My copy was provided by the developer
There are a couple of features that I think are a core element of any "arena-based" rogue-lite that are completely missing from this game, and ultimately this game feels like a DPS check, more than it offers any meaningful progression or challenge during gameplay, honestly it just feels very repetitive. Yes the animation is very nice, the timing on the abilities feels good, but most enemies don't even interact with you, and the few that do, better left ignored because they don't actually attack your cores. Now to be clear, I don't think that every rogue-lite should follow the same blueprint, but there are still some fundamentals that I think are very important to get right before you experiment with them.
First very big problem, nothing is offered during the actual run, you don't build any synergy, you don't get any type of choice or any 'risk and reward' opportunities, so every run is the same. In the middle of the run you can use the hub upgrade once, which is permanent progression that is also available in the hub. The abilities that are offered in the hub are permanent power progression which is fine, although there is no progression in a sense that will add more actual variety to the run, you just get more tools. On that note, another subtle issue with the game is that using your basic combo is about as good as using most of the abilities, if not better. Personally I find that dashing and hitting enemies is more efficient than trying to recharge your energy and do special attacks, at least once you have a few damage upgrades.
Another part of the game I didn't like is that the run experience felt very segmented, even though it's one continuous run, the game is essentially a DPS check, and you not going to have that DPS right away. Yes, I am aware that many rogue-lites do that thing where you are not meant to beat them right away, but in this game it was very obvious that the problem was not my effort, but I was just not doing enough damage, and it continuously felt that way, I am just 10% damage short of beating this stage, I am just 10% damage short from beating this stage. (it seems the dev reduced the difficulty a bit from the last time I played, but actually he also reduced it too much if you ask me)
The game also has this weird idea that enemies can't kill you, most of them won't even fight you, and the enemies that do fight you are often better to leave alone, sometimes they help you with AOE, or just not worth the time to kill them. Basically you just fighting dummies that don't care about you, and even if they did, the best they can do is stun you. I don't know, I personally don't feel like it's a very exciting prospect.
Lastly the game does not have a NG+, or difficulty modifiers, so you beat the first stale playthrough hoping it will add something else on the second run, and no, you are done with the game.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) The animation and the timing on the abilities was good, didn't have any big complaints with it
(+) Had a few charming story beats
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] No choices or working toward synergy during the run [/u] - I honestly can't think of many rogue-lites that are good and don't have something happening during the run. If you look at games of someone like Anthony Case who mostly makes these arena type rogue-lites, what makes a good rogue-lite is a choice, luck factor, and risk vs reward elements, so you never know exactly what will happen, maybe you get super lucky, maybe the game forces you into a unique build, things like that. Some games will offer you something like every 20 seconds so you constantly modifying the run.
In theory you could still do both, keep the HUB upgrades, but also add some temporary upgrades during the run, make sure you have at least a couple of synergy based builds and choices to upgrade, one or the other. The main problem with that is that you would have to rebalance the entire game around it.
Now, if you wanted to make a Rogue-lite without building synergy or decision making, you probably should make a different type of game to begin with, something like Akane, more of an arcade experience and just focus on good mechanics, which you have in the game, you have good timing, but making a rogue-lite quarter of the way, it's just not going to work very well, at least in my opinion.
[u] No NG+ [/u] - if there is a genre where people expect to play the game more than once, it's probably a rogue-lite. I assumed maybe you would add more variety during the second run, but no, it's just a linear experience that does not change. Which is fine if you maybe made a Zelda style game, a rogue-lite probably needs some replay value.
[u] Run Segmentation [/u] - even though rogue-lites have that thing where they might gate you with the power creep, you don't want to feel like it's only gated by DPS. If you gave me a few damage upgrades I could finish this game on a first try, no experience needed, and that is the only thing keeping the player from beating it, not experience, not skill, just pure "you not doing enough damage when you start" And it's not a good game design.
[u] Skills [/u] - I mean they look nice don't get me wrong, but honestly often not worth using. If you dash combo, it feels like you saving more time, and this game is very "priority" driven, so it's like, okay well, I have these skills, but mashing button kinda works better no? The spin-kick is a good example, that movement will lose you more clear speed than it gains because it might force you to close the distance again.
It feels like I have to give the game keyboard/mouse input before it recognizes controller input, but then it works fine from that point.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 5/10 [/b]
Not my intent to discourage you, it's just that I am genuinely confused on why you trying to make a rogue-lite without most things that make them fun. Making sure the player is making some decisions or working toward some synergy during the run is just a basic and fundamental part of these games, if you don't have it, you better make sure you have something else that is equally fun, and frankly I am not sure what it is.
You made nice animations, the movement feels good, in retrospect making a simple arcade game would have made a better game, but if you are making a rogue-lite, there is some expectation that the run itself will offer some variety, and not just bashing things. If you want to try it, you could add temporary upgrades on top of hub upgrades, and maybe rebalance the game for it, also maybe add new features with NG+ which is currently absent.
Simple arena rogue-lites do work, we have seen many devs do it, but generally speaking, they offer some type of variety or choice making during the run.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
