I've finished the full release, and it was a fun little time! You mention in the credits that you feel some of the dialogue was rushed, or "cringe." In my experience in this and every other game you've created, you've got a knack for fun and endearing dialogue from characters <3 (Or know just how to make *certain* characters absolutely infuriatingly awful) I think Xee, while not being a fully fleshed out character like Cloud Strife or Shulk, is still likeable and enjoyable in how they interact with the other denizens of the internet.
As for gameplay, largely a fun time, with some inoffensive quirks, and only a couple bits that I didn't quite get used to. I think the metroidvania elements were done fairly well, especially for a first attempt! Considering I had the ability to aim up or down when shooting, I frequently tried to throw grenades up or down to affect the trajectory and was reminded that grenades only have the one throwing arc, unless you're in movement. That might just be a me problem. :V
SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL BOSSES:
I think the final bosses might be the weakest part of the game, unfortunately... The Seal of Disapproval is fairly trivial, especially if you've got an upgraded gun. Lead your shots, take care of the spawning ads, and the fight is over fairly quick without losing even half of my health. I beat it first try, both times I fought it. The Omega Spamloid is on the opposite side of this spectrum, I died many many times both times I fought it. I noticed whenever taking damage, the shield is activated, and that seems to make enemies lose aggro, and start to float away. This behavior would frequently mean a grenade toss missed one of the spamloids and would roll away, which was frustrating on top of trying to dodge the bullet hell from killing the other spamloids and turrets. I think it's ultimately a good idea to *not* have enemies endlessly try to mob a player even if they have an invincibility period after getting hit, but it was definitely one source of frustration in this boss fight. The main frustrations was mainly the gauntlet of trying to survive the allotted time, with all the spamloids and the way they shoot out projectiles upon death making it very difficult to navigate without taking a lot of damage. Bear in mind with all this criticism I'm throwing out: I am not a game designer. I respect you so much for putting yourself into these projects, even if they don't go to plan! (They rarely do!)
Thank you very much for making this, and sharing it with us! Looking forwards to more from you! ^w^
Thank you so much for the kind words - and for the extensive review, this is very useful! I love getting in-depth feedback like this. The grenade is an actual physics object and as such kinda just does its own thing, haha. You can get it to move up by jumping into it from below, which is actually an alternate solution to one or two obstacles (combined with the "Remote Touch" upgrade.)
I have relatively little experience with this sort of game design, so yeah, the boss fights needing some balance adjustments makes sense. The Seal of Disapproval is meant to be an easier fight than the Omega Spamloid, though the difference between the two isn't meant to be quite this big.
As an immediate measure, I've nerfed the Omega Spamloid, reducing the damage output of all the add-ons and shortening the fight timer. It does require some unusual strategies (like taking advantage of the mercy invincibility and accepting damage that you then recover) but I think it was a little too harsh. I'll probably circle back around to this in the future and maybe take another look at the mechanics. Again, thank you kindly!
I like the new boss fight, it's probably the best new feature, but I think the room transition that opens up after the fight is broken. I just went right past the "next" sign and started walking on the ceiling.
Hi there! Sorry, I read your comment and then forgot to actually respond. You're right, in the version you played, those don't go anywhere and were meant to be blocked off. This is fixed in the new release.
... i get the feeling the control scheme was ment more for gamepad users the keyboard one feels really uncomfortable almost cramped will rebinding the control mapping be an option in the future? also is it bad i recognize most of the stuff during my short playthru 10 bux eh lowtax musta really branched out, also echoing others here way too many insta kill hazards other then those two gripes seems fine not fell thru the floor yet... why do i get the feeling that guys files are cheese pizza?
Hey, thanks for the feedback, and thanks for checking it out! There's definitely a lot of 2000s internet culture in here, haha.
Control mapping is definitely something I want to have in the future. For now I've added a few alternate keys, so you don't have to use the JKL keys. I'm sorry you found it cramped, keyboard control schemes are hard to get right.
Pros: Funny and clever humor. Good dialogue. Great execution of its theme. Cool world!
Cons: The shield and grenade switch-trigger abilities are underutilized. There are too many things that instant-kill the character, like pits and lasers. The grenade explosion effect sticks around for too long and can kill you even when the opacity is low.
The cons are manageable, and the pros make the game great. I'm a fan!
Favorite Area: Social Zone Favorite Character: Boot
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I had fun writing the dialogue for this one, I'm glad the humor landed.
Thanks for the feedback too. I'm going to re-balance the pits, lasers and grenades in the next patch. The under-used abilities will have to wait for the next batch of content, but I have some ideas for them.
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I've finished the full release, and it was a fun little time!
You mention in the credits that you feel some of the dialogue was rushed, or "cringe." In my experience in this and every other game you've created, you've got a knack for fun and endearing dialogue from characters <3
(Or know just how to make *certain* characters absolutely infuriatingly awful)
I think Xee, while not being a fully fleshed out character like Cloud Strife or Shulk, is still likeable and enjoyable in how they interact with the other denizens of the internet.
As for gameplay, largely a fun time, with some inoffensive quirks, and only a couple bits that I didn't quite get used to. I think the metroidvania elements were done fairly well, especially for a first attempt!
Considering I had the ability to aim up or down when shooting, I frequently tried to throw grenades up or down to affect the trajectory and was reminded that grenades only have the one throwing arc, unless you're in movement. That might just be a me problem. :V
SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL BOSSES:
I think the final bosses might be the weakest part of the game, unfortunately... The Seal of Disapproval is fairly trivial, especially if you've got an upgraded gun. Lead your shots, take care of the spawning ads, and the fight is over fairly quick without losing even half of my health. I beat it first try, both times I fought it.
The Omega Spamloid is on the opposite side of this spectrum, I died many many times both times I fought it. I noticed whenever taking damage, the shield is activated, and that seems to make enemies lose aggro, and start to float away. This behavior would frequently mean a grenade toss missed one of the spamloids and would roll away, which was frustrating on top of trying to dodge the bullet hell from killing the other spamloids and turrets. I think it's ultimately a good idea to *not* have enemies endlessly try to mob a player even if they have an invincibility period after getting hit, but it was definitely one source of frustration in this boss fight.
The main frustrations was mainly the gauntlet of trying to survive the allotted time, with all the spamloids and the way they shoot out projectiles upon death making it very difficult to navigate without taking a lot of damage.
Bear in mind with all this criticism I'm throwing out: I am not a game designer. I respect you so much for putting yourself into these projects, even if they don't go to plan! (They rarely do!)
Thank you very much for making this, and sharing it with us! Looking forwards to more from you! ^w^
Thank you so much for the kind words - and for the extensive review, this is very useful! I love getting in-depth feedback like this. The grenade is an actual physics object and as such kinda just does its own thing, haha. You can get it to move up by jumping into it from below, which is actually an alternate solution to one or two obstacles (combined with the "Remote Touch" upgrade.)
I have relatively little experience with this sort of game design, so yeah, the boss fights needing some balance adjustments makes sense. The Seal of Disapproval is meant to be an easier fight than the Omega Spamloid, though the difference between the two isn't meant to be quite this big.
As an immediate measure, I've nerfed the Omega Spamloid, reducing the damage output of all the add-ons and shortening the fight timer. It does require some unusual strategies (like taking advantage of the mercy invincibility and accepting damage that you then recover) but I think it was a little too harsh. I'll probably circle back around to this in the future and maybe take another look at the mechanics. Again, thank you kindly!
I like the new boss fight, it's probably the best new feature, but I think the room transition that opens up after the fight is broken. I just went right past the "next" sign and started walking on the ceiling.
Hi there! Sorry, I read your comment and then forgot to actually respond. You're right, in the version you played, those don't go anywhere and were meant to be blocked off. This is fixed in the new release.
... i get the feeling the control scheme was ment more for gamepad users the keyboard one feels really uncomfortable almost cramped will rebinding the control mapping be an option in the future? also is it bad i recognize most of the stuff during my short playthru 10 bux eh lowtax musta really branched out, also echoing others here way too many insta kill hazards other then those two gripes seems fine not fell thru the floor yet... why do i get the feeling that guys files are cheese pizza?
Hey, thanks for the feedback, and thanks for checking it out! There's definitely a lot of 2000s internet culture in here, haha.
Control mapping is definitely something I want to have in the future. For now I've added a few alternate keys, so you don't have to use the JKL keys. I'm sorry you found it cramped, keyboard control schemes are hard to get right.
As for that guy, he's definitely super shady.
Pros:
Funny and clever humor.
Good dialogue.
Great execution of its theme.
Cool world!
Cons:
The shield and grenade switch-trigger abilities are underutilized.
There are too many things that instant-kill the character, like pits and lasers.
The grenade explosion effect sticks around for too long and can kill you even when the opacity is low.
The cons are manageable, and the pros make the game great. I'm a fan!
Favorite Area: Social Zone
Favorite Character: Boot
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I had fun writing the dialogue for this one, I'm glad the humor landed.
Thanks for the feedback too. I'm going to re-balance the pits, lasers and grenades in the next patch. The under-used abilities will have to wait for the next batch of content, but I have some ideas for them.