Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → jacquouille
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 43 | Sacrifices must be made | Landscape Manager | compo | 3.64 | 3.64 | 3.71 | 3.64 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 3.41 | 3.71 |
Such a nice-looking and smooth game ! I really loved the characters, buildings and setting. The control are well done and smooth : I love the selection area when dragging the mouse and the box around selected object. Too bad there was not much things to do !
Very cool mood and graphics, and I had some games where the gamefeel was actually astonishing - really felt like spider-man, throwing my squishy arms towards mines and enjoying my momentum. However this was not what happened most of the time due to bugs :/ The way the grab mechanic works is a bit confusing as I stil have no idea when or if I'm supposed to hold, release, or simply press. The little timer above what I call "mines" was top-notch. Congrats on the overall !
This was very fun to watch ! However I didn't feel like "playing", as there wasn't much input or skills needed. The potential storytelling however is huge, and I was emotionally involved in the final fight against Satan where he was ravaging most of my village while the remaining survivors where hiding in a small corner of the map, desperately growing carrots and sending soldiers to defeat him one hp at a time. It was surprisingly epic and intense. I also had a great surprise when I saw one of my soldier level up (I event think I got a level 3 soldier if that's possible ?), that's not much (and I didn't really see the benefit), but this is definitely one of these little features that makes you fond of a game. The music on title screen was good and I wonder why you didn't let it run during gameplay ?
Cool game, I had a great time once I figured out how to play (learning the control is one thing, but getting used to them and get into the "flow" of the game is another). I was playing with the mouse so it wasn't optimal (as you guys probably know), and the delay you have when moving is kinda disturbing for a bullet hell. I loved the bullet time effect with the small wasps, that was an interesting take on usual shooting. I couldn't make it to the boss, I'm not sure I was supposed to reach a certain size or distance (would love to have a progression slider !), and I wasn't probably using the baby wasps correctly (I rarely feel the need to use them, especially since sometimes one baby wasn't enough to take down an enemy). Speaking of the babies, your cover picture kinda sold me the idea of having multiple out at one time, defending and fighting with me, and I was a bit disappointed being limited to one at a time ! Anyway great game overall, good job :)
I love the Wind Waker mood here, and the enemies are actually lovable ahah. I tried to go with a coward-bomb run, and had to run around the island(s) A LOT (took me some time but was safe). I was a bit frustrated at first with the fixed camera, but it works fine.
I love the fact that you are getting a choice between randomized penalties, adding a really good rogue-like feeling to this game. I felt like there was a lot of elements to account for, thus making it quite hard sometimes to understand what is going on - of course the penalties are not helping ahah ! I was a bit frustrated by the ship control and hitbox, since I had trouble evaluating where my ship would end when I press buttons. Anyway, great game, congrats !
This was fun and challenging, and I was pretty comfortable with using the controls quickly enough (however I realised after closing the game that I completely forgot about dash and felt like I wouldn't need it anyway). The problem is aiming for the small platforms, as sometimes it was impossible to make a move small enough to reach them. I don't know if it was on purpose, but most of the time I was just able to go to the sides of the screen and avoid the penalties altogether. But when I did get penalties, I didn't really felt the change in gameplay anyway. In the end I had a lot of fun trying to master this game (especially the hook which is quite challenging), and was intrigued by its narrative elements. Good job.
I'm not gonna say anything about the controls, plentyful has been said about them. What I love about this game is the attention to details (crashing onto the ground, people screams, background scrolling, different weights for different objects...). Problem is all that doesn't add much to the ease of playing and gamefeel. The game is still cute and tells a funny story. Great jobs :)