Some critique

[Frogger]

I think the game was really promising, almost really good, actually. Absolutely astonishing for (what seems to be) a solo dev. But after playing the current demo, there are a lot of hiccups that I feel the need to point out.

1. TUTORIAL - The tutorial needs a little work. Not just in the pacing, but I feel that the starting enemies should be weaker on health so the player doesn't resort to environmental hazards. And those enemies seem to not attack, which I think stalls the player from learning how to parry, which seems to be the core mechanic of the game. The graphics could use a little work too, just so the player can distinguish objects from each other, and so they know where they're going. The ladder is bright, but not immediately recognizable as a ladder, and could use a remodel down the line.

2. COMBAT - Attacking feels very souls-like, which contrasts heavily with the fast-paced NieR style of combat. The parrying feels very rewarding, only because it deals damage and makes a loud noise. Parrying can be very easy; with how wide the window is and the necessity for healing, parrying every possible attack becomes the sole focus in combat. disregard drone or attack since you deal damage when you parry. I think this can be mitigated by making the window for parrying smaller, the enemies telegraph sweeping moves slower, giving the player the ability to cancel attacks into parry, and making command attacks do significantly more damage than parries. The attacks don't flow well enough too the point where I couldn't tell how I performed certain moves. The high-commitment on each attack paired with choppy follow-ups (which feel like they where made without consideration for the previous moves) make combat feel incredibly incoherent. More flow between moving and attacking would be greatly appreciated.

And another combat issue I had in the demo boss fight. The targeting system is very claustrophobic, just a bit. The game seems to understand that the center of the target should be in frame, but not the rest of the enemy? The boss was hard to see when trying to move the camera higher, and I found out it was easier to see the boss without locking-on. having the camera zoom out to a landscape shot would be easier (like loz: botw), well I can wish for it at least.

3. WORLD - The world doesn't have convenient quest-markers, I think that's A-OK. The problem for me is that, if you're going for the no hand-holding method, then make it easy for the player to learn where to go without the markers. The reason you don't need markers in Dark Souls is because your guided by the difficulty of the places you explore. Are The Catacombs too difficult? Then go to over to the aquifer. Is the black night in the tower basement too much for you? Then go up the tower stairs and fight an easy boss. This type of conditioning doesn't restrict players as much as it points them towards the intended route. This works because Dark Souls is very restrictive in its environments, I've never heard anyone dare to call it open-world, even when it technically is.

The open world, scattered nature of V.A Proxy doesn't guide the player anywhere. The only way you'd know to climb the tower is if you meditated to get pointed in the right direction, which as far as I know, the game doesn't teach you. If it's not to hard, I'd consider putting harder enemies on the corners of the map (I think the scorpions do this just fine), and rearranging the city architecture to be more like the simple alleyways in NieR: Automata. The ladder and checkpoint to the Sin fight are out of the way and hard to notice, I wonder how many ladders I missed already with how they blend into the world's aesthetic.

4. BIRD UP - So the bird has a grab attack and then it just fly away with you?? I guess its because the grab cancels the enemy's combat status or something. And there's no fall damage so I don't know what was supposed to happen. (currently) You can't maintain air combat long enough to kill a bird, so I don't think you're supposed to fly away. At first, I assumed you would maybe get carried to a nest to fight, but nope. You just fall out of the sky after a while.

CONCLUSION - The entire time I played the demo, I never thought once that the game was inherently bad even a little. The inspiration and passion shines with the presentation. I was always thinking "If the devs had enough money to do this..." or "If the devs had enough time to do that...". The game is good, but this definitely feels like a proof of concept to me, and it's proved enough. Can't wait for more updates, and I am excited for a full release down the line.