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[Lain]

This looks extremely well polished and put together, especially for a MMF game.
The trailer showcased some interesting platforming too but for me i find it very hollow and it doesnt bring anything new to the table design or concept wise.

Maybe it's hard to see the full picture from what you have shown so far but I hope there is an extra element in there that will bring you into the game and into the world.

It would be a shame if this ended up being just a pixelly metroidvania game with no soul.

[Hempuli‽]

Unfortunately it will be exactly that!

[Bandreus]

I mean, a pixelated metroidvania game, what else could one ask? And it doesnt look soul-less at all to me btw 

[sergiocornaga]

I'm totally happy with the gimmick-free direction this game seems to be headed in. I don't mind if it closely follows established conventions, I find the invented technical constraints, attention to design and cool biological stuff far more compelling!

[Martin 2BAM]

I mean, a pixelated metroidvania game, what else could one ask? And it doesnt look soul-less at all to me btw 

I agree.
Good controls, confortable mechanics and a great level/enemy design and you'll make the niche love it!

[Lain]

Just that I though this game has a lot potential to go places, especially because its so well polished in all other areas.. There is nothing wrong with mindless fun and engaging gameplay though.

[Ashkin]

it doesnt bring anything new to the table design or concept wise

Why are all indies completely obsessed with innovation to the point that they forget to make games fun

[Lain]

it doesnt bring anything new to the table design or concept wise

Why are all indies completely obsessed with innovation to the point that they forget to make games fun

Yeah, because adding something new immediately means no fun.. Except it doesn't.
The game creator answered me by mentioning the game will just be a simple but fun metroidvania experience and that is just fine.

My opinion, although not all super positive in all aspects, there is no need to try to go mob mentality on me and put me in the wrong.
I can not wait to play this game, but I also expressed it would be great if it added something extra, which it apparently won't and that is just fine, although a shame.

[airman4]

it doesnt bring anything new to the table design or concept wise

Why are all indies completely obsessed with innovation to the point that they forget to make games fun

Because if you do something already done , no one will play your game more than One second.

[Ashkin]

it doesnt bring anything new to the table design or concept wise

Why are all indies completely obsessed with innovation to the point that they forget to make games fun

Yeah, because adding something new immediately means no fun.. Except it doesn't.

Perhaps I phrased that in an extreme way. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the whole thing, but basically I think that innovation should not be pursued as an absolute goal of gaming- I view it as more of a thing needed when something else becomes stale. I don't mean one should make clones of the same game mechanics again and again, but I think mixing tried and true components can achieve fun. I think people should focus on making games, what they believe to be fun- if that fun is found through innovation, I have nothing against that. However, if people want to perfect a formula instead, I also think they should do that. Whatever is fun for the game maker. As long as the innovators don't blaspheme the traditionalists and vice-versa.
tl;dr: Make games, in whatever way is fun for you.

[Schoq]

Any moderately ambitious game will almost inevitably ""Innovate"" regardless of how much the creator pursues it unless they're literally making a clone.
Hempuli is a good developer and I don't doubt that this will be a unique and fun game, especially for fans of metroid-likes. From the looks of it it has ten times the "soul" of any self-proclaimed "innovative/experimental" game.

I really thought we were past this shit.

[rek]

Yeah, because adding something new immediately means no fun.. Except it doesn't.

The opposite is true as well: a game needn't be innovative to be fun, or have depth, or soul.

[Hempuli‽]

Personally I think the best indie games are often those which do something weird and new, because to me one of the defining things of the indie scene is that developers aren't restricted from experimenting.

Also I strongly criticize the whole concept of 'soul' in games because it's just a way of saying "I really like this game" while trying to make it less of a subjective and more of an objective thing.

Also also I think in the context of ESA this whole discussion is a bit useless, since I've at least tried to imply from the beginning that this game doesn't really have much of its own going on at any point. I appreciate and somewhat agree with the notion that this is a 'shame' and removes some of the game's potential, but I also do think that if the game's good enough in other areas, it can still be viewed as a 'good' game.

(I'm not really sure if the game's actually as fun to play as the gifs imply, but that's something left to be seen)

[Bandreus]

(I'm not really sure if the game's actually as fun to play as the gifs imply, but that's something left to be seen)

I obviously don't want to add to the expectation, but gameplay seems pretty spot on by the look of it. Release a demo soon maybe? *hint* *hint*

Also, in addition to gameplay, what makes metroidvania games tick is the novelty of discovery and the sense of wonder when encountering new and interesting things. Looks to me ESA is promising in that department as well

[Hempuli‽]

(I'm not really sure if the game's actually as fun to play as the gifs imply, but that's something left to be seen)

I obviously don't want to add to the expectation, but gameplay seems pretty spot on by the look of it. Release a demo soon maybe? *hint* *hint*

Also, in addition to gameplay, what makes metroidvania games tick is the novelty of discovery and the sense of wonder when encountering new and interesting things. Looks to me ESA is promising in that department as well

Why thanks! The latter is something I hope I've managed to create to the game, because it's definitely the reason why I've enjoyed many metroidvanias. I suppose I should get more playtesters.

[Ashkin]

(I'm not really sure if the game's actually as fun to play as the gifs imply, but that's something left to be seen)

I can assure you, it is.

[Hempuli‽]

Just a simple pic to imply that I'm not dead:

[kleiba]

Just a simple pic to imply that I'm not dead:

With ESA, even simple screenshots make us happy! :-)

[Quarry]

Will we ever get a build, pwease?

[Hempuli‽]

...To be honest, I highly doubt the possibility of that. You see, I'm quite sure (based on previous experiences) that there are several things that'll only get added when the development process is nearly over (little details, polish, effects, audio) and I don't think I'd be comfortable with releasing a demo/beta/whatever version the content of which wasn't at least nearly final.

Today the completion percent crawled up to 64%! Whee! The tenth boss is giving me some problems, but while waiting for ideas I'm doing some new areas and redesigning certain old ones.