Feedback after finishing the game.

[EditDotEXE]

Great game, real gem that is unique and surprisingly good for a single dev.

The difficulty of fights seemed to really vary, for example the worm's 1st stage isn't really hard and I defeated it with hot rocks, the second one had me throwing my expensive stuff (opening with a ballista bolt, then spears, then swords.) but then the third form is almost as easy as the first form and I just defeated it with more hot rocks, the the final form was the easiest with a very basic pattern of hiding to not get hurt, shooting it's belly and repeating nine times, not that I'm really complaining about that one since I really didn't want a tough fight after the part right before it.

Uhh, you are evil giving me more and more horrific levels to traverse while some how not being horrific enough that I just ALT + F4 and cast the game into some flame.

I thought the MaxHP flasks and carry weight potions were great, I had 147 HP by the end and I'm pretty sure I had all the carry weight potions to the point I maxed out a lot of the weapons ammo amounts. Kind of annoying I couldn't know the number of MaxHP flasks were in the depths of the pond (and any other non returnable area) as I could not know if I got them all or if there was more than three, while on the other hand I knew there wasn't more carry weight potions down there past the first.

Also I really liked that heated pouch considering how much I used the sling.

My problems with ammo are unreasonable and already known so I won't talk about it.

Screw those water troll things that shoot out bugs in the river, worst unkillable mob.

I really liked how the mobs wouldn't respawn and killing off all of them in a level meant it was mostly safe when coming back, basically the idea you killed so much the place is better, and oh boy did I kill things, only things I can count that I didn't kill were that which I could not kill and three dragonfly above the pond. Needless to say I never had any issue with dark gates.

Kind of wish there was endgame content/being able to run around at the end to 100%, but I also respect the style of ending the story.

I hated (mostly jokingly) bosses/fights with endless mobs, but they weren't bad enough to suck, well maybe spider trolls but I kind of cheesed that by taking them out one at a time and leaving inbetween so I can't say.

Really love the environments and each level was a treat. (some a terrifying treat, but a treat none the less.)

I really liked the ambush enemies as they gave a chance to kill them before they aggroed and it didn't feel cheap like when I throw thousand of rocks at other enemies standing around while mostly far enough not to be in danger.

Kind of wish the credits included stats like number of MaxHp flasks found out of the number there are, same with carry potion and with enemies killed and ammo drops remaining.

Would be interesting if there was side content like small quests for stuff like the heated pouch, but at this point I'm just asking for more content because it's a great game.

The slide was great 10/10 would slide again.

That's about it, I might be able to say more stuff about different fights but it's kind of hard for me to remember a list of boss fights, but if I did have one I would fill out which ones I beat with the sling, which ones I didn't but I'm pretty sure I could and which ones I no way could beat with the sling.

Also game has very few bugs from what I've seen.

[Slid Studio]

Hi again Edit!
Woah, thank you so much for this long feedback. I will read it in bits, and answer as I go along.

The worm: Or Nidhugg as I named it while devving. Yes, there are these three iterations.
First I had only one. But it felt a bit empty. So it became three in the end.
The third flying knives one is not very difficult once you figure out the pattern. After releasing the game, it has been made more easy. People were having trouble figuring out how to kill it - Usually because they tried to hit it further away. They found it frustrating, so I made it slower, with larger hitboxes.
The game was never made to be Darksouls, so I do not think very difficult bosses would be a good thing in my game anyway.
The last boss, the dragonworm was a boss I really did not want to make. But the game had to end with a bang, so here it is. That one has also been nerfed very much from release.
Exactly as you describe, most people wasn't in the mood for a hard boss at that point.
Especially a boss which required very cold calculating and accurate timing to even land a hit.
I myself find it more 'charming' now. I mean, visually it is a bit silly, so slower, more clumsly flying suits it!

The HP and carry flasks were first created because I needed some more items in the levels. Things to look for. Rewarding explorations. It also created reasons for more fun leveldesign.
I have concidered adding a levelcounter for items, so the player can 100% them. But, I am also afraid it will convert the playstyle into a collectathon.

The fire bag for the sling was a suggestion from a person in this forum. I cannot remember the name as of now, but he(?) thought I should have an upgrade for the sling. I was a bit sceptical, but made a test version with exploding rocks.
I then really liked it myself, and understood it to be a great idea!

Water trolls. Hm.. I guess the trouble with them is related to the projectile overlapping with the water first, therefore de-activating it. I'll look into the hitbox it has.

The dark gates, yeah. Those were made when I suddenly realized the player could just litterallely speedrun the whole thing. Killing enemies give you no weapon/ammo drop, nor experience gains. I needed an incentive to kill them.
At launch, the darkgates were a bit strict. They required the player to really clean the levels. Later, after feedback, I understood it to be very frustrating to backtrack to find overlooked enemies. Now, they shouldn't be an issue for any normal type of playstyle.

Not sure if I understand what you mean by run around at endgame 100%.
Like the ability to continue the game, or be spawned at the startgame-location again?
All enemies are made to be killed, and then stay dead. Much of the different transportation methods are also one-way. But I think the biggest challenge is the lack of content left. The game would need to be designed fundamentally different. Respawns and all that. And perhaps I myself like games with a clearly defined endgoal. So that's how I made it, without concidering other options.

There are some bosses and enemies that can spawn more enemies. But, there are internal counters, so the level should not be totally swarmed!
Honestly, I am surprised not more people 'complained' about those trolls. They are among the most frustrating enemies to kill for me, the dev. But I guess if you got that far, you are able to deal with them also.

Thank you for mentioning the environements. Those and the music was for me the most 'personal' aspects of the game. Making bosses and enemies was fun, but environements came from a place deeper.

Hm.. perhaps some numbers at the end-credit could be a thing? But as I mention higher up, I am also afraid of those collectables becoming the main focus. The game as of now, does not reward you for anything over 140.
I would at least need to create more rewards, like weapon-upgrades and whatnot. I'll think about it at least!

Haha, the slide! You know, when I had the idea and the tested it, I could not understand why not more games use something similar. I mean, it is purely the inbuilt physics system driving it. All I had to do was creating the U-shaped elements and disable friction in the character controller. Then it just worked. I guess the mechanics could be used in its own little breakout-game!

That was a very interesting and good feeback for me.
I am really amazed how friendly people has been on the Steam forum.
Like, you mention few bugs encountered. Luckily, many people before has played it, encountered bugs, and reported them. Always in a good-hearted way. It has made the game more and more stable. With your own reports, you have certainly contributed to this. I am very gratefull.

Now, I need to rebuild the game, and make sure those spiders actually work in a stress-test, before I update it!

[EditDotEXE]

Worm: Oh my problem isn't that some fights aren't hard enough, more than it seems uneven where the second form is much harder than any other fight which just doesn't make to much sense to me, though might be how I see which fights are hard since the second form's mob spawning makes it hard to not get hit and thus prompts killing it fast while all the others let you really just take your time.

Honestly I think it might just be best to keep it how it is rather than nerf the one challenging worm fight to fit the rest.

Collectables: I don't think a counter is needed for the levels, just some flavor text when you collect all the flasks and maybe kill all the mobs, since otherwise players can almost never know if they got them all and might search hours for flasks when they already got them all. Also that way it only effects players that are trying to find them all.

Water trolls: Oh I think they can be hit, but if I'm not wrong it's the same as the guardian where it only makes them go down for a little bit, maybe I just didn't hit them enough? Reminded me of the creature in the forest path lake that would go down if hit but didn't seem to die so I didn't try to kill the water trolls for too long.

Endgame: I meant more like one last chance to run around the map to get everything, but I guess that would be right when you get the ballista (unknowningly) the last time you can get to the main world before you pass the point of no return.

Mob spawning enemies: Oh yeah I didn't have too much trouble with them, was mostly joking.

World/Music: Oh yeah the music is great too!

End credit percentage: Uhh, that is more something to show off than anything, only something that allows people that want to 100% it to have more feedback.

Community: Oh think that is in a large part due to you, there isn't really rational any way to get mad at a dev that is nice and response so much. Also I think it's partly due to the smaller size of the audience, since there will always be someone that is upset and the bigger the audience the easier it is to see them as they are often very vocal.

Also I'd say people are really open to report bugs, since how I see it, it's helping a friend.

Cheers!