Phantom Hunter

Review Copy* Right now there is not a lot to the game, I think the actual gameplay feels decent, and I like how much mobility you have overall. It has a good variety of classes with several characters and unique perks between them, although you don't really get to flex on their gameplay because of the limited stage format. The game takes some inspiration from Vampire Survivors, but they are not actually that similar, this game has a hub system and individual levels, not to mention being a platformer. Pretty much everything else feels strange to me. The biggest problem I have is that the stage format feels too short, you play the stage for like 30 seconds, and then you have to fight bosses that have too much HP. I think if you add a few extra waves, let the player get a few extra upgrades so the fight is not just a bullet sponge for 3 minutes, either that, or you may want to consider reworking the game into the endless mode, but perhaps with different arenas. A big part of rogue-lites is having that endurance addiction, but there is no real endurance here, you dodge one wave of enemies and then fight a very tanky boss, so you may want to consider how you approach the loop in the long run. I think the 9999 damage spikes have to go, there is too much rapid movement in the game to instantly end your run just because you touched something you didn't know was there - remove them or reduce the damage to 5. I am also not a fan of how the enemies spam the projectiles in giant lines, so you dodge forward you get killed, you dodge backward you get killed, you go up you get killed. It really feels like the game wants to always fight off-screen, and the second boss even has a tendency to attack you faster than you can react to it. I like the challenge in the game, but the challenge should not be based on not being able to react to something that hits you quickly off-screen, and there should be a reasonable window between attacks to dodge between them, not just a giant line of death that you avoid by not being anywhere near tunnel areas. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) The game already has several classes and a bunch of unlocks, you can probably get most of them in 2 hours though. (+) For the most part, I think the gameplay and just moving around with dynamic jumps feel good. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] Stage Format [/u] - I think the stages feel way too short, I would say either make them more gradual, like make 5 waves of enemies for a few minutes before the boss comes or rework the game into the endless mode with different arenas. Part of a rogue-lite genre is having that sense of endurance, having that ongoing run where you upgrade and keep going, but you don't have that, the game almost feels like a boss rush right now. If you have to improve one thing or take one thing from this review, take this. 30 seconds + boss, like where is the rogue-lite run, where is the endurance aspect of the genre right. [u] Gameplay/Balance [/u] - the 9999 spikes just feels so bad here, it's so easy to accidentally touch something you could not see while using knockback, I don't see a reason for that to be a thing. Also, I think you should rework the lines of bullets into something that has a window for you to dodge instead of trying to avoid it completely. At least for regular enemies, it would make more sense to have fans of bullets instead of long lines in the tunnels. It feels kinda bad when the second boss just seemingly jumps on top of you with no warning, In general, I feel like you can just make projectiles and enemies just a bit slower. And um, why are bosses healing, they are tanky enough as they are, no reason for them to heal from anything. On a side note, if you decide to just stick with a stage format, I would like to see at a few biome changes, color-swap the tiles and add a few different enemies. [b] Overall Thoughts on EA: May 1, 2023 [/b] So I think the gameplay and what you doing with the unlocks is fine, as long as you expand on that I don't have a problem with the core gameplay. The biggest thing, having so little time in the stages to kill regular enemies just feels wrong for the genre, you really don't get to play the game or flex on the builds, it makes the game completely pointless for me. I don't mind the difficulty in this game, it gets challenging very fast, but I want there to be more opportunities to dodge enemies reasonably instead of them kind of getting on top of you or just having a giant river of bullets that you can't avoid in tunnels. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

Pretty good, it was fun. The single best class in the game is Shart Man. See Shart-tastic clip: https://clips.twitch.tv/AnnoyingPeppyMallardYouWHY-c8mRGA0mQHMYdb4Y About 6 hours of gameplay for $2 at launch is a pretty damn good deal. Plays smooth. Needs some balance work but the devs popped into my stream and were very receptive to feedback. Devs seem very eager to add more content and continue supporting the game as well. You're getting exactly what they advertise. 10/10

Fun class based Rogue-lite, with hidden collectibles! Looking forward to seeing more!

Took me 30 minutes to learn how to fish with a shotgun. Extremely addictive.

A charming and fun rogue-lite, cant wait to put hours in after early access launch

A surprisingly addicting rogue-lite 2D shooter with an interesting deck building/card collecting mechanic, and all wrapped up in the aesthetics of Math Blaster. Absolutely recommend considering the asking price.