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[Raku]

Thank you very much! Ahh I didnt even realize that about the cloud cat haha.
Speaking of cat sprites, made a unique enemy sprite of a friend's character for my game

[Ian_A]

This looks great! 

[Raku]

Thank you very much!

[Ishi]

I was thinking about your game so just dropping by to say keep up the hard work!

[Raku]

Thank you so much Ishi! That means a lot coming from you!

Here is a shot from a big cutscene Ive been working on!

[SNESMINION]

Alright, before I begin my review this game up to the point I reached thus far (after the first area boss, played the first level in the next zone) I'd like to give some preliminary sentiments. Kirby is a series I enjoy thoroughly, I rate Superstar and 64 as some of my favorite games of all time, and to this day I didn't think anything could ever dethrone them... Until I started playing this. The game imparts a sense of wonder, the likes of which I hadn't felt in a long time. There's a certain something special in this game, something that filled me with such a sense of nostalgia and excitement that nearly drove me to tears of joy. Enough of that though, onto the review proper.

This game is phenomenal.

The art is charming and vibrant, making everything pop and feel alive. All the characters and enemies have features that make them stand out, give them flavor, and personality distinctly their own. That said I did notice a hiccup or two, though none that would be terribly difficult to fix (and are fairly negligible). One thing I'd like to point out at this time, it bothers me that some of the power-up emblems (the identifiers on Jack's character model) do not behave very well when crouching as they don't move and cover jack's face. I will try to find a way to add an image of the hiccups i found... or send it to Raku directly (probably through twitter.

Next comes the Mechanics, which are wonderful, but not without their faults. Dodging on the ground feels a bit stiff since you can't move, and most of the time that doesn't save you from getting hit. Jumping feels nice, you've go a good height and arc which can technically extended if at the height of your jump you spam dodge to cancel some of your momentum. Though one thing I found to be a frustrating problem is how jumping off a ledge works, where you need to time jumps a few pixels ahead of edge of a platform, or you'll end up falling. That problem coupled with issues telling solid and semisolid (can be passed through from underneath) platforms apart made for a few rather upsetting moments in a few levels. Where this game really shines is in it's powers, which all function in a similar but unique fashion. Most of the basic power-ups are variations of projectile or passive aid (vigor and vigilant being part of the passive camp)... But the fun doesn't truly start until you beat the first boss and receive the ability to combine two powers at once! It was at this moment I felt the game give me a jolt of excitement and life, my eyes welling up with tears.

All and all the game feels pretty solid so far, I do plan on making updates as I progress. As for right now I have only a few nitpicks and issues that i'll list.

1. Some of the hit-boxes seem off, as well as collision for some things.
2. Due to not having much distinction between what can be jumped through makes platforming feel a bit inconsistent.
3. I think giving the first boss (Guutara) a balance update may be in order, since the gun soul breaks the encounter fairly easily by being able to stand and spam with only a few somewhat precise dodges in order to annihilate him and his poochy. The weak-point can be hit by standing where you start and just shooting while holding up to hit every time, and the short period from when you get into the fight and the boss intro you can fire one bullet which if you then spam hitting the dog it'll die before even one attack.

That wraps things up for part 1 of my review. I'll return with part 2 when I get through the next area.

[freank]

nice work ! Good game !

[Raku]

@SNESMINION, thank you so much for the indepth comment! I appreciate all you've said and Im glad the game gives you such happiness.

I'd noticed the body parts not looking too well when ducking as well, and I had just never thought about it hard enough, but thankfully I just fixed it and made it so that they disappear when Jack ducks. It sounds like it wouldnt work, but it looks surprisingly good, from what Im seeing so far! I'll have to test every one of them to make sure none of them look odd to disappear when ducking.
Dodging on the ground- Im not sure if this is in the current demo or not, but I've fixed a few hiccups with that. namely small things like, if you dodge when a yellow puff hits you, your spin will dissipate it for example. I've had a lot of complaints that dodging the poofs was hard due to them slowing down and not passing through jack by the time his dodge animation ends.

I definitely put in a handful of abilities to cater to people who want to play passively or carefully, camping is a-okay in my game.

Some hitboxes might feel off due to them being smaller than sprites, but if youd like you can give me a few examples you find and I can look into if they're not set right or anything.

Gun soul is definitely the best way to get rid of Guutara, and Im glad players are figuring out that they can beat him that way. I have been thinking about maybe giving his weak point a period where it cant be damaged, if the player uses the gun, just to even things out a bit. (every other boss in the game has a weak point that is only hittable at certain times, this first boss is the only one who is always vulnerable)

Again thank you for being so thorough in your review so far, I appreciate the feedback very much, its helpful.


@freank, thank you too! I appreciate the support!

[Raku]

New updated demo! Check the very first post in this thread, next to the red text!
I apologize for my inactivity in this thread recently, I've been having some financial problems Ive needed to focus on recently.

[Diabetes Forecast]

EXCITEMENT

E: SOMEHOW EVERYTHING IS EVEN CUTER THAN BEFORE???

[nathy after dark]

Saw this in the screenshots thread, and replying to subscribe!

[ashpd]

Whoa... Now this game is even more awesome . What kind of magic is this  ?

Also I found new bug on the "Linear A" level. After meeting with that new cat-lady:

I didn't attack her and went back in order to see her jumping animation, but when she reached the second slope she just stuck to the ground with infinite "trtrtrtrtr" sound.

But otherwise the game looks (and sounds) great. Can't wait for full version .

[Superb Joe]

New updated demo! Check the very first post in this thread, next to the red text!
I apologize for my inactivity in this thread recently, I've been having some financial problems Ive needed to focus on recently.

have you thought about selling your game in "early access" or whatever

[Conker]

I agree with Superb Joe and I'd take it a step further

You've developed a really dope style over the years. I'm surprised you haven't taken up more avenues to make money using this skill.

Patreon and early access begs for people like you. 

[Jack Dandy]

This is 90's as all hell! I'm all over it!

[AnaGuillenFdez]

This is 90's as all hell! I'm all over it!

I agree. I love the art style, it makes me feel nostalgic. Mechanics remind me to classic 2D platformers, I would love to try it.

[io3 creations]

I would love to try it.

There's a demo link in the first post.

[Raku]

@applefat, thanks!

@ashpd, Ah thank you for telling me! I'll fix it

@Superb Joe, I'm probably going to sell the game when it's finished on my itch.io page, I can't afford not to anymore

@ConkrMich, thank you! I'm starting up a Patreon very soon actually. Not sure if it's okay to post on here when I do, but I'll post it elsewhere if so.

[Evil Sonic]

This game is really amazing and I love the art style!

I actually saw this a few months ago but after playing the most recent demo I appreciate it more since it is really fun to play. I do have a few things to say, sorry if they've already been asked/mentioned but is there going to be a controller option (if not, then an option to change the keys?), the game is a little hard to control with the current scheme for me since after a while using the keyboard to play hurts my hands. Another question, the Man and Dog boss is easy to get the hang of but I feel like there's not enough time to react to the beam (especially when it's the first time it happens). Is it possible to make that a bit slower?

Looking forward to seeing more! :D

[banannaman]

@ Evil Sonic   I have just been using joy2key as a way to control the game with a controller, it's just a program to bind keys to controller buttons so it's pretty minimal effort to set up. and if you're having trouble in this game understanding the dodge timings is key for me so my suggestion would be to spend a few runs on him practicing dodging and learning his pattern, kinda like in a Platinum games game. that being the case if you bind keys to a controller i recommend the bumpers/triggers (whichever you prefer) since you'll want to have it very handy.