Hikari’s Journey 光の旅 — the umbral world by Junber 2021-10-08T12:23:27Z ♥ 5
Wow, this is insanely impressive for a jam game. Probably the most polished, fully realized game I've played so far. The fact that you guys were able to squeeze in so much content in such a short period of time is amazing. I'm legit curious, what was your process that allowed you to work so fast across multiple genres?
Anyway, onto the actual review.
Story: At first I was worried the game was going to simply be about a person wallowing in self pity, but I was relieved when it started moving in a more positive, supportive direction. I think my favorite bit was the section where Hikari confronted the sources of his anxiety one by one, and realized that his depression was preventing him from accepting their support and working to improve his life. Watching him overcome this was cathartic, and I thought it was very well done.
Art: The simple art style works quite well as a portrayal of a more abstract story (And I imagine a nice way to finish within the time limit). The color choices do a good job of making what you can and can't interact with readable. I was really surprised when the game suddenly shifted to 3D, and played around with different styles. For the most part, it worked really well. The only section I felt was a bit lacking was the first person platforming bit at the end, it felt less cohesive visually than the rest of the game. Which I suppose was the point, since he was waking from his coma, though I think it detracts a bit from the clean minimalism of the preceding sections by looking unintentionally amateurish by comparison.
Music: I thought the more thoughtful solo piano really served the simplistic visuals of the game well, while capturing the ponderous nature of the story. In particular, I like how the section after the puzzle bit was the same song, but in the major key instead of minor. A small touch, but a nice way of portraying the character working through his problems.
Gameplay: The variety of game modes was unexpected, but welcome once I got used to it. Exploring the world and talking to NPCs was very engaging, and the clickable words added some nice interactivity to the written sections. The puzzle section in particular was well thought out, and could have easily been a game jam project on its own. I can't believe you guys even had time for some bonus puzzles, lol. A few (hopefully constructive) nitpicks:
1. The top down 2D section at the beginning had some clunky movement. You had to hold the arrow key down for waaaay too long to move across multiple tiles in the same direction, which meant mashing the keys was the fastest way to get around. I imagine this is because it was reusing movement from the puzzle section later? Speaking of which... 2. The controls during the puzzle section were a bit overly sensitive to me, it seemed really easy to accidentally do inputs twice when doing actions like switching characters. I don't know if it was reading key inputs based on some sort of timer or simple when a key went from unpressed to pressed, but the latter would work much better. 3. The platforming during the first person section at the end felt unnecessarily clunky. I would remove the hallway with the tiny platforms entirely, as it doesn't add anything to game and it breaks up the pacing of the final section.
Overall: Despite my nitpicks, this is easily a 5/5 jam game. With a bit more polish and time, I could easily see this being a solid, full-fledged game. You guys should be proud of what you've accomplished, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
LD51 — Every 10 seconds (23)
Gelato Drift by thomz12 2022-10-12T16:14:36Z ♥ 2
Man I'm terrible at this, lol. Definitely feels tight and responsive though, and very polished! I might suggest that you let the player drive over the grass though, feels weird to come to a dead halt when you run into it.
BARRAGE by egawag 2022-10-12T06:14:16Z ♥ 4
Extremely fun and polished, I honestly don't really have any particular complaints! Love how smooth the gameplay is, how the music telegraphs what's about to happen, how clearly all the different mechanics are communicated, and how juicy all the little interactions are! One of the standout games for this jam, excellent work.
Panopticon by Blue Pin Studio 2022-10-12T05:59:06Z ♥ 1
Took me a bit to get used to the gameplay, as it was pretty challenging, but felt good once things clicked! Syncing the music to the enemy's attack was an excellent choice, and really helped telegraph the timing well. The risk/reward between charging ahead versus taking cover in more visible terrain was also really engaging. My only real critique is that some of the levels felt just a BIT too big, leading to a lot of wandering around and getting lost (especially when trying to get back to the door). Overall, really creative idea executed well!
Rush Hour by SephoWepho 2022-10-12T05:44:34Z ♥ 1
Dug the art and sound design, and the gameplay was well communicated! Kinda feels like it belongs on the DS, would be great with a touchscreen/stylus control scheme. I do wish the timer was a bit shorter though, it's kinda long for the kind of game this is. Also it would be nice if the ingredients were just a bit closer to the bread, as it feels like I'm waving my mouse around a lot, haha. Cool game for a jam though!
Grim Light by Forik 2022-10-12T04:58:11Z ♥ 2
Super impressive game from an artistic/mood standpoint, I'm floored you guys managed to make an environment this big and good looking in 3 days! The sound design and mood were excellent too, really sold the fairy tale like danger.
Nitpicking time! The timing to get to the fireflies felt pretty tight during the swamp section, especially when you don't know where you're going have to wait on the trail to appear. I would've maybe upped the number of fireflies along the path a little bit to give the player some more wiggle room. I would also consider making the fireflies get sucked INTO the player, rather than away from them when they get close. It's a real bummer when you're near death and get close to a firefly, only for it to flitter away at the last second for a game over, haha. The checkpoints definitely helped it to not be too frustrating though, good on you for getting that in.
That's about it for criticism! One of the most memorable jam games I've played so far, great work!
Enter\space... by Hexela 2022-10-12T04:34:36Z ♥ 0
Nice little multitasking game, like the art! Definitely feels like it could use some sort of goal in lieu of having time to make more mechanics, unless there was one and I just completely missed it, haha.
The Dawn by Hora-Timer 2022-10-12T04:27:37Z ♥ 1
Looks good and controls well! I especially like the sound the enemies make! I would definitely consider toning down the animation on the enemies though, it's a bit a hard to look at if they get close to you. And as others have said, maybe slow things down a bit at the start so that the player isn't getting jumped before they even realize what kind of game they're playing, haha.
Boom64 by Valyn Tyler 2022-10-12T04:21:18Z ♥ 1
Fun game overall, definitely captured the vibes of a game like doom! It could use some sort of instructions though, I'd strongly consider adding the controls and an explanation of the mechanics to this page, if nothing else.
Watch Your Step by red-stake 2022-10-12T04:09:49Z ♥ 2
Really cool game! The core gameplay is fun and intuitive, and I like the clear color language for what does and doesn't hurt you. Like others were saying, I agree that the fixed aiming doesn't feel great, as I believe that tight, responsive controls are generally better in twitch action games. And the lack of sound when killing enemies feels like a missed opportunity for some extra juice (though I imagine this was a time thing). Despite that, I still enjoyed my time with it, good compo entry!
Beardadette and the Eternal Hiccup by Honest Dan 2022-10-09T03:16:41Z ♥ 1
Really dig the art style and music! I do wish the game feel was a bit better though, as the physics felt a bit wonky at times (understandable, since game jam and all). One immediate suggestion: I would consider adding more of the players momentum to released objects when they're running, to allow them to "throw" objects more effectively. It felt a bit tricky lodging rocks under windmills consistently, or throwing the gear under the windmill to get the rock guy to KO himself, but I feel like just a bit of a physics adjustment would help a lot! Cool game overall though, and my whole team loves the main character design :D
The Forgotten Crawler by wolderado 2022-10-09T02:34:46Z ♥ 1
Really cool concept! The NPCs, dialogue, and inventory system were surprisingly polished, and exploration was really fun!
A suggestion: Maybe put the NPC that tells you that the important NPCs don't get deleted in an easier to spot location? I waited longer that I care to admit for the troll guy asking for money to get deleted before figuring out what I needed to do, haha.
I do kinda wish the deletion mechanic affected the gameplay more, but you got a LOT done for solo game jam projection. I'm curious actually, what was your workflow to get this amount of systems/content done so quickly?
In any case, fantastic work for a game jam!
10 Seconds to Heaven by Mcnuttys 2022-10-07T03:08:26Z ♥ 1
Really simple and fun! I enjoy how the physics allows for creative solutions! The only feedback I really have is with some of the level design. I feel like the tight fit level is a bit TOO tight, as being a pixel off means you can't fit the boxes down the hallway. I would consider making them somewhere between 120%-150% of the box width, so that there's a margin for error. Also I found out you can just push the box on top of the grenade to block the explosion, not sure if that was intentional, haha. Fun game though, I liked it!
Space Buggers by Minipeps 2022-10-07T02:56:22Z ♥ 1
Being able to direct enemies and sell/rebuy turrets on the fly was a really neat mechanic! Like others have said, the balance was just a bit off, particularly in the early game. I would consider making the blocks cheaper, or perhaps starting the player with a bit more money so that the early game moves a bit faster. Really cool concept though, and good work for a compo game!
Apocalypse Farmer by Rezioz 2022-10-07T02:45:15Z ♥ 1
Reminds me of those early 2000s flash games, haha. The art was pretty good and funny, but the gameplay felt a bit too hectic. I would maybe pull the camera back a bit so the player can see what's coming better, or perhaps slow down the speed on the enemy projectiles a bit so it feels like like you're getting sniped from offscreen? Feels like with a bit more balancing this could be fun!
Vamplight by ShauKaula 2022-10-07T02:36:30Z ♥ 2
The art/animation was really nice, but I gotta agree with the others the controls/gameplay felt off. Some notes/suggestions:
1. The character moved so quickly, that it was difficult to react to upcoming light. The hitboxes on the light also felt overly large, I think it might be okay to make those smaller than the actual light radius, since a hit means instant death. 2. As far as I could tell, there's no indication of when the shadow form is about to wear off, making it difficult to know when to stop running. Perhaps the player could start to flash when it's about to wear off, or the UI in the bottom corner could fill back up, reaching the top when it runs out? 3. It felt like even after the shadow form meter had fully refilled, I still had to a wait a few extra seconds to use it. Is this a bug?
Definitely a neat idea though, could be fun with a bit more polish.
Game 0 by I wrote it myself 2022-10-07T02:21:12Z ♥ 1
Took me longer to figure out the escape gimmick than I'd care to admit, haha. The different art styles were definitely interesting too with the art style getting more abstract the further you went into escapism via games. The big reveal at the end didn't really land for me though. I felt like there was a progression being established for things becoming more dark/realistic as you backed out, though I feel like the art in the final image was going a bit too much for shock value over substance. Perhaps the implicit would be more unnerving than the explicit? That, or if you're really leaning into the gory side of things, I feel like the art could use a bit more realism. Anyway, it might just be a personal taste thing for me, overall it was a unique experience.
Hyper V-Ball by Mooptychunk 2022-10-06T03:00:13Z ♥ 1
This is actually really fun and tight once you get used to it! I would maybe explain the controls better, I didn't realize at first that charging a shot in mid air would spike it, or that I could adjust my jump direction while charging. Also the font was so bulky it was borderline illegible on my computer, though that might just be a windows thing. Once the gameplay clicked though, it felt excellent! The animations are very smooth, and the communicated what was going on very well. Overall, very good!
The Curse of Household Chaos by LightBoat 2022-10-06T02:49:22Z ♥ 1
The game works well, and the variety of things you can do is definitely a plus! I do feel like far too much time was spent going between the two buildings, though. I get wanting to make the player run around, but 2/3 tools were in a pretty cumbersome location, far away from the places where you need to use them. I'd perhaps consider shrinking the map, but upping the amount of things breaking, to have a tighter gameplay loop with less navigating between the same two locations. I did like the art style a lot however, everything had cute little animations and it was clear what needed to be done. Overall, good job.
Stuck gun by mira 2022-10-06T02:41:51Z ♥ 2
Blasting a bunch of goons with the laser definitely felt good! Almost wish it fired for a bit longer so I could kill even more enemies in a big sweep! The recoil was definitely a nice touch. As others have said, it does suffer from a lack of enemy variation, however. This could be as simple as having enemies with different speeds, enemies that fire projectiles, enemies that move in different ways, etc. The little cutscenes were cute though, good job overall!
10 Second Blast by seanz 2022-10-06T02:28:57Z ♥ 0
Controls felt pretty tight and responsive, and shooting the enemies was fun! However, there were multiple times where enemies would spawn on top of me and kill me, might wanna either telegraph where the spawns are going to happen, or program them to spawn further away from the player. Might wanna also include some controls in your description, I thought I was a stationary turret that couldn't move, haha.
Boulder Bash by W4YN3R 2022-10-06T02:22:07Z ♥ 1
Surprisingly fun, mashing the little balls off the stage and hearing the little clinking sound was very satisfying! Just a heads up though, the game ran very poorly in google chrome for me. It ran a lot smoother in edge, though. I would suggest including a downloadable build of your game, as web browser performance can vary wildly. The little mixups that happened every 10 seconds were enough to keep me on my toes, the player physics felt pretty dramatically different depending on my size!
The Curse of Tencond by Harry Alissavakis 2022-10-06T02:00:11Z ♥ 3
What a creative concept! Kinda reminds me of outer wilds, where knowledge is your upgrades! Really the only design change I might suggest is allowing the player to control click though gates once they know about that ability, though I can see why you might disable that since it's slower than warping. Nice art style too, it's all very cozy!
Star Trotters by MerpADer 2022-10-06T01:46:50Z ♥ 0
Fun idea of having to balance the space invaders style gameplay with timing your upgrades! Really I think the only changes I would suggest is better communicating when things are happening, such as the player/enemies reacting to taking damage. Also the music was a banger, haha.