General thoughts

I really like the art direction. It immediately gave me a sort of Diablo meets Loop Hero feeling, and the overall presentation made me want to understand what was going on.

What I liked

• The visual style is easily the standout for me. It has a strong identity and feels polished for a prototype.
• The grid, abilities, enemies, and surrounding UI make the game look like there could be a good amount of tactical depth here.
• The core presentation was interesting enough that I wanted to experiment and figure it out.

What I would change

• Even for a prototype, I think some kind of short tutorial or additional guidance would help a lot. I could see the available actions, but I was not immediately confident about how all of the systems fit together or what I should be prioritizing.
• I would keep the guidance lightweight rather than overexplaining. Just enough to get a new player into the loop and then let them learn naturally.
• I would also recommend linking directly to the game/prototype you want feedback on instead of your profile page. Removing that extra step makes it much easier for people to jump straight in and test the right thing.

Overall, I think the presentation is already doing a lot of work for you. The main thing I would focus on is making the first few minutes easier to understand so players can get into the actual strategy without having to first figure out how the game works.

Please consider giving my game a try, it’s browser based with a tight 2-3 minute game loop: https://barelyplayable.itch.io/blade-baes-brawl

Feedback form submissions preferred: https://forms.gle/fsJrAZDhJtP1CFXX8

Let me know if you’d like an invite to try the invite-only full alpha build :)

The art style is very strong here, did you hand draw the layout? Its very reminiscent of some older PC adventure games. Each sprite is meticulously drawn in a minimalist style, giving it a mix of dark fantasy with a slightly cute aesthetic (especially on the mage on the left). The game's inherent cycle is rather intuitive, the player isn't given too many options from the start. 

Feedback on some things is a little unclear. I think I leveled up at one point? I didn't see anything change from it.  Spells show all the areas they can be fired at, this is helpful, but I wasn't always clear what the damage area of a spell would be. Although I think showing a damage field for the spell's after effect would be helpful. Here's a picture:

It'd also be cool if we saw how much damage targets were taking something like:

the backdrops you've drawn here are jaw dropping, very intricate I'm almost kinda sad you don't put some of the best upfront, what we saw early on is good, but...

Did an elite run, then it seems the game loops after that

Overall, solid setup, decently fun and intuitive combat loop, that could use more clear feedback, but has a gorgeous backdrop.