Hi there! I played through the first floors all the way to the first boss, and I wanted to share my thoughts!
WHAT I ENJOYED:
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- The battle mechanics. It seems a bit basic to start off with, but what I really enjoy is that you have a great gameplay loop with really solid mechanics. Everything makes a lot of sense, and is incredibly intuitive. I especially like the Save the Spire-esque telegraphing of the next move. It allowed me to feel very smart when tackling Revenants and especially the boss.
- The story. Even though the player is in the dark for maybe a bit too long a time at the beginning, both in relation to the characters and the world at large, I can assume this is a byproduct of the demo nature of it. And when given the story, oh man, I LOVE this concept. Perfect mystery, and problem that the player can really get behind.
- The polish. See, I have less to say generally about this game because it just fits together so well. Nothing seemed extraneous or out of place, everything was really nicely balanced, and I felt myself no longer taking notes because I just wanted to play the game! So well done on the immersion and making the player feel comfortable and in control.
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- The dungeons. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff you put in there. The traps, the Revenants, everything - nothing inside the dungeons were poor additions. But because of the nature of your game, you run into the big problem of everything looking very samey, which would be a shame, because you have a great story and the battles are really really fun. But corridors being a tile wide, enemies walking randomly in square rooms... I know this is a failing of the plugin, having used it myself in the past, but should you continue on with this project, the first thing I think you should focus on is trying to find ways to game the system and not have what are essentially the same floors. From something as simple as different tints and putting some tree events in there, to even enlisting the help of a coder to tweak the plugin so rooms can vary in shapes aside from squares and widening the corridors. Yeah, it's just the product of it being a month-long prototype and there not being many options for in-engine generators (though there is a Spelunky-style one for RMVXA that I WISH someone had the time/knowledge to translate). Just something to keep in mind moving forward.
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A really fun rogue-like with a fun gameplay loop and an intriguing mystery to get you excited to explore. The dungeons you do explore could do with some variety, however, especially as you're asking for a looping, tower-dungeon gameplay style.
Thank you for showing off your game, hadecyn! You've made a incredibly fun game with a lot of potential. Best of luck in IGMC2018!
- Caleb
PS: I started playing the Adventure mode in Smash Bros Ultimate a few days after I played your game, and in a funny coincidence, they ended up using a very similar rock-paper-scissors + neutral style to their battles as you did (complete with triangle)! Not anywhere close in terms of gameplay and implementation, so no need to worry there, but I thought that pretty funny.
