Burning Bells - Lilleborg 1259 by xand

It is winter and the year is 1259, a moment ago you fought in the siege of Lilleborg.
The air suddenly smells deeply of moss and as you push through a thick fog, you no longer recognize your surroundings.
You adapt to changes while you fight your way through fairies and trolls in a top down hack and slash dungeon crawler.
Controls
- WASD / Arrow keys - Move character
- Mouse Click - Attack (in direction of mouse)
- Escape - Pause (not in cinematics)
Credits
- Eric Bernard (https://ezb.sh) - Programming
- Belle Rahnasto - Artwork, Audio, Story
| Link | https://windmillgames.itch.io/burning-bells |
| https://windmillgames.itch.io/burning-bells | |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/burning-bells-lilleborg-1259 |
Ratings
| Overall | 12th | 4.365⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 118th | 3.973⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 370th | 3.514⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 483th | 3.75⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 31th | 4.649⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 29th | 4.243⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 11th | 4.473⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 20🗳️ | 51🗨️ |
Its well written
The only default is that I wanted more
Very good job to you two, I really enjoyed this one
Atmosphere reminds me a lot of your previous LD game, Blakulla, I believe.
But the fighting gameplay in this one is quite different, and unfortunately for me didn't feel as engaging; it seems like enemies didn't actually hurt me, and for example at one point there was only one enemy left (green jumper on long legs) and I just stood in place and watched him jump over my head in the same pattern back and forth.
I liked the last stage the most as it felt most engaging. I feel like previous two could be adjusted to match the 3rd!
I like the way you incorporated the theme through the main character, and he looks quite funny. It felt especially reasonable for the theme when I got big enemies, but less pronounced with small ones.
The ending was so sad, I loved it and loved you made a little "cinematic" (for lack of a better word) to show it!! That really completed the game for me. Not sure if I quite understood all of the story, but I like the slightly enigmatic feeling x)
I dig the beautiful presentation, the classic windmill vibes and the effort put into cinematics. True artistry!
Gotta give props to the programmer for fitting in the menu, particle effect and story elements in addition to the gameplay.
:baby:
Attacks were missing some impact to me, and some of the enemy hitboxes seemed off or unintuitive.
For the hopping enemies some clearer indication where they may land I think would feel more fair.
For the final encounter, it was both overwhelming and had no stakes - tons of stuff flying around the screen and at me, but I could more or less stand still and attack until it was over.
Nice entry all around!
This made the jumpers harder than the final boss for me.
Overall perfectly catching me and transporting the mood!
The pixel-drawn art style was very well done. Everything felt consistent and integrated.
The gameplay was also very smooth. I found myself wanting some sort of dash or dodge, but it really wasn't required for this version. It reminded me of Hollow Knight in some ways. Every enemy provided a unique challenge that forced me to build my skills. I think you were also kind with restarting the current level after death :)
The scene transitions were smooth, as were all the camera movements. Someone really put effort into the pacing and narrative!
The final battle was epic. To be honest, it felt a little oddly scaled. There were so many enemies that I first tried to fight my way through them, but then I realized I could mostly tank their attacks and just focus on the big guy without really dying. Maybe that was your intent. Maybe there was some symbolism in that.
In any case, thank you for sharing this!
Great visuals, the attack cooldown was a bit high :smile:
Loved the concept !
I liked the graphics and enemies getting bigger and bigger, although the difficulty could have been a bit more challenging. I felt though that sometimes I didn't hit the enemies when I should have.
The last scene was the best as it felt very intense, but I think the flying enemies could have had a charging animation before shooting. Although I was never nowhere near to dying, I felt they got some sucker shots in when I had no info who was going to shoot next.
All in all very good entry, especially great presentation!
I think there was a good variety of enemies all things considered. All three levels felt meaningfully different, although I do agree that the player health bar allows for tanking a lot of hits. Personally I think level 2 was the hardest for me to wrap my head around--I couldn't seem to attack the enemies without retaliation, especially the big one--it seemed like there was no way to approach. So, in that level the amount of extra health came in handy.
In general the graphics and sound were great, this game is well polished. I also enjoyed the unusual writing style for the dialog. I will admit I didn't quite understand the story until getting to the end.
All in all a very solid entry!