I like the grqphics :)) Game is a little bit rough :/ but over all cool game.

Interesting graphics!

Hey dude, just a suggestion to get more plays - don't extract as an installer. There's a dropdown box, select the ZIP! Also, some stuff screw up in the HTML5 version and will crash - debug to find out what's causing them! (I found out this time apparently you can't access another object's enum unless you type the integer value, for the HTML5 version lol).

On topic of the game - I can see you put in the effort, and the graphics are very interesting (in a good way), but the game itself feels too slow to be fun - it ended up feeling like a slower pong in a way. Good effort though!

@diptoman Thanks, will do!

Dude, you got some really nice style for your game! Visually it is unique and that's really great! The black and white look feels great and really sets the dark mood for the game! Gameplay-wise, the pace felt a bit slow in terms of control, movement and all the fly/fall mechanic, but the overall experience for the game was great!

The mechanics are challenging and it's really nice to "discover" how to fight bosses by losing to them until you find it out. I found it a bit too challenging though for the 1hp, but it fits the theme quite well, y'know? ;) I noticed that, after I ran out of hearts, the old trainer didn't appear for me with items, is that intentional? Or maybe I advanced to a point where no items were given?

The dialogue, at first, felt a bit confusing too, because of having two boxes, but it didn't take long to understand it!

What I advise, though, is to export it as an executable and not as an installer, as people might not like to run installers that often. It often happens with GameMaker entries and I almost did that once! :(

But overall, great entry! :D Good Job there, sir!

@Yuigoto Thanks! I just made an update to the itch.io page that downloads it as a zip file instead of an exporter. Really appreciate the feedback!

Graphics.
The graphics are very unique, a lot of work on the animations. 5/5

Audio.
Audio is great too, like the way they head bang to it.

Innovation
Tough to say, i'd put it at 3/5 just cause of the unique story, but I have played a game with same exact gameplay this LD.

Theme.
He isn't really losing power, besides his health. I guess he drains his enemies power. 2/5.

Humor...
It's pretty disturbing story.

Fun
4/5 I enjoyed playing it but was down to one heart the 5th,6th the guy that didnt move in a pattern just flew right at you was unbeatable for me.

A little rough around the edges, the intro had tons of typos but I couldn't tell if it was intentional because it was really funny, like a badly translated game haha. The walk cycle was funny too as well as the character designs in general, nice six pack on the fourth or fifth guy. I found it too hard in the end as once I died there was no way to recharge my energy and the enemy moved too fast for me to get away as he kept one hit killing me. Pretty fun though, with some polish and balance it could make a decent game. Nice work!

It was an interesting premise, though the story was very dark and disturbing. I was disappointed that while the game explained that if you see a yellow circle you need to get away, but I never had such warning because if I was close enough for a yellow circle to appear, I would already be dead. Visually very unique and stylized.

@Poffle I'm sorry I didn't explain this in the game too well- but there is a way to recharge your hearts. If you "sleep" in the bed in your room (which basically means going all the way to the left of the room) by pressing the Z key, you recharge all the hearts you gained.

This game has a really nice aesthetic going. The grim monochrome sets the tone well and something about how the characters animate is really captivating. Even though they're squares, they rotate in this really interesting way. The villain in particular has a really nice design. It would have been nice if leeching had a more interesting visual effect than a red circle, but at least the red circle communicates the mechanic well. I also really like the background in the arena and the cheering sound going on with it. It really makes the game come to life while you're battling. The gameplay itself has a very interesting concept. I like how the game boils combat down to spacing. My main complaint is how punishing it is. You start out with three hearts, but, if you die once, you'll have one heart for the rest of the game. Most players will die immediately because they're not sure what's going on and then they'll have to deal with one hit instant kills for the rest of the game. I'm also not sure what was going on with the story at the very beginning. I understood that the player character got kidnapped and separated from his brother, but I really have no idea what the brothers were talking about at the beginning as the dialog lacked context (Where were they? What was going on? Why were they having this conversation? etc). The overly long cutscene just sorta started the game out on the wrong foot, but the game picks up once you get into the gameplay itself. Those issues aside, this is a good looking and interesting game that certainly stood out. Nice work!

EDIT: On a second play through, I realized that you CAN get your health back, but only by beating an enemy without dying. This somewhat mitigates my problem from earlier, but the game still has a pretty strong feedback loop: the more you die, the less health you have, which will only make you die more. Having this happen whether or not you beat the enemy on the first try would be a lot better in my opinion. That said, giving the player a choice between increasing max HP and refilling health is a neat idea.

@superpokeunicorn - Thanks for the detailed review. I didn't do a lot of playtesting aside from my one younger hardcore gaming sibling, and your point is a good one. Next time around, (or when I get a chance to rescale this game), I'll watch out for those feedback loops. Really appreciate the constructive criticism and will play your game soon too!

@chris-coe - Thanks for the constructive criticism! I also wanted to say again that your game stood out a lot.

@digitialdude555 - Thanks for the 5/5 on art! I really tried to pour a lot of the time into the animations, and I'm happy it showed.

Really nice graphics! There is (at least one, i don't know if there are more) a enemy that you can kill easily by staying in a corner ( the one that flies in circles)

I like the story, but the game needs some polish. Also love the black and white esthetic.

Graphics were really great. First it felt a bit weird that the dialogue didn't fit in the bubbles but after a while I kind of wanted it even more chaotic than it was. Unfortunately there was so little to do (but die) in the game and so long build-up to the total experience got a bit wasted. So I would suggest letting the player in earlier, figuring out the difficulty and just keep at that style you've got going!

This looks awesome. Any chance for a Mac or web build?

@simonhutchinson
Chances look good for a Mac build.... you may have to wait a day but it will happen.

The opponents are indeed brutal, but the way to beat them is sometimes a little random to approach. (There was one that you can actually beat by just jumping back and fourth while he just mimic on what you're doing. Unless if I get close to it then, okay I'll just let it die and try it again). I can also move the camera even if I'm already dead. Overall, I would commend the graphics of this game, really uniform and amazing to look at. I think I've beat the game, with a little image below... Or if not, then, it's a little spoiler :)

@toadietechnika
You are 2 bosses away from the final one. Press Z to continue going and you'll find out some pretty cool stuff....

Mac version doesn't seem to work for me (on Sierra). It opens, but it doesn't load.

@simonhutchinson Sorry, I don't know what's going on. It may be that gamemaker is having issues with Sierra. I'm planning on making an html version for the post-jam in Unity, but for now I'll remove the link. Hopefully you can try out the html version when it gets released!

Very interesting concept, loved the plot and the animations/graphics for the characters and UI. It would be really cool to see what you expand upon if you choose to continue this. Great work!

The story was really good and you should keep working on your art style because it has a lot of promise! I feel its unnecessary to get the player to sleep to recharge their hearts after they die. They could just recharge automatically. Some of the fighters also had predictable movements and it was easy to defeat them by just standing still and jumping up and down. Still think it is a fun game with an interesting story. Good job.

some very stylish and bold art choices! Way to go! I wanted my jumps to be less floaty, but very good job!

Very different game. I really enjoyed it's innovation (the art style and the mood are amazing). The story was very nice too. I would like to see a post-jam version of this game!

Nice and atmospheric game, minimalistic art as I like it and good narrative. Thanks for the source code either!

Awesome work! Very nice animation and visuals, keep it up!

The storytelling was a bit confusing at times. The style was rather cool though.

Now for the gameplay, first up he doesn't look like a leech and that part isn't really explained..and how he drains enemies powers.
The jump is awful, you have to float around to drain the enemy and have no real control over your height.

You're building a really nice mood but the controls and gameplay aren't that much fun..

I *really* love the long, twisted, shaking intro (as it creates a great mood) and it seems that there are a lot of different fights... but casting a net this wide seems to make the overall, complete experience a bit muddled: What I mean is that IMHO you maybe could have spent some of that time to fix some basic issues, like the sleeping --which is quite crucial-- but not explained in game, and will only work when you stand next to the pillow (as opposed to the entire bed). The way controlling the kid doesn't *quite* feel like you've got rockets in your arms. (Maybe adding some screenshake on 'launch' would help?)

On the other hand, unlike some of the others, I could follow the *in media res* opening quite well. It seems pretty clear what's going on to me at least! :slight_smile:

I've found some typo's as well, and have collected some of them:
- hold onto somethin
- youre pappy
- thos guys
- wespon...

In case you'd like to fix them!