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REVERSE VAMPIRE FIX's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme - How well did it incorporate the jam theme? | #8 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Scope - Was the game focused on one tiny idea? | #23 | 4.056 | 4.056 |
| Overall | #27 | 3.289 | 3.289 |
| Overall - As a final product, what is your overall rating? | #30 | 3.056 | 3.056 |
| Core Loop – Is the core loop fun/enjoyable? | #36 | 2.722 | 2.722 |
| Polish – Did the slice feel like a finished game? | #38 | 2.500 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
The game has a strong visual style and definitely looks cool at first glance, which helped pull me in. That said, the experience felt confusing because I would randomly lose with no clear reason, so it was hard to learn or improve. The controls also felt very difficult to handle, which made the challenge feel more frustrating than fun.
Games can be difficult and frustrating and I feel exactly the same way often. :) The good news is that this game is deterministic and when you get the basics it’s easy. Enemies are slow and most of them take one shot to defeat. Feel welcome to speak with me if you want to share more about your experience.
I never really thought I’d read the same complaints I have been expressing about games. If it helps, I get how you feel and I believe in you! I know you can beat my game. You had a rocky start. That happens sometimes. Once it clicks, I think you’ll do great.
I like the art style (just like many other devs here)! One thing I found a bit frustrating, though, is the rotated mirror with mouse control. It feels a bit unintuitive to me: when I want to shoot the ghost, I have to close the mirror or shoot blindly. While from a dev's perspective, I'm not sure if there's a better design that would still fit your concept, I wanted to share this as feedback :)
I get what you are saying, I wanted people to shoot from memory (the ghosts are really slow). It is slightly hard to imagine where the reflection of the player is and where the reflection of the spirit is relating to that reflection. I think I’ll leave the mirror around for a few seconds in the complete version.
Really cool mechanic and interesting artstyle, I think it could use a bit more polishing and a more "refined" ending, but it has so much potential to be expanded, if you ever do so I'd absolutely love to see it.
Congratulations :)
Oh, thank you so much! I’ll definitely put in a bit more work and make a small post-jam version with some voice acting and polish.
I really enjoyed this! I plan to play some more later tonight since I only have access to my laptop atm (though I was able to make trackpoint work pretty well on my thinkpad for aiming surprisingly haha)! The atmosphere is super cool. Very bleak and spooky. The ghost sounds were really nice and made everything tense. Kind of gave me a dark souls vibe in that it felt bleak and lonely (in a good way of course). I also enjoyed improving at the aiming each time I died. Great job with this one!
Something strange happened to me. At first there were two ghosts, and then I wandered around completely alone for about three minutes. Then a whole crowd of them rushed at me and I didn't have time to shoot them all. :(
But still, the game was enjoyable. I really liked the atmosphere and the art. When you hear a ghost, you really tense up and start spinning that mirror XD
I planned that ambush. :) I guess it might be a bit much. I’m glad it is spooky.
I think my main critique is the level design. I saw your comment below about the nightmare that repeats itself and that's a really cool idea, but it's a tricky one to pull off in a black and white colour palette with limited assets, without the time to create clearer landmarks that show the world repeating itself. The river to the north did not read as crossable at all, I would have not gone over it if I hadn't read another comment below. So you have a situation where the way north seems like the only way not to go, leading players to wander endlessly through the east, west and south!
I liked the art style and concept, but I don't think I really fully got the hang of pinpointing where the ghosts are (though I think that improved the more I replayed hehe). I found it easiest to wait for them to be right on top of me rather than trying to pinpoint them at a location in the distance. I'd be curious how this might play with other projectile or weapon types.
spoiler
I hoped players will spam the mirror and see the path revealed.Thanks for the constructive criticism. Agreed, without hints and indication of progress, it’s hard to discover what do next, especially at a jam where you have 10 games to playtest.
I’m super happy you were able to make it to the river. That requires skill.
Spoiler
Ohhh I see! That river "aha moment" is a really cool idea!
Very interesting concept! I was a bit lost at first as I didn't know I had to go north (but that's on me, didn't read haha). I thought the "river" was some kind of wall so I didn't bother going past this the first time.
Otherwise, cool mechanic and definitely fits the theme well
Wow, you got to the river area! That is amazing, you made my day. Were you able to cross it? <3 Thanks a lot for playtesting my game and providing meaningful feedback.
I initially intended for players to get lost and wander around a bit, I’m starting to think it was a bad choice! I considered adding a guiding arrow. Perhaps that would have been a good direction.
Thanks and have a great jam.
Nice concept. The art looks nice and how the mirror rotates around the player is well made. Is reaching north the goal? I'd add a hint for it ingame, I hope I didn't miss it (aside from the game's description).
Thanks a lot for the feedback, I’ll definitely make it simpler.
Originally, I did strongly consider having an arrow guide the player (like in an arcade brawler game). When I was making it under pressure, I had hope people would want to explore the world and figure out they are trapped in a nightmarish world that repeats itself. When they head west, south and east, the return to the exact same spot. This would leave north as the only direction that leads anywhere. As if the game is forcing the player down a path, the hero should be reluctant to go. That was pretentious perhaps. I was hoping to express the feeling of cold, hopelessness, dread and such. My intention was that the combat mechanic itself will be fun (like in Silent Hill), cause the game itself mostly conveys despair. I took the theme and experimented with it as a game mechanic and as a concept.
You definitely achieved creating your desired atmosphere, I was only wondering if going north is the THE goal or a hidden second goal. I totally see your point. Again, nice job on your game. It's difficult to pull off what you did in just a few days.
That is very kind. Yep, the boss is in the north, and if you can beat it, you win the game. <3
I think I need to learn, through experience, how to communicate expectations and reward players when they figure things out. I want players to know when they’re making progress toward an intended goal. :) When players discover something interesting that I didn’t plan for, I’d like that to feel fun and natural, and that can be a bit more difficult.
My favorite things in games are unexpected, fun experiences to discover, like bunny hopping in Quake. It’s fun when people end up knowing your game better than you do! To get there, you need to communicate your game world and intentions clearly, in a natural, intuitive way.
Having such a great community makes the journey even more fulfilling.