Beta Thoughts

[RunningWild]

What I like - Incredible visuals, by far among the best of any indie 2D action game I have ever seen,. The controls are very smooth and well done, it certainly has the feel of an actual 90's 2D action platformer game. You start the game with double jump, slide and dive kick, which is far more than most games generally, so already huge points there.

What I don't like - Save Points not healing. While it's nice you can shop for items at the save point, not having the save point heal just means you have to grind for more money.

Being unable to turn around while crouching is another thing I dislike, I consider that vital to any 2D action platformer game, especially in games like this where being surrounded is very commonplace.

I think some enemy types are unnecessarily more tanky than they need to be (claw skele's with uppercut).

Of the gameplay features present in the demo, I think the most disappointing one are the Ninjitsu Spell items. They feel weak, underwhelming, and not really worth it.

One thing I suggest is I'd like to be able to jump, attack, jump again and strike once more, in true X Zero-style fashion. This game is already very movement and offensive+combo oriented, but being restricted to 1 attack in the air feels very limiting.

Overall very much enjoyed the beta, was very happy to finally get to play it. Made me sweat alot throughout and looking forward to playing more in the future.

[Silberstürmer]

How do you buy items in the save room?

[RunningWild]

Originally posted by Silberstürmer:

How do you buy items in the save room?

The Shop becomes available after you clear the introduction stage.

[Substylee]

Originally posted by RunningWild:

Originally posted by Silberstürmer:

How do you buy items in the save room?

The Shop becomes available after you clear the introduction stage.

Which is silly because, when I played the demo back in August the prologue level was rather long with limited healing items and the boss was much harder then he is supposed to be now.

I'd rather they do away with the healing items and make it so save points heal to full hp which makes sense for a Metroidvania style game. The developers made it clear that is not the design choice they want when it was brought up in discord though. Or make it so healing items aren't as effective and the save points can also heal as an in between.

Edit:

I played the new demo and it didn't feel much different. I think the prologue level is shorter, but it still feels long and the boss is still tanky and tedious to fight. Which is crazy because it's the prologue boss and yet someone in my stream thought it was the final boss which should tell the devs something. The one good thing they did was add more healing items along the way.

I agree with RunningWild and had the same concerns on the Aug demo. Magic still feels weak and not worthwhile. Make it harder to get or more expensive to buy and have it on Shinobi/Shadow Dancer level where it clears the screen / Damages the boss a good chunk. It also makes no sense we don't get the second jump if we do a jump and attack when the game clearly has parts made where it would come into play. I recall the Devs saying they felt that would make the game too easy though so probably won't get changed.

I think the game is still a lot of fun. It looks and plays great, but it has some design choices that have me scratching my head.

[RunningWild]

Heh i was just thinking when I was fighting the intro level boss for the first time that he felt like a final boss to me with how much movement, health and even minions at his disposal.

It took me a couple of tries to kill him, but only when I realized each time I died and got sent back to the save room, in the previous area, the item boxes respawned with each death, so I was able to stock up on to deal with him and his minions. I dunno if that's an oversight or game just taking pity on me my botching.

[Silberstürmer]

Originally posted by RunningWild:

Originally posted by Silberstürmer:

How do you buy items in the save room?

The Shop becomes available after you clear the introduction stage.

Ah, okay. Thanks!

[giovanni]

one thing i would add as suggestion : hit recovery

once you get hit and get sent careening backward, have the player be able to recover from that
by hitting the jump button for example

the game is very agility focused so that would fit, even if it were an upgrade to buy

[giovanni]

one thing that happened to me
i saved in a save room of the forest zone that was in a dead end
unfortunately, i was pretty low in health, with no money and no health item left.
and the way out of the dead end has one of these monster waves zones. (those monster wave zone really kill the rythm of the action)

of course i die instantly

while theres a few minor enemies, at 2 coins earned while health items are 100 coins a pop, i'd need 50 enemies to kill for 1.
all the while any hit from any them kill me.

...
nope, not doing that anymore