Enjoyable game, especially in concept, but I couldn't help but notice its flaws pretty quickly. That's not to say I dislike the game, there's a lot of promise here. Nor do I mean this to come off as me wanting you to completely change your game; I just believe this game's a few touches away from being a quick and fun arcade-like experience.
As others have already said, there's no clear indication what your "leader" fish is when switching between forms, and that led to a great many confusing game over screens because I just wasn't aware of that mechanic from the get go. The text assisting the player through the level is pretty fun, but I think it'd be nice to characterize it a bit more. HowardTheHuman mentioned the hint text feels like a guidance NPC, and I think it'd be fun to make the hint text be spoken by an actual fish. Perhaps a fish could be positioned near the text to suggest they're the ones speaking it. On top of indicating who the "leader" fish is, this would help players identify with the fish as characters a bit more. Granted the hint text becoming fish dialogue isn't necessary, it just offers a nice bit of pazazz. If you must make just one change then seriously consider offering the player a clear visual cue so they know which fish is the "leader". Most of my frustration stemmed from that being absent.
Frustration compounded--albeit these are minor hiccups--when I realized switching to a different school doesn't automatically change your formation if you're pressed up against a surface or are otherwise unable to fully complete the required shape. This led to a few occurances where I was trying to switch on the fly and just couldn't. At the start of one level I found myself in piranha formation while using the barracuda (straight line) fish. Another annoying instance was when I switched to the puffer fish formation only for the circle to not fully form, and my "leader" was picked off pretty quickly. The best way to address this might be to show the player the shape of the formation in the numerical toolbar on the top left, while highlighting the fish in the formation when a player is using it. Probably not necessary, but it would at least keep some players from checking the top left to see what formation they're using.
Speaking of formations, they're quite charming. It's a nice touch to use the unique properties of the four fish that embody the mixed school, I especially enjoyed the puffer fish being used as shields. Yet I found the puffer fish formation to be janky. Visually I understand that the fish are encircling the "leader", thus keeping them from harm. But in execution my "leader" would get picked apart due to harpoons acting as lingering hitboxes and hooks shredding through the large shield. Tweaking this to make a single fish actively swim into a hitbox, deactivating it for a few seconds, might help make the puffer fish ability stronger while also providing the player a stronger sense of the school's importance (where each fish, in this case specifically the puffer fish) and how many resources they have left. After all, these fish are a resource as much as they are you. Having the formations be limited to the type of fish you have in your school is a clever concept, but it would be interesting to see each formation specifically "sacrifice" those fish first: piranhas and barracudas in front, puffer fish taking the first hit. The tuna formation does this well, you can only shoot the tuna fish and they unfortunately die in the process. It'd be interesting to see that be a risk of using a specific formation: the fish who make the formation happen have the highest chance of passing away.
By no means do I mean to make it seem like this game is all bad. I understand this is a Game Jam submission, and I hope you realize that my criticisms are minor change suggestions. Outside of highlighting the leader which I feel is an oversight that needs correction for the game to be more player friendly, this is surprisingly well made for a project hammered out on little time. The visual style is simple as is the music, but both are charming and grant the game a calming air. There's a sense of a narrative which I found compelling, though I think expanding on the narrative would improve the experience overall. Granted, I'm biased when it comes to narrative driven games, and this is by no means a necessity.
If this were ever to be given more polish, I'd love to play the next incarnation.
StrangeHero
Recent community posts
I love this! The OST is great and the bosses are so fun! Also the color palettes give this game so much style.
I had a really great time playing the game! I only wish it was longer, and that getting the 3rd star on the final boss was... a bit more doable. I've replayed that boss at least 100 times trying to get 3 stars and it seems like the RNG works against me a lot... I can't get a 'chain' over 41 and I guess that isn't enough.
Other than that though, I really loved this game! Super sweet and gone too soon, like a delectable dessert.
I love this game! Definitely my favorite game of the year so far!
The story is good and cute, pretty simple but that's not a problem at all. Something about the little Rogue Sentry just makes me smile.
But boy, this game gets mad difficult near the end! There is one specific fight I died at least 40 times on... and I'm ashamed to admit that 30 of those deaths were well within 10 seconds of the fight starting.
It's all good though, once I got over my frustration I found that the fight was entirely doable. Actually, everything in this game that would be frustrating is entirely fair. There's not a moment in this game where I felt that my death wasn't my fault. I'm sure the previous reviewer, Nontimetis, was talking about the same fight. It really is a "What the hell am I supposed to do?" moment.
Stick through it all, dear reader, if you have any doubts about your ability to beat this game! I've only played a few shoot-em-ups (hoping to change that!) and I was able to make it through this one. I'm also excited to see the game has some well thought out replayability features. Always the mark of a great game.
Multiple endings, multiple game modes, multiple ways to go about beating this game... all in all, this game is phenomenal. Thanks for the piece of art, and I can't wait to keep playing to see all the endings and unlock all the extra stuff!
Hey! This game absolutely touched my heart after I found it randomly a few days ago, anyway, I really wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this! It's a work of art, and I'm amazed at how far its come from just one developer. I got it on Steam and I'll be playing it as much as I can, it's really fun, rather thought provoking, and meaningful for such a simple game and concept!