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Anxst's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme Integration | #10 | n/a | n/a |
| Technical Execution and Completion | #12 | n/a | n/a |
| Impact and Engagement | #13 | n/a | n/a |
| Playability and Fun Factor | #14 | n/a | n/a |
| Innovation and Creativity | #31 | n/a | n/a |
| Community Favorite | #59 | 2.598 | 3.000 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Well done, i love the music especially. It was an enjoyable and fun experience overall.
It took me a while (and a sore hand :D) but i did finish the last boss. I agree with Vitor that maybe there needs to be more defensive options because once there are 3 enemies on screen it is impossible to avoid being hit.
Yes, you can burn down the first enemy and the last 50% HP of the final boss but it doesn't feel good in my opinion.
Thanks! A lot of effort was put into the music, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Yeah, there were some mechanics that I wanted to implement during the jam. I had some ideas of maybe regen HP on 10x Perfects in a row or something like that, or even just copying what Mega Man Star Force did with their shield and add parry.
I'm happy to hear that you got to the final boss! I had a lot of fun with it. A lot of that was inspired by One Step From Eden and Elden Ring. But yeah, everybody's going to take away their own fun from the game, like I said, I would've loved to add parry. For me, I had a lot of fun with dodging left/right, but only once you get into the zone but it takes a bit to get there.
Thanks for playing! And good job getting to the final boss :D
Very, very interesting gameplay! I also liked how you tied the Game Jam’s theme into the writing.
I think the "defensive" aspects could use a bit more tuning. On the 3rd level, I often found myself getting hit no matter what I did. Personally, I think it would be more intuitive if more things synced to the rhythm, like enemy movement, player movement, or projectile timing, etc. But, maybe that’s just a skill issue hahaha.
One small note about the 3rd level’s music: it starts without a very clear beat, which made it a bit tricky to follow the rhythm. Maybe a more pronounced metronome-like sound could help players get oriented during the start of the level?
Thanks for sharing this game! I can see that a lot of love and effort went into it, and I had a great time playing.
Thanks for playing! 💚
Honestly, that was kind of the intent, I gave the player more HP because of that very reason. To illustrate that you can't really get by without getting hit and that getting hit is normal, I didn't take into account the short duration of the game probably didn't let player get used to it at all XD I did consider adding a shield/parry mechanics, but didn't have time what with one week left and everything else not being done.
That's a brilliant idea actually, can't believe I didn't think of that, syncing the movements/attack to the beat. Oh man, I wish I thought of that earlier, would've been such a cool addition and made it more of a rhythm game.
You're right on the 3rd level one, it was actually a last minute addition and I wanted to try something different and make arranged music that leads into the fun beats instead of jumping straight into it like levels 1 & 2. I also felt the incongruence when I first played level 3, I just didn't hit perfect like I was at the other levels, but I left it in for some reason (I blame week 3/4 game jam delirium).
Thanks again for playing! I'm glad you had a great time with it!
You’re welcome! If you ever work on a post-jam version, I’d be happy to help with playtesting or just bounce some ideas around if you’d like.
Such a cool idea to do a rhythm game! I felt like a combat tutorial would really polish this up.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I managed to get to level 3 Yay! I understand the mechanics but very hard to follow it with level 3 pace..
Enjoyed a lot, very beautiful UI and very comical dialogues. Would love to progress just to read more.. :D
you're not the only one, that's the biggest problem with this one. Good job getting to level 3 :D
Cool game with good art, music, writing, and smooth combat. I agree with the other comments that the mechanics and difficulty could be introduced more gradually since the second level felt like a big spike but overall it’s good job :)
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it, appreciate the feedback! :)
I enjoyed this one! The art style, UI, and visuals really worked well for me. The execution was solid, and the song was a great fit.
The combat gameplay definitely brought out my anxiety! That said, there was a bit of a disconnect between the theme and the combat sections. The "anxiety" aspect of the enemy itself could have been represented in gameplay a bit more.
The difficulty spike going into the second level was pretty harsh (especially for a game jam game). A lot of controls to learn and a lot to do at the same time! I was not able to get past the 2nd level.
On the sensory side, with things moving instantly, it could be a little intense.
It's interesting you pointed out the difficulty spike, I increased it because I thought it was too easy (initially, the 2nd level only had 1 enemy with faster dps). I guess I kinda lost sight of the gentle progression because I was working on it constantly, no wonder I found it easy to play, lol, definitely something I'll be paying attention to next time.
For the enemies moving instantly, it was an intentional decision, I wanted to mimic MMSF's feel of enemy movement. I think it relates to the progression thing, I was actually trying to move the enemy slower, with larger cooldown initially. But it got boring for my brain. Now I kinda realize, it might be the same problem, I was too close to the project. I appreciate the feedback!
I really like the writing and overall feel. The sound is good. The gameplay is difficult and I am not sure why I am filling and emptying the thermometer on the right and what the numbers on the left are even after reading the tutorial. I managed to kill one enemy simply by avoiding and attacking normally. I find the other mechanic fascinating but it might need more and to be introduced more gradually and maybe have an option easy mode visual cue to help people get what needs to be done and why. It’s one of the more inspiring entries I’ve seen because it feels personal and undiluted.
Put more work into it post-jam! I'd love to play it again with smoother/easier/friendlier mechanics.
Thank you for the kind words, I put a lot of effort into the sound design and music!
You're on point with conveyance of the mechanics, should've had other people playtest it before submission but it was done near last hours of the jam. I'll definitely brush up the tutorial a bit and try to make it easier to understand and less of an infodump after the voting.
On the meter emptying, it's because you pressed Q too far off beat. There's a Metronome up top, and if you pressed it too far out of the middle bit, it resets the bar. Maybe it was too punishing and I didn't catch it, I was trying to mimic the feeling of losing your combo streak in a rhythm game. Also, I could've made the feedback more poignant with texts saying PERFECT or MISS to compliment the SFX, that's another great point you brought up about visual cues.
Anyways, thanks again for the encouragement and feedback, I really appreciate it :)
I would really love to help test this game. I feel it had the most personal touch of what I play-tested so far. You did great and it shows. It is a bit rough around the edges but that is part of the process and beauty of making games. Perhaps you can record a video of gameplay with some explanations so I could more easily progress. I enjoy the distinct atmosphere it has. Keep up the great work. What you do is meaningful.
Had to take a breather after the jam, I put my all into it and it was exhausting. I think I'm gonna leave this game here and maybe say it's done for now, really wanted nothing to do with Godot for a little after the month was over, lol. Maybe I'll record the gameplay, we'll see, but I really appreciate the kind words 💚
It's impressive that you managed to do all of this by yourself. Your dev log was neat :0 We didn't think of doing one (I think). I can see the effort you put into planning... and the math equations. Wow.
Gameplay: I enjoyed the combat format! Anything that combines rhythm with combat is a plus in my book. I didn't find any bugs, and the gameplay was pretty smooth. I would suggest to have a "tutorial" button for the controls. My brain couldn't understand how the system worked the first time -m-
Music: Very boppy. Impressive that you made this.
Thanks! Glad you liked it, happy to find a fellow rhythm game enjoyer.
You're right on the tutorial thing, you're not the only one and I really appreciate the feedback, definitely going to pay more attention to it going forward. After all, how can people play your game if they don't understand it. I had some ideas on how to make it easier to understand (for example, a blinking Q hotkey on top of the player while they're holding <SPACE>), but I was overwhelmed enough by that point that I just settled with the dialog "tutorial" (read: infodump) because I had to focus on getting everything else done. Honestly, the boss fight was only added on the last week, I hadn't planned on it, but the game felt lacking without it.
I'm really happy that the combat landed :D I really, really wanted to give people a taste of the intensity I felt when I played Mega Man Star Force on the DS and festival-y feeling I get when I played Patapon on the PSP. Two of the most underrated games ever in my opinion. I'd recommend giving them a try if you can.
Glad you enjoyed the music, Strudel was really a gift from heaven, I didn't really know what to do about the music since it was a core part of the game, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
On doing this by myself, I did enter as a solo dev, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without the awesome devs on YouTube, they're the real heroes, I gotta add a list of references of the videos I used into the devlog, thanks for the reminder!
P.S. definitely gonna try out your game once I've finished my queue!
I would just put an expandable (?) button or something with the infodum. Make it exist first then make it pretty -w-
After a look around, definitely up there in terms of originality >:0
Definitely, make it work then make it pretty. Thanks for the kind words <3 Just really, really wanted to make a game like Mega Man Star Force XD