one at a time was a little fiddly

chairshot-games 2022-04-06 01:09

Cool game! Art is exceptional and gameplay is creative. I'm impressed by how much you did in the time frame.

boaromayox 2022-04-06 03:58

It took me three tries to beat this game, and the second time was when I knew what to do, because of all of the overload of information I was given when I spoke to the demon.

Graphics-wise, the pixel art is amazing. However, like I said, I did experience a bit of frustration because I didn't know where the demons were at, and I didn't know where to go or what to do at first. Plus, I couldn't find any petals that would have helped heal the tree. Another difficulty I had was when everytime dialogue was spoken, I sometimes automatically moved. No problem with controls, though.

Difficulties aside, it's still a solid game, and the graphics and atmosphere made up for its flaws.

ralfz 2022-04-06 08:56

Beatiful game! Stunning visuals and audio is very pleasing. Love it!

gm637official 2022-04-06 09:01

Yo this game got Gud Visuals great job!

yulotomorrow 2022-04-06 09:01

The pixel art and music is awesome! The story is interesting too! But compared to tower defense, I think this game is more like a puzzle game to find the correct place for prayers, so the demon is kind of an annoyance and made the game much harder. Maybe it's just me didn't understand the purpose of the game, but as a game with narrative elements I think it can be clearer. Good work overall!

soe 2022-04-06 09:39

Sooooo prettyyyyy!!! Loved the theme and music.

arzi 2022-04-06 20:21

@boaromayox Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! We would have liked to have a minimap, but just didn't have time to implement it, or figure out another way of tracking the demons. We changed the concept quite a bit during the jam, which lead to some things being not as optimal, one of them being the way too frontloaded dialogue and another the healing mechanic. Originally, you could use all the petals to heal the tree, but as we did the rites, it would have made the game incompletable if you could use the same petals as you used for the shrines, so only the ones used for the towers were applicable.

@yulotomorrow Yeah, we started off as a tower defense game, but then slowly drifted more towards a puzzle game.

hechi 2022-04-06 20:22

The pixelart on this game is outstanding! great work :smile:

martin183 2022-04-06 20:28

Soo nice mood, very cute artstyle and nice music!

jeenfizz 2022-04-06 20:32

This has such great potential ! Really love the theme (Japanese legends lover here) graphics and music are so beautiful. Had just a few bug were I got stuck between decor elements. The gameplay is nice and I would sooo love a longer game in the universe you created. It's not so easy to understand how to progress in the game and how to optimise everything so you don't lose when demons come near the tree (it might be good to have a permanent indicator when one starts getting close). Overall great experience ! Well done !

runicpixels 2022-04-06 20:48

@jeenfizz @martin183 @hechi @soe @yulotomorrow @gm637official @ralfz @boaromayox @chairshot-games @phillip-scott @saikai @iguanana @ginxel @reispfannenfresser @pev @michael-wingfield @mopifish @david-york @deylinia @woahitsjeff

Thanks all for the compliments on the game/art!~ 🥺

If I get the chance I'll try to check out your games and rate them!

nicknameriu 2022-04-07 01:00

I loved the graphics and how you tell the story

studiocherno 2022-04-07 05:23

Nice game but there are some bugs, for example if you interact with an object whilst walking the player will keep on walking, and in this way you can even move the first demon. Overall very aesthetic game though!

-Tim

mikropiru 2022-04-07 06:14

Looks and sounds very, very good! I also liked the game mechanic although I got a bit frustrated at first as I didn't seem to find any "normal" petals to light up the lanters etc. :-D But I got through the whole game on the second attempt so it definitely wasn't too hard after all.

As the description says, perhaps a rather loose interpretation of the theme, but I could see the connection there, and it's a very minor thing with a game this polished. Great work!

michael-assing 2022-04-07 16:55

Nice, love the mood and the music, the artstyle works well too

johnnysix 2022-04-07 23:04

Love the art & music , would be cool to see more levels like this in similar theme, very classy take on a tower-defense.

I managed to break it somehow though and didn't manage to complete. :cry:

ld_50_sakura.jpg

ftl-sloth 2022-04-07 23:28

Great visuals and sound work, definitely conveyed a consistent theme. I didn't get to far but everything looks solid.

tigerwolf181 2022-04-08 04:00

Awesome take on a tower defense game! I loved the visuals and music. While it was difficult to grasp the goal of the game at first, the game itself was wonderfully done and a lot of fun.

ryder21 2022-04-08 09:19

the fact that im already a huge fan of japanese culture and pixel art made me love so much this game, the music its freakin amazing and the way you integrated the jam topic its genious, i'd love to have a way to listen the soundtrack for a long time like maybe at youtube or soundcloud, because as I said, its really sick

rewzu 2022-04-08 10:37

Amazing pixel art and audio. The mood is also great. Really solid entry. Good job! :D

noiyy 2022-04-08 10:53

Very beautiful music and an interesting game with nice story! :smile: I wasn't sure about some petals, where to place them, so I had to keep searching for the correct place :sweat_smile: If you pick up a petal and a text windows shows, you'll keep walking if u were while collecting petal. I'm not sure what one sound effect meant, probably demon stopping before light? Overall a really nice game :smile:

hekateras 2022-04-08 15:49

Gorgeous graphics and music! You made some really nice scenes and an interesting concept here.

tendencydriven 2022-04-08 15:55

Oh my! The art and the music in this game are to die for! Seriously well done!

lushboy-studios 2022-04-08 19:23

I love the graphics! and the music! Super quality stuff there. I wasn't too clear on how to progress meaningfully through the game with the petals, so maybe some more visual clarity or feedback would be helpful. great entry!

pikachurian 2022-04-08 20:15

The art is really good for only 3 days. The gameplay was interesting. It's sometimes hard to tell what's happening, but that could be me. Other than than that it was pretty good. Nice job!

jamesolivermusic 2022-04-09 05:14

Amazing art and visuals. Music was perfect, but the footsteps were a little loud. I would have liked a little more instruction as to what to do. I found myself clicking on everything and not getting very far.

kazuonomura 2022-04-09 20:51

Amazing art style. Interesting story. Really good music, kept playing a little longer because it was very relaxing. I enjoyed the idea as a overwall but I couldn't advance in the game very much. I could manage to banish one or two demons, but couldn't really save the tree... I am not sure if the saying on the screen was a tip to where I should put the petal or not. But I will keep trying a little bit more beacuse I really enjoyed it!

skruffye 2022-04-10 15:28

A really pretty game with perfect music to match. Even the typeface you used was a great choice! :smile:

I struggled a bit with bumping into terrain (which wasn't great when I was in a hurry!) and I think maybe making all of the petals able to light torches/heal the tree would have allowed for you to make the yokai--sorry, *snowkai*--more numerous (assuming maybe that the torches also burned out after enough time and needed to be relit). Then there would be an element of having to make the choice as to whether you take the prayer to the shrine it's intended for, or if you sacrifice it to protect the tree.

Just some thoughts on the gameplay. The game as a whole was very well presented and I felt immersed from the get-go. Really well done! :grin:

caramelcode 2022-04-11 00:10

I love the pixel art and music in this game! I also really like the creative spin on the theme. My only suggestion for improvement is a walking animation for the main character. Beautiful game!

runicpixels 2022-04-11 07:17

@caramelcode the main character should have a walking animation, it's a bit subdued due to the shrine maiden's personality and dress.

But glad you like the art!

battletoast 2022-04-12 06:45

Fantastic graphics, amazing audio, and decently challenging gameplay! There is a bug where if you're walking when a chat box pops up you keep going in that direction, but other than that, fantastic work!

amerigo-gazaway 2022-04-13 19:12

This was beautifully done! As an aspiring pixel artist I can really appreciate the artwork, and the music was perfect as well. Great work!

rosypenguin 2022-04-17 07:24

Graphics are gorgeous, and I loved the fresh new take on the tower defense genre. I was a little confused about how to tell what flower petal belonged to which shrine, but eventually succeeded! Great work!

aeveis 2022-04-18 05:05

loved the environment and walking around. I kept walking into rocks and so though but I guess that's kind of part of navigating the area. I lost the first time because I was too slow, but beat it the 2nd time. I had a hard time seeing where the demons were, and kind of wanted to just read the different prayer petals. overall great job!

doot 2022-04-18 11:35

Very nice game! The polish on the pixel art, SFX and animations is very very good. I also love the font you used.

The gameplay of balancing between protection and accomplishing the ritual is well balanced

I get the idea of trying to find out what poem should go where, but it took me a bit of time and I was not very good at it haha!

Thanks for the game I had fun and would love to see other games you make!

ismael-rodriguez 2022-04-21 03:20

Looks and sounds very nice. The gameplay was hard to get into. I wish the pedals had different colors or auras or something, and even with all the sign posts it's a little hard to figure out where to go.

Great job on the visuals and overall mood.