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Temple of Endymion's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #8 | 3.812 | 3.812 |
| Relevance to the theme | #8 | 4.281 | 4.281 |
| Execution | #9 | 3.844 | 3.844 |
| Overall | #10 | 3.788 | 3.788 |
| Metroidvania | #28 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
| Sensory | #38 | 3.375 | 3.375 |
Ranked from 32 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Theme interpretation and application
A tiny Metroidvania where the entire map fits within one screen.
Team/Developer
winterbraid
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Comments
Very well scoped for the jam ! It was an interesting concept and it had solid execution. I had fun ! Though, I agree with comments saying the gravity switching was underutilized.
Really cool entry!! Loved that it was basically one room, and nice you got two boss fights in there. I wish there was a little more to use the gravity switching for, because it was so well implemented! Although it was neat in the final fight. Audio was a little out of balance for me, but that's a small complaint. And I also really like how it starts zoomed in, and then reveals more and more, nice touch. Great job!!
Good job with the gravity control mechanics, really liked how you slowly uncover the temple. Also final boss was very challenging. Awesome game!
Very well made game, great work!
The sound effects felt a bit too loud and some way to see your health would have been nice, but those are my only real criticisms. Otherwise the game is very well put together. There's an astonishing amount going on for just one room, and I never felt lost while playing. The colour palette and pixel art looks great.
I also found the gun upgrade hilarious. Complete subversion of expectations in the best way possible.
This is a very creative way to use a limited space (multiple layers of levels). Also a fellow gravity-switching game! I cheer.
Visuals were lovely, audio was a bit unbalanced. There was juice, which I really appreciate. Theme was greatly implement. It's a really fun little game!
Loved the overall buildup - the small level getting bigger, the music introduction, and how the whole area turned into an arena. It was a little unclear at first how to unlock the gravity power-up, but I got through it. Nice little game.
Very cool short game! I really liked the spritework, despite being so low resolution, and liked the idea of having a "single screen" metroidvania.
Really liked the gravity mechanic, and how you use it for the last boss (both bosses were really well made too!).
I think I would have preferred to not be able to zoom out or in myself, having it the game handle it at specific points (like the spider boss) feels like it could have been better, and defaulted on having the whole map in the screen while exploring (to hammer the point of being a single screen map a bit more, just a preference).
My only complain is that the gun was a little bit too loud compared to the rest of the sounds, so even when I lowered my volume, when shooting it would drown every other sound and music.
Dope game! The second I started to shoot the gun I was actually laughing that thing is crazy, it kinda reminds me of noita a little bit. I'm curious to see like if you made this a larger game because this is really fun I gotta say, I'm imagining like wall sliding and gun upgrades like recoil or something.
OVERALL, I had a lot of fun playing and this was a dope lil sweet game.
Neat little game! It’s very cleanly scoped, which is quite a challenge for a gamejam, especially when you’re new. I quite enjoyed the final boss, and the way the level developed to get there. Hope making this was an educational experience for you!
I really enjoyed how the game transforms with the upgrades, and it's quite fun to explore the new possibilities (breaking blocks, changing gravity). I only read the description after playing, and it was interesting to see it all become a boss arena while I was playing.
I think the only thing I have to add is that the final fight is quite difficult; I feel it's more because the speed of executing the gravity-altering command makes it hard to synchronize with the need to dodge.
Very cool idea! Mechanics that fit well, good art (especially the final boss, very good).
Congratulations for the game :)
What I saw from the game was really enjoyable, but I could for whatever reason not shoot? Is this an ability I have to unlock or a technical issue?
Still the art style is consistent and the secret paths give interesting "aha"-moments. Greate Jam entry!
Thank you! The gun is found in the top right corner of the map, it should be visible on your character after you pick it up. You can shoot with button 1 of the gamepad (Xbox A/Nintendo B/bottom face button), Ctrl, or Shift, and aim with Left Stick/Arrows.
If you're trying to play the browser build with a gamepad, it is possible that your model may not be fully supported - I sadly discovered too late that the gamepad support in the browser isn't quite as good as with Windows, in which case I apologize. However, trying the Windows .exe version might help! (And if it doesn't, then it must be some kind of bug that I never discovered, in which case I also apologize!)
i like it
Enjoyment 4/5: Gave me a couple of neat "oh!" moments including but not limited to the part at the end with the gravity.
Execution: 4/5: A little jank in the platforming and the first boss overstayed its welcome for me but besides that it felt fine.
Sensory: 3/5: Visuals were very nice. Audio was workable. Gun felt maybe a little loud, but not offensively so.
Metroidvania 5/5: Honestly really impressive for such a small scope. You did at least an approximation of a Metroidvania experience into this.
Minimalism 5/5: "A tiny Metroidvania where the entire map fits within one screen." Yep
IMO you have the talent to make something cool at larger scale. Following so I'll be sure I see it if you do!
Thank you for your kind words!!! I am definitely planning to join the next Metroidvania Month. :)
Out of curiosity, what would you recommend improving about the platforming?
It's hard to define on the jank--I think it was mostly that I tried climbing the right first which might have been an inadvertent Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy type of experience, and it seemed like if you got into the 1x1 notches between 'jumps' it was not very easy to jump out again.
The only other nitpick here is that I don't think I had a health bar/indicator.
For the record the note about boss health is only for boss 1. The main one actually felt about right.
I enjoyed this game. I didn't know I was playing a shooter so finding the rifle was a great moment of revenge. I did not immediately find the gravity orb. I somehow missed the wall opening up.
I like the visuals overall. The sprites are fun. I like the little dragon dude a lot. The level is very basic but successful I think. I think the weak point is probably the camera. A fixed camera would have been more effective.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the game! And yeah, I think if I make another Metroidvania, I'll go with simple room-by-room camera and movement.
My thoughts while playing the game:
Thank you! And sorry you got lost, I'll definitely try to create a better sense of direction next time!😂
A 1-screen-game is great for the minimalist aspect here, really cool. It was a bit unclear what needed to be done after collecting the powerups and fighting the beetle though, as nothing changed the first time I hit a switch.
- Jetsa
Thanks for playing! And yeah, that's on me for not making it clearer. The first switch opens a bunch of doors that lead to the gravity orb, but it's easily missable due to being all the way over to the side and the camera zoom happening at the same time, and the orb itself being covered up by false walls until you get up close.
at first i was dumb and didnt know how to use the gun. but then i re read on how to aim and i found myself enjoying this. the artstyle and such hits the right cord and the 2 bosses do demonstrate on how to use the items.
graphics are well done and rewarding
Thank you! That's probably on me for building around the gamepad too much, the keyboard controls aren't so great tbh.
The use of a single room worked well. Seeing it turn into a giant boss arena at the end was very cool.
The beetle boss was quite fun, and I liked how it introduces itself shrouded in darkness with the glow on its back looking like a spooky face.
The flashlight feels a little disorienting to use though, due to it taking a while to rotate towards where your character is facing.
No health bar also felt a little odd, although I did start to get a little bit of a feel for how many hits you can take.
The gravity orb felt very cool to obtain. When I read the item name and figured out what it did, in my head I went "man, that's sick." Makes me wish the game was just a little longer so I could use it more. Do wish that the little direction pointer for it didn't take so long to rotate though, it felt quite sluggish.
Good game overall 👍
Thank you! It is basically just a hodge podge of mechanics that I thought would be cool to throw in together (the flashlight was basically me learning how to write shaders), and by the time I got it all to a semi-functioning state, there kinda wasn't much time left to make an actual game haha. Glad you were able to enjoy it regardless!
at first i thought that the power up was only up and down and took a bit to figure it out(but im dumb so it's probably not an issue) but got to the end! the game feel is pretty nice and the art is charming!
Thank you, I'm glad people are enjoying my rapidly thrown together art!
rat with a gun. rat with a gun. the rat has a gun.
I really love the controls, its pretty finicky to learn and i was frustrated since once i kinda got a good feel for it the game ended and i wanted moreeeeeee. Really fun. The zoom in after receiving the weapon and the comically loud and rapid shooting was very powerful. The wall ledge grab and death animation are very cute.
Having everything in one screen is a really cool take on the minimalist theme but i do think the scope of the game needed to be just little bigger to have that metroidvania vibe. Maybe like the map gets smaller and smaller to fit the new areas you unlocked, basically what you did but on a larger scale. But thats like to keep it more on metroidvania side the game is very fun.
Rat with a gun.
Thank you a lot for your kind words! To be 100% honest I kinda realized pretty early on that the "one screen" idea didn't have as much mileage as I thought it did, and at times I was close to giving up on the project completely. I'm glad I pushed through, though - and I figured at least the game doesn't overstay its welcome!
Another problem was that this was my first time making a Metroidvania and I spent a long time just making the controls. I think the camera and gravity powerup alone took nearly half of the time allotted. At that point, I didn't really have much energy left to make enemies or the actual level, especially since I also had to take multiple days off due to losing faith in the project. I think the lesson for the future is to stick to basic mechanics, especially if it's my first time making a game in a particular genre...
P.S. If you want to see more adventures of the (admittedly very rat-like) dinosaur with a gun, you could always check out my first game! It is much simpler in terms of gameplay, being a simple space shooter, but there's more of a story focus (and at least one gun). ;)
I uh feel you on the pain of coding the camera and powerups i pretty much also spent the entirety on the jam trying to figure that stuff out lmao.
Also I did play the first game on ur page, immediately after finished this one actually. Crazy vibes on that joint. I did quite enjoy that one gun sequence hehe