I liked this! The atmosphere (or maybe especially the music) makes the game kind of sad. Together with the fact that it is very easy to win the game by killing makes it feel very uncomfortable. Like you know you are way more powerful than these monsters, but that you really don't want to kill them. At the same time there is this text at the top pushing you to kill them nontheless. Very cool!

The gameplay was pretty good too. It took some time to learn the behaviour of the enemies and when to click, but I think this is fine. I managed to beat the game by killing all enemies, which was (as you mentioned) very easy. I also tried to beat it without killing anyone, but this I did not manage (I could not get past the fourth enemy).

What I think this game is lacking is a bit more polish and feel. Sound effects, or a bit more visual indications that you hit/dodged perfectly. For the atmosphere it might also help if, instead of healthbars, the amount of health was unclear, but indicated by the wounded/fatigued visuals of the enemy? Just a small idea :)
Finally, it would have been nice to have some kind of ending besides the text to really drive the message home. Of course I completely understand that it was impossible to do that in 48 hours though :P

Thanks a lot for making this! I enjoyed it :D

It left me wanting more.

The music is smooth and perfectly matches the game's setting. I really liked the turn-based combat system but at the same time in real time.

I think there should be a little tutorial explaining the better moves, because I was able to beat the game just by jumping and attacking.

Sound effects for attacks would also give players more feedback.

But my main criticism is that the game is not a "fight to death", as it would fit perfectly into the genre and theme.

Congratulations!

A fun little game! I like this idea of going through a series of opponents, having to learn how they work to deafeat them. Even better was the idea that you could defeat them without killing them!

It was nice that enemy attacks were telegraphed, but for some reason, starting with the second enemy, they sometimes telegraphed an attack and then performed two or three attacks without warning. It would also be great to have different types of attack telegraphed differently, so you can know what to expect. Since the enemies don't seem to follow an exact pattern it would be useful to have this bit of warning.

It's a shame there's no sound effects, but I get that it's tough to fit it all in just 48h. The music is great, though, creates a really nice sombre atmosphere.

I'm glad you plan on making a post-LD version, I look forward to playing it!

I love the combat system! It reminds me a little of For Honor. I wasn't sure which actions dodge which attacks, but I still managed to get through to the end. I also love the atmosphere and the music adds to that. A post jam version would be even cooler! Your YouTube channel has some neat content too. Wish you a nice week!

Awesome atmosphere! Game ended so suddenly, so I'm really want more^^

Liked the atmosphere and music. The combat could benefit from some visual and sound effects. Will have try the game again with a gamepad.

Very good art and music synergy. And nice controls explanation.
Did not quite get why to use up down and back buttons. Finished the game by just spamming the D button oneshoting the wolves.

I liked that you could decide to let them live by just exhausting the enemies. It adds an extra layer to the game. The music was nice and I really liked the background, it set a nice mood. I don't really see where the theme fits in in this game. Overall great job, hope you had a fun game jam :D

Interesting game. The music is phenomenal and the combat system is also pretty good. It took me a few tries to get the timing right but then I was able to finish the game. Great job!

I liked the combat system and the ability to choice a violent or non-violent path! I find that I tend to choose the violent option in games simply because it tends to be more fun and challenging, but I really appreciated that the non-violent path was actually more fun and challenging than the violent path. I also liked the combat animations and the way they give a tell that is clear which way you need to dodge. I think it might look a little more intense and realistic if you placed the enemy closer to the player during combat, so that it actually looks like you are dodging and landing attacks.

I liked the atmosphere a lot with a similar vibe as Limbo.
The music adds a lot to the feel of the game.
I had fun, great job !

Nice sound and grahpics, the fog in the forest looks cool. The gameplay is interesting, but it could be better, for example, add more monsters with different behavior, and let the player make combo attacks. Or even let the player move freely and heal himself.

Cool idea. I think attacks from the enemies should be a little bit more signalized.
Audio got anoying after some time. Art was really cool and give good mood and athmosphere.

The gameplay idea is good but it is hard to know what action counter what attack. Feedbacks are kinda lacking and the animations are not clear enough. Spamming the attack button work better than trying to play the game the intended way.

The background and music are very nice though, it makes the scene very "moody".

Cool moody game

Love the atmosphere and music

I like this, the atmosphere is super fitting and the gameplay is nice. took me some time to understand how to act in each encounter but I think I figured it out by the end. the graphics also top notch

Yay, reaction based combat, kind of reminds me of Witcher 1, which I loved :))

The graphics looked nice and I really liked the colour scheme with the blue fog and the black/great trees etc, looked very pleasant! Controls were easy to grasp, Although I wasn't sure why I would jump or duck if I can defend? Because I never managed to dodge enemy attacks like that, maybe I'm just a noob ^^

I wanted to try a pacifist run, but sadly defending always drains HP :D So I would have liked if the perfectly timed "double defense" (so like, pressing the defend button again) would reward me with either no damage taken or even a counterattack :)

Also, it would have been nice to have an UI overlay telling me exactly when’s the right time to press that button, because at first I thought that was meant to be way later :) But we all know time is tight for gamejams, so yeah ^^

I still enjoyed the game and thought it was cool! :) Good job on finishing your game on your own and I believe at the end of the day (or gamejam deadline) we all would like more player feedback ;D

Divine music, it creates an amazing atmosphere!

Very nice ending))) I like the controls in this game, as well as the mood. If you still work on the plot and levels, you will get a full-fledged cool game

I love the trees.
Its easy to win just by spamming attack. The defensive option is a good challenge though.
It seemed odd the attacks never visually connect. It made it harder to figure out which block was needed.

Cool combat mechanics, reminds me of the mario & luigi games (the rpg series). I found out the strategy of just spamming attack is a lot easier to beat the game. :joy: Nonetheless, I appreciate the added layer of depth with "perfect" timed actions. I wonder if there is a different ending for a pacifist run though? Tried doing it but the dodge frames are kinda tight and there isn't enough indication for me to anticipate the dodge direction. Still, it is a very different experience among most games, love the atmosphere and animations too.

Thanks for playing our game on stream earlier too! :laughing:

I loved the combat mechanics. I found it a little bit easy (managed to win in the first run spanning the attack button). But sounds very promising game mechanic.

Very nice music and graphics, gives it an eerie mood. The controls are simple and easy to learn!

really REALLY nice music and graphics. Super impressive for a compo entry.
The telegraphs on the enemy attacks were pretty clear, and within 1-2 fights I knew which moves dodged which attacks, it was clear and very polished.

I found myself wanting more since it was a fairly short experience!

I wasn't too sure what the 'defend' option did, so I didn't really use it and just focused on trying to get perfect dodges with jump and duck.

Managed to beat it! (only took me 4 tries :) )

Really solid entry!

Really cool entry! I loved the music and the mood you created within it. And it was just COMPO entry? Insane! (in a good way, haha) Cool and solid entry, one of the best COMPO games I played this Ludum Dare. Keep up the good work!

Ay, this was neat!

I didn't notice until my 2nd playthrough that the enemies have different attack animations, and that I was supposed to react accordingly in order to dodge them. I played through the entire thing on my first run by just mashing the attack button. :smile:

I like the idea you have here, though! It's extra impressive that you managed to do all of this by yourself in a weekend. Best of luck if you hope to expand on it! :pray:

What a mood. It's amazing what you managed to create in such little time. Yeah, please make a post-jam version as well!

As usual a strong mood piece, especially through the combination of murky/foggy visuals and a thoughtful but dramatic soundtrack. First I breezed through the game by spamming the attack button (the ending is a bit abrupt since the final propaganda message is overlapped by the end screen, as others have pointed out), the pacifist run is much harder & I didn't make it to the end. Figuring out the timing when to use the right defense move is very difficult, the enemies' attacks probably need clearer telegraphing, or the timing needs a little bit of tweaking to be more forgiving. Of course, sound FX also could have helped. On the other hand, in reality the peaceful way usually *is* the harder option, so the gameplay kind of reflects the message ^^ Oh, also good title! ;)