Fragmented Reality by merrak
Can you escape the mind of a madman?
Arrow keys / WASD to move, enter doors, etc.
P to pause. M to mute/un-mute.
Arrow keys / WASD to move, enter doors, etc.
P to pause. M to mute/un-mute.
| Web | http://anorthogonaluniverse.com/flash/fragmented.php |
| Source | http://anorthogonaluniverse.com/flash/fragmented.php |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-33/?action=preview&uid=46508 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 71% | 3 |
| Overall | 3.82 | 73 |
| Audio | 3.81 | 51 |
| Fun | 3.11 | 406 |
| Graphics | 4.11 | 71 |
| Humor | 2.27 | 655 |
| Innovation | 3.31 | 274 |
| Mood | 4.43 | 4 |
| Theme | 3.46 | 426 |
I like the way you told the story through the level design, but I found a lot of the execution lacking. In a trial-and-error based game, it's really frustrating to have to wait so long to respawn.
HOWEVER, I understand that this is part of the rhetoric of the experience. The frustration and visual dissonance creates the feelings of the character you are trying to portray, and I commmend you for being so ambitious in a ludum dare!
If anything, though, I personally think that subversion is the best vessel for this kind of mechanic-storytelling, so you should at least give the player something to rely on before pulling it out from under them. Bright white tiles that 'hide' the dark tiles that are the actual terrain is annoying if it happens from the start, but tricky when it happens later on. You explored this a bit with the 'find yourself level', which I liked, but I think we didn't get enough time with anything straight-fowrward to be able to see a 'descent' into madness. It's simply madness.
All in all, nice entry. Congrats!
I kinda wish I was more explicitly told or shown the contrast trickery nearer the beginning of the game. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out the white blocks weren't in the foreground - but before I realised that was the whole point.
Overall I do like the game. It has an impressive amount of design for 48 hours.
In terms of criticisms, it would be nice if the "mirrored" image levels had a bit more to them than just a mirror image. There is the level where the player touches their mirror image, and sometimes being able to see the mirror image gave a tiny bit of help in the platforming, but I didn't notice any significant benefit (other than perhaps story purposes). Also, it would be nice if there were "look-around" camera controls; the game relies a bit too much on the a die-try again-die cycle, at least for my tastes. Maybe there can be some greater consequence for dying? Further descent into madness or something?
Again though, nice entry.
4.5/5 overall. It would be nice if there were a little more variety to the gameplay, but other than that, it's perfect.