Hello,
So I played your game and here is my feedback in no particular order -- I didn't look at other people's feedback so you can get a sample if someone said the same thing I did so here goes:
1- I really like the art for the game, while it is minimalist it is cute and I really liked it.
2- The game is simple and can be grasped after a few death. I only learned of Z when I was on the platform and that was for upgrades which I couldn't use or do anything in because I had no money. I would suggest not starting with the upgrades menu it slightly confusing why are you presenting this at the moment when I have no use for it. On the other hand you didn't present X and I was like pressing "Up" and "Space". Only after dying twice (because I was trying the controls and started moving around) that I figured perhaps the "X" button would work.
3- Your game is hard but that is fine -- I don't mind hard games. The problem however, is that your game is unfair. For example when I jump down, I can't see what is below me and I have no time to react. So if I make a gamble and just jump down, it is a one way ticket. So you'd need to watch out of these things, in a platformer your player MUST ALWAYS know where they are going to land. The only exception to the rule is when he is going to land on a safe zone -- you don't have to show it, however, be careful with that. Players will assume that it is a fall to their death, so if you have that kind of mechanic you need to teach it to the player.
4- The game breaks the rules it sets ALL the time. For example one truss column could be something I can stand, but another could be a pass through and foreground element while a third would block my movement and trap me with spikes to death. Not a good idea to make them all look the same. You need the game to be easily readable for the player and help him make decisions according to what he reads.
5- The game tricks me into dying. There are times when I was walking around only to find I am dead. When I come across the same area again I concentrate hard only to notice there is like 1-2 pixels protruding next to the step I need to jump on and if I touch it I die. That is really bad, it is like you're setting me up to die rather than giving me the tools to survive and my death becomes my own mistake.
6- Following from number, 3, 4 and 5, you have areas where if you drop down it is a death and others I can drop down and move past the screen to the next area. You need to separate both -- how am I to know when is falling down is bad and when it is OK?
7- The spikes that you sometimes litter around, while easy to see, sometimes they aren't obvious to be a death sentence. For example the big spike that comes out of the floor, that one tricked me. I honestly thought at first that it was a tree.
8- While it is a platformer, it felt fun and cute to play. I honestly enjoyed the game (when the game wasn't conspiring to kill me).
9- The level design is a bit too weird and needs some edits but generally can be managed with a few deaths and luck.
All in all, I think this game has quite the potential and I like the whole premise of the game along with the art and the music. I really liked it. However, I would recommend if you are going to make it a hard game that you study hard games. A good case to study in difficulty is Dark Souls. The game is hard to play but not a single player could ever blame the game for their death. The game is extremely fair and gives you all the tools to survive and shows you every single danger. It gives you the opportunity to learn and adapt.
Good luck and hope to see this greenlit!
All I want to say is thank you.
I read it a few days ago but I haven't so much time to answer you. A lot of things that you wirte helped me to the re-work of the game. The difficulty, the unfair deads, collition masks, controls, etc.
As I said, Thank you a lot!, I'll work to make and adapt the game to be more "confortable" to the player.
Also, I never player Dark Souls by myself, only watched videos of it, maybe I could learn something about what you said before if I play it.
Developer
