Pretty much rogue-lite + King's Field, at least on the visual side, but it is lacking that exploration allure that the series is known for. There are some unlocks for the hub like saving various characters that will expand your base features, and other generic rogue-lite elements like unlocking more item variety. The game is somewhat crude looking even by retro standards, I don't have a problem with the monster models, that said, I think the first dungeon specifically could use some more details or objects to make it less generic looking, and perhaps you could add more objects for the hub as well.
Very short game, you can complete almost everything under 4 hours, it's slightly challenging but if you keep upgrading your garden it's pretty easy to beat (I just didn't realize where to find the remaining materials at first). The balancing is a little funky, although I like that you can overcome the difficulty in multiple ways, either by going heavily into the movement, life-steal, or armor, all of which are viable if you know what you doing.
Essentially the game plays like this, you select one of the 3 rooms, each with different rewards, but not the same difficulty, while also having 5 minutes to complete the run. And you repeat that until you get to the boss, so it's like a time management game where you have to decide how many stats you really need to finish, and find an optimal path. You don't have to kill all the enemies, but you take damage for each enemy you don't kill, making your HP a form of a resource, sometimes it's smarter to skip rooms and lose all of your health if you have some life-steal.
Even though I didn't like the game at first, I do think it can get a little addicting, granted I think the depth of the game becomes very shallow once you know the good strategies, and the balancing overall is pretty odd, certain stats like attack speed and attack cooldown are pretty trash compared to everything else (mainly because the game is leaning toward using a charged attack)
[h1]Pros: [/h1]
(+) I like that King's Field vibe to it, and I think you did a good job with the creature design, however, I think the locations need more character to them.
(+) The decision making is pretty fun, at least while you learning the game, it has some design holes once you understand what is happening though.
(+) Has okay progression with garden buffs, item unlocks, and a few different weapons
[h1]Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Visuals/Location design: [/u] - the first dungeon and the hub specifically felt a little too plain, maybe you could add a bit more architecture to them. Also, I think the game would benefit from more run events like the "shop" which you already have, but more events like that with different characters to make the pacing more unique.
Consider adding maybe a few more secret rooms either during the runs or even some condition specific events in the hub.
The main menu (title screen) and the UI elements were very generic looking, maybe you could do like a scene with one of the characters doing something, something with more personality to it, showing the themes of the world.
[u] Balancing: [/u]
- those enemies in the forest that place spikes under you, maybe you could nerf their range a bit
- I think you can maybe make those 2 sided forest rooms a little smaller, they can eat 40+ seconds unless you super buffed
- I felt attack speed / attack cooldown were not practical due to game favoring the charge attack, and overall you can always charge between travel distance.
- I honestly could not tell if hammer was that much stronger than the default weapon, I always 1/2 shot all enemies either way (with the charge)
[u] Random things: [/u]
- was there no sound effect for using parry on the knifes? The attacking sound for knife needs to be louder too
- consider adding post-game difficulty modifiers, maybe like 5 different levels, and beat each one to get the next
[b] Overall Thoughts: 6/10 [/b]
I think it's a good base idea for the game, but in my opinion it's not fully realized, and it feels like there needs to be more character to the game overall, maybe more secrets in the hub, more characters and events during runs. You could expand with post-game modifiers like other generic rogue-lites. Also you could present the game a little better, better main menu title, less generic UI panels, maybe more objects in the hub or during the runs.
It's okay overall if you like getting overpowered during lucky runs, but kinda raw still. Not worth $10, but I think the dev is worth supporting, hopefully either a good update, or maybe another Kings-like game in the future.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
