Hey, Hello, Hi!
Just a short episode this week. I was busy in the garden so I didn't have a lot of extra time to canvas for submissions. My application form should help in this effort and streamline the communication.
Applicants
These two games were both high quality and really exceeded my expectations beyond the first impressions I got. Neither of those games are genres that I would pay much attention to, yet I wanted to keep playing when the time was up.
Mr. K.I.S.S. #
Demo on Steam | Blue Dendrites
This game is a "procedural rooftop runner". Overall the game grew on me as I was playing and you can see in the stream me failing and not wanting to stop... "ok... one more". This was not exactly my style of game and it needs a little polish in terms of pacing and variety.
The core gameplay was pretty solid and the atmosphere... was FANTASTIC. Easily the strongest element of the game and why I did not want to stop. I wanted to get to the end real bad. ALAS...
Focal point for feedback
What would you do with the project if you were its owner?
Regarding both business and design.
Is the game sell-able (once complete)?
I addressed this in the stream; but basically....
First; I believe your passion is should take priority over anything else. If you are passionate keep going, see your vision through.
Second; How is your traction?
Third; Can you finish given your current traction and time and level of passion?
There is no real answer to this. I think the atmosphere is fantastic but the gameplay needs polish. The good thing is you could easily take this world you've built and pivot it entirely. I really enjoy the aesthetic, music and all.
The Good
- MUSIC IS DOPE, really adds to the atmosphere. Feels very polished and put together.
- Animations are on point.
- controls are responsive and feel good
- Atmosphere is 10/10 in my humble opinion.
The Bad
- Demo tutorial is too slow paced. Just make it a bit shorter in length, less time between obstacles.
- Not a fan of the astrology abilities purchasing experience.
- There was one ability covered by the back button.
- It felt convoluted and confusing. The information was not well presented
The Ugly
No bugs, but it asked me if i wanted to continue w/o ever starting a game. (beginning of stream). I did boot it up once, so maybe you are creating a SaveGame on BeginPlay (unreal jargon). It should be when your level starts.
Summary
If I were you, I would let the traction/analytics set the tone for how much effort I would put in. If you are passionate about this and can afford to continue you should finish this to your full vision -- if you are running out of time or money it may be time to focus on polishing the content you have and releasing.
Trinity Archtype #
Steam Demo | Machinator Corp | Twitter
As the three warriors blessed by the divine Archetypes, it is your duty to keep the ancient beings vanished to another dimension from spreading their corruption into your broken world.
I was a bit overwhelmed by this one at first. There is a LOT going on in this one. I can tell they spent a lot of time designing the battle systems and did a lot of math to get this feel right. The game play was a little confusing but i'm not one to play these types of games.
Overall I was impressed and wanted to keep playing. Despite my initial impressions of it "looking like a shitty mobile game" the background detail and enemy characters stood out as unique and well made. I still think the warrior and the assassin look a little... too... much like a fake mobile game. I think this is particularly the feel of the trailer.
Feedback Focus
Machinator asked for game play, UI, difficulty and mechanics feedback.
Overall I was very impressed with how the difficulty scaled. It felt smooth and there was not really any power creep that I could feel in my first 20 minute play through. I would have to play longer to really judge this but it felt challenging but not TOO hard.
The mechanics were fun but confusing, I address this in detail in my feedback;
First Impressions
Character design is good, illustration feels good but SORT-OF reminds me of those garbage mobile games. I was overwhelmed with the complexity of the game -- but I am not playing these types of games often. It took me 2-3 battles to really get what was going on, which is probably fine.
The Good
Fun abilities, very impressive game systems. The runes, boosting, turn based RP and effects all work well together. Feels complete, great demo. I wanted to keep playing.
I think this game will do well if you can dial in an audience and find ways to stand out among this genre.
The Bad
Tutorial is overwhelming. In fact all of it kinda is. I think a slower introduction to the core mechanics would be a great addition. There are two things that would add a TON to the comprehension of the player: Damage effects need to be displayed when picking new abilities. I had to select the ability and hover over it to get the information i needed. I never found the runes page. After a user gets their first rune you need to display the information on how/when/why you use them. The page which you use to open them needs to be highlighted. Never found out how to use potions. I'm sure if i tried I spent more time but you should let the player know how/when you can use these upon first collecting one.
The Ugly
No bugs. Nothing ugly
I'd appreciate your particpation!
- Please apply if you would like similar feedback for your game.
- Join discord, give others feedback!
- I'm also welcoming feedback on Item Collector Ball
Cheers! Happy gaming y'all.