Hey! I played up to level 5 and really enjoyed it. The art and the music are great, and the core gameplay loop is addictive. Here’s my feedback:
What I liked
- The art style and the music fit the game really well.
- The core gameplay hooked me.
- The movement controls feel good.
- The scarecrow tutorial dialogue is a nice touch.
Bugs
- Level 2 death loop: I got stuck in a loop where I kept dying and respawning over and over on the loading screen. Maybe the player is spawned or takes damage before the level has finished loading, or the respawn point overlaps a hazard. Spawning the player only once the level is ready, plus a short invulnerability on respawn, could fix it.
- Level 3 soft-lock: if you jump down at the end before killing every enemy, the game says you have to kill them all to continue, but the jump isn’t high enough to get back up, so you’re stuck. A barrier before the drop, a way back up, or showing the warning before the jump would fix it.
- Level 5 bonfire: when you respawn at the bonfire, a skeleton spawns right on top of you. Invulnerability on respawn, or keeping enemy spawns away from the checkpoint, would help.
Things to improve
- Jump: when you barely touch a wall or a corner, the jump gets cut in half. It feels like any collision resets the vertical velocity. Corner correction, and only cancelling the vertical velocity on a real ceiling hit, would make it feel much smoother.
- Controls: J and K for attack and interact felt a bit awkward. Rebindable keys or more common defaults, like E to interact or Z/X, would help. So would gamepad support.
- Combat: it comes down to spamming the attack button. A short combo with its own timing, a dodge or dash, a block or parry, or enemies that telegraph their attacks would add depth.
- Enemy variety: more enemy types would make it less repetitive as you progress.
- Story / intro: a short intro explaining who the hero is, what’s happening to the village and what the goal is would give more context before the tutorial.
Overall it’s a really solid base with a lot of charm. Great job, and good luck with the jam!