After Hours: A Reverse Metroidvania by MattWoelk

[raw]
made by MattWoelk for LD 43 (JAM)

Promo_Title.png

The hero has defeated the beast! Now it's up to you, the game's janitor, to reset the game so that the next hero can start their journey.

Lowly janitor, behind the scenes of a metroid-like game. Now that the player is gone, you can use all the power-ups for yourself! You must, however, put all 4 back in the right order so you can get to the exit and start your work break.

  • * Choose carefully the order that you lose your power-ups! *
  • * Be your own hero! *
  • * Let the actors know that it's time for coffee! *

AH<em>gameplay.gif AH</em>screen1.PNG AH<em>screen2.PNG Promo</em>map.png

Credits:

Rebecca Harrison - Art

Kai Clavier - Programming

Julian Beutel - Music / Sound Design

Matt Woelk - Level Design

Ratings

Overall 161th 3.863⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Fun 324th 3.5⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 91th 3.84⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Theme 266th 3.843⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 151th 4.212⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Audio 114th 3.86⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Humor 255th 3.386⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Mood 227th 3.684⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Given 13🗳️ 13🗨️

Feedback

hatchet
04. Dec 2018 · 21:18 UTC
I'm always stunned how people can make their games look so visually amazing in such a short period of time. Great work everyone!
Kathlar
05. Dec 2018 · 16:24 UTC
Great game, looks wonderful, the soundtrack fits right into it. You should think about making it for Nintendo Switch :)
Arcus
05. Dec 2018 · 17:43 UTC
Odd, but cool art style!
jan5366x
05. Dec 2018 · 17:43 UTC
Nice graphical design and it makes a lot fun!
Mike Mihe
05. Dec 2018 · 17:45 UTC
Audio is very fun) How did you make such a TV effect?
g12345
05. Dec 2018 · 23:44 UTC
Played it, finished it, and it was a real fun game. Also very good looking for 3 days work!

Like how those hints were everywhere.

I've made a metroidvania game a few LDs ago, but this one looks so great I might go learn unity for the 3d effects.

Well done!
Verbante
06. Dec 2018 · 09:05 UTC
It was hard to decide on order :D, removed lava boots three times. The walking speed was a bit fast for me to me to jump on little plaforms but combined with the sound effect it was fun to walk around. Visual style is awesome and fanfare was cool. It's also funny how the sound for acquiring an itme plays each time
adventureislands
06. Dec 2018 · 16:53 UTC
Really solid game, nice graphics and good controls. The reverse metroidvania concept worked well, and I like the clear Metroid inspiration. Good job!
hechi
06. Dec 2018 · 19:34 UTC
I Really like the concept of reverse metroidvania. Graphics are successful, controls are smooth and the main theme is catchy. Great work!
lilou_cormic
07. Dec 2018 · 02:03 UTC
Well done! I like the CRT effect, and the music is spot on.
AwiX
07. Dec 2018 · 08:34 UTC
An interesting game with a kind of mechanics. I put a rating) Please rating and me, thanks in advance)
Pierre.F
08. Dec 2018 · 17:44 UTC
I love the visuals ! The gameplay is nive too
acaral
08. Dec 2018 · 17:45 UTC
A real work on level design. A good idea with solid graphics. In sum: Pleasant to play

Nice entry
skettyNmeebs
08. Dec 2018 · 18:19 UTC
the visuals were very good and the platforming was solid. I didn't know you could hit space to skip the dialog when picking up or dropping something, so that felt a little long, but after I figured that out it was fine. really cool submission. The theme fit well in a less in-your-face way. I liked it.
Matank
09. Dec 2018 · 09:37 UTC
Liked the concept, thought it's going to be action-y but it turned out to be a very cool puzzle game :)

Maybe I mis-read something, but I think one of the "hint givers" told me that I need to return lava boots last, and it really messed me up - I spent a lot of time trying to find an alternate way to reach the lava boots guy without using the double jump. Was that supposed to misdirect the player or did I read the information incorrectly?

Anyway, I really enjoyed beating this puzzle. Starting out I thought it would be frustrating to figure out the order, but after walking around the station for a while I got to know it pretty well, and it was very satisfying when I got the order correct.

Graphics were great as well.
arkinrev
09. Dec 2018 · 17:18 UTC
I liked working through which pieces needed to be sacrificed in which order to make it out. There was a cool mix of 3D and 2D elements. The screen transitions and map really took me back to 1986 in a good way. Nice entry!
Rebecca Kremer
09. Dec 2018 · 17:30 UTC
@matank yeah sorry about the clues mix-up... there were changes to the level design after I had done the clues that borked them up a bit. :'(
Edmanbosch
09. Dec 2018 · 18:15 UTC
The use of the theme is really cool(especially since I'm a fan of Metroid) and the graphics look really good, reminds a lot of Octopath Traveler. I also really like the music references to Metroid. It's pretty hard for me to play it though since I'm running it on a really weak PC, and the graphics settings don't seem to actually lower anything except maybe AA. The item jingles also feel very off since the music keeps playing in the background, and they also feel a little long. I also noticed that the character often walks in place for no apparent reason.
Franciszek Pyrć
09. Dec 2018 · 18:17 UTC
Really fun game. I don't like playing games, but this one was special. I think that this game should get more attention.
FireBug
09. Dec 2018 · 18:21 UTC
This is such a clever idea! I love it. Nobody ever considers the effort that goes into cleaning up behind the Hero, haha. Thank you also for letting us see the whole area, that is helpful! The audio and art is very charming and the game is written with a sympathetic sense of humor. I had a lot of fun!
kleinzach
09. Dec 2018 · 18:21 UTC
Cool to see another team doing something similar, I did a reverse Zelda! The concept is good, but I have some nitpicks with how the game plays. The screen effect doesn't really do anything for me, and felt more distracting then good. Similarly, the way that the camera snaps to "rooms" didn't feel great to play and would be harder to make then a more simple following camera, It felt like even more of a restriction then even the original metroid had where it could scroll either left-right or up-down. That said, I like the very metroidy vibe from the audio and mood, that was all done really well. I like how you used the concept as a way to create a puzzle spanning the whole map, though the hints didn't really help out to much as I couldn't know where the abilities were until I found them already. Good job to the whole team!
jeplmr
09. Dec 2018 · 18:27 UTC
I adore everything about this game! The art, sound design, level design, it's all on point. I especially love the musical allusion to Metroid. Nice work :D
goudagames
09. Dec 2018 · 18:31 UTC
I love the look of this game, but it feels a bit to closely zoomed in for my taste. Other than that it's a great concept and great execution.
NNNIKKI
09. Dec 2018 · 18:40 UTC
Idea was really good, and the graphics and level design was perfect. Unfortunately, it lagged a lot and the controls were really unresponsive, which led to frustration whilst backtracking. If not for this, the game would've been a fun to play and original idea.

GHHHGHHGGGGGHGHHHGHHGGGH.
paulhocker
10. Dec 2018 · 04:55 UTC
i had some trouble with the controls but overall a very solid game -- your team did great work -- thanks for making this game
aurel
10. Dec 2018 · 21:35 UTC
Really fun. I enjoyed the retro style with the TV filter and the distortion. It brought back good memories.

In particular, I enjoyed a lot trying to figure out the right approach to solving the level in question. It took me a few times backtracking to figure it out.

I was a bit confused by the parts of the map that weren't on the minimap - but it looks like they were just little hint zones. The only thing that would've made this better is if the gun had actually been used for fighting enemies or anything like that, but it was just a glorified door opener.

The other thing I was confused about was the... beetle... things? They gave a hint about Lava being the last to drop off... but I couldn't make that happen, so I had to go about it a different way. Either way, solved it and had a good time playing through.

Great job with the aesthetic, the music, everything. The air control/platforming could probably be tightened up a little bit, but it was still fun, all in all!
pantoufle
11. Dec 2018 · 12:02 UTC
Solid game! Interesting mechanics, challenging gameplay but not too hard, gorgeous art style. Maybe a bit too easy but still a perfect entry for this jam. Congratulations!
Pompi Pompi
12. Dec 2018 · 18:49 UTC
Good work. A bit too much backtracking though.
Préda
12. Dec 2018 · 18:50 UTC
Very nice game! Very nice graphics too! So would you like to try mine too? https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/kinoko-no-kagi
Zinarch
12. Dec 2018 · 18:58 UTC
Oh wow. I had a blast, and for three days work this is really amazing!
F1Krazy
12. Dec 2018 · 20:24 UTC
This was really good! I love the music and the visual effects, even if I had to run it in 720p windowed mode on the lowest quality setting because my laptop sucks xD I love the concept as well, having to run through and put everything back once the protagonist has finished the game. The platforming is very forgiving, letting you stand on a platform even if you're about a pixel to the left, which is handy for some of the trickier jumps like the route to the Pulse Gun.

I have a couple of little niggles, though. I feel like the jingle that plays when you pick up or put down an item goes on for a bit too long, especially at the start when you're hearing it four times in a row in rapid succession. The control scheme also felt a bit weird - Space to jump, and Ctrl to shoot? - but since the Pulse Gun is only needed in a couple of areas, it's not such a major issue.

I couldn't figure out how you were supposed to do the Lava Boots last without the Double Jump, so I didn't beat it, sadly, but I'll try dropping them off the other around and see if I can beat it. Overall, good work!
Nikolay Zapolnov
12. Dec 2018 · 20:47 UTC
Cool idea with the reverse metroidvania! 5/5 for innovation :)
Firesplash Entertainment
12. Dec 2018 · 21:02 UTC
Thanks for submitting the game to our stream =) WAs real fun playing. Looking forward to hearing from you next LD :p
Rebecca Kremer
12. Dec 2018 · 21:06 UTC
@f1krazy Hey thanks for playing and for the thoughtful review! Yeah we were kind of stepping on each-other's toes in terms of controls and level design, so for example I had done the hints on the Saturday which told the player to return the lava boots last, but on the Monday the design was changes so you need to return the High Jump last... sorry about that.

And also you can skip the jingle with space ;P
F1Krazy
12. Dec 2018 · 21:09 UTC
@rebecca-kremer Ah, didn't realise you could skip the jingle! I tried a couple of different buttons but I must not have tried Space, thanks for the heads-up!
JUSTCAMH
13. Dec 2018 · 02:28 UTC
The item pickup jingle was a bit annoying, like others are saying. Could have probably had some sort of instruction 'space to continue'? It also felt weird that this tutorial took place in front of a bright sign 'take pride in your work'. The brightness of this made it difficult to read the information that the tutorial was providing. It was even harder to read the pink/purple text. I also found it weird that that despite the non-linear design of the game, you were ultimately forced to take a single path. I would have appreciated a restart button / control, since there was a degree of puzzle-solving in the game, and once I realised I was wrong, would have liked to restart. Restart functions are nice whenever there is the opportunity to go wrong.

I quite liked the music, but it did get a wee bit repetitive. I liked the reverse Metroidvania idea; it works very well. The graphics are quite nice, but in my opinion, you slightly overdid the post-processing stack. Nice game, with a good deal of polish.
Rodrigo Denúbila
13. Dec 2018 · 02:52 UTC
really liked your idea and the concept of the game. Graphics are great too. With some polishment this could be a great game, I hope you continue the development. Good work!
Toulou
16. Dec 2018 · 19:43 UTC
This is a really fun idea and a fun game ! It might be too simple, and backtracking because you deposited the wrong item might be annoying but this is definitely the most polished and visually great game I've played so far ! Congratulations, I'd love to see a complete version of this game.
elysiagriffin
18. Dec 2018 · 20:39 UTC
Hey Flightyfelon! Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!

If you'd like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/346057870?t=01h31m

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
UnidayStudio
22. Dec 2018 · 01:20 UTC
You guys put a lot of effort here! First of all: metroidvania is an AMAZING genre to work with and you guys made an amazing job with this. I loved the art and the game idea as well. So congratultions!