SAGE 2022 - Demo Linja vs. the Manneclowns - 2022 Demo

I really love the overall aesthetic of the game, all those clowns look great ! But as much as I like them, I'd say that, strangely enough, they look a little too good for your average mob and look too similar. It kinda takes away from the more important ones (the bosses) who don't immediately look more important than the other ones (they look pretty much the same at first glance, same size, same body-type, etc.).
The gameplay is alright, movment feels good and look good, but our attacks are really lacking in terms of impact. The lore with the parchemin felt a bit unnecessary, the world doesn't seem appealing enough for it to matter and mixing it with the NPC dialogs seem a bit off.
I really liked the last boss despite the difficulty spike that it was. It was intense and really rewarding but I feel like it could be even better with proper feedback for our attacks. I love the sound design, and overall this game isn't lacking in terms of style, it looks and feels unique, and is overall still pretty fun ! This game definitely has potential and I'd be happy to see more of it.

very good game, I can tell a lot of effort and love went into it, the controls are solid and the graphics are good.
sadly I never figured out where to find the doggos, so if I had more clear hints I could.
also the second boss has something that irritates me, that the cannons are randomized, I would rather that after she rotates the cannons she gets out from the actual last cannon so I know where she will come from. other than that you had made a good job...

What, did you expect a ligma or a whole circus joke?

Let's start with what I like:
The presentation is gorgeous. Art style is very unique and appealing, and animation is solid. The various visual effects applied across the game make give it some really nice charm. The soundtrack is okay; nothing special, nothing offensive.

Unfortunately, that's all I can really praise.

At first, I was going to detail everything that I don't like about the controls, but I decided to take a different approach and just elaborate on one statement: The controls aren't fun. There's no weight to the player's jump; you fall way too slowly, with no acceleration on your fall. You can fall faster by pressing down, but it still feels floaty and weightless. The shuriken attack is too weak compared to homing slice, and enemies don't feel fun to fight when you can stun them to death with the shurikens or just kill them immediately with the slice. The dash speed is way too slow, there's pretty much no point in dashing normally instead of dash jumping, unless you need the height of an upwards dash. All of this leads to controls that aren't really bad, but they don't feel quite right. It feels unremarkable, mediocre.

What kills this demo, though, is the boss. It's absolutely terrible. It's a massive difficulty spike from the rest of the game, with poorly telegraphed and downright random attacks that are ridiculously unfair. You're expected to avoid a bunch of balls doing different things at the same with no apparent pattern while still trying to keep yourself in mid-air to hit the boss. You're expected to be able to predict from which cannon the boss is going to come out of, because the boss isn't shot from the last cannon it entered and instead is shot from a random cannon for some GODDAMN REASON. The spinning ring attack is the least unfair of the bunch, until the boss comes down and starts spinning alongside the rings, forcing you to keep track of four obstacles at the same time, with one of those obstacles having a different, much faster speed than the other three.

I believe this game can be good, but honestly, I'd advise you guys to play some old-school games like Megaman X2 and especially Shinobi 3, considering the ninja themes. Try to understand what you guys like about those games, and combine those elements into an experience that feels new, yet familiar, but most importantly, make sure those elements complement each other. Try to nail the feel of the player's movement and jump physics, before anything else.

I don't quite know what to think about this game. It doesn't feel very remarkable or fun, but I can't tell exactly why
(except for the boss, it's very clearly terrible). My best guess would be that I can't get a sense of cohesion to the player's arsenal. I can't see how the shurikens complement the homing slices, I can't see how the dash complements the double jump or wall jump. It doesn't feel very focused.

I played this game for roughly 20 minutes, and I don't really quite understand what you guys were aiming for with it. Do you want to make a fast-paced platformer? A combat-focused game with platforming elements? A mixture of both? Whatever the answer is, make sure you guys make an answer, and try to find out the best way to achieve your goals.

I don't know if much of what I said here makes much sense, but I hope I could give you guys something to think about, and I hope this game gets as good as it can possibly be.

Everyone's heard of pirates vs clowns but never NINJAS vs clowns!

pros:
+love fast falling
+good dash/attack dash mechanic
+character designs are fantastic
+simple but fun level design
+responsive controls
+one simple tutorial level and that's it, no hand holding

Personal future ideas:
-most famous games has a jingle or theme song you remember them by (e.g. sonic 1 green hill zone or super mario 1-1). maybe this game needs one?
-maybe for beginners, with the air dash, put an arrow as to which direction the player is going (smash ultimate did this for certain (Up + Special) attacks, like sephiroth)

recommended game for reference:
+luminous avenger gunvolt IX 1 and IX 2 have a character that can air dash (and bounce off walls while air dashing) but in IX 2, they limited your air dashes to one UNLESS you play without getting hit.

Great job guys! I look forward to your future development.

Gameplay was solid and the animations are great! The music and sound design are also pretty on point.

However, the boss of the second stage - Squiliar - is in my opinion, way too hard. I couldn't beat her and didn't end up finishing the demo. For an early game boss, her fight drags on way too long, and she has way too much health for how much she's constantly throwing at you - you basically have to have mastered the game and your moves to really stand a chance, and that's not really the kind of pace to have established by the second level.

There were also a few other points in the game that I felt were unfair for how early game it was, notably some areas in level 1 where very tight timing was required to bypass doors that damaged you, as well as spots where spike pits were placed where you couldn't see them until you were already almost inside of them. If spikes weren't a one hit death that wouldn't be as much of a problem tbh.