I’m writing this review in the hope that my feedback will be useful to you. I first saw your game at a friend’s place (the jam version), and after some time I wanted to play it myself for inspiration. I checked it out and saw a new demo and a Steam page, and I was really happy that you decided to finish the game, so I launched it right away.
To be honest, after playing for a bit I had mixed feelings. I started wondering whether the game was actually less interesting to play than to watch. For comparison, I decided to launch the jam version — and oh my god, it plays and feels much better. I’m not sure what exactly causes this, but for me one thing stood out very clearly: I really enjoyed shooting quickly in the game and constantly pushing those diamond-shaped blocks. In the demo version, however, shooting feels very slow.
I understand that this might be a reworked balance decision, but I genuinely had much more fun playing the jam version. I also noticed that in the demo I often died because of the trail left by the diamond blocks, while in the jam version I barely noticed this as a problem.
Unfortunately, I didn’t finish either version, but in the demo I died around 150 times and honestly got really tired of replaying the levels. Because of the long shot cooldown, I completed almost all levels without firing a single shot, except for the ones where I had to push stones to get a key.
It just felt strange to me because the slingshot seems like a key mechanic of the game, yet in the demo I sometimes completely forgot about it since I didn’t feel any impact from using it. I’ll be happy if I’m wrong, and if in the full release the slingshot gets improved over the course of the game and I can really feel the impact of each shot.
I wish you good luck with your game, and patience in development!
The storytelling aspect of the game still feels a bit weak, the mysteriousness of it feels like a shortcut for a lack of telling a story in this case. The character of the guitar player is strong but even his narrative is quite flat.
Some quite neat puzzles, a challenging boss, the art is full of character, giving much life to the game. The tile set for the puzzles might need a bit of variety (in a way that fits this abyss).
I'm the new writer for First Break (I got hired on right after this jam build was published), and I wanted to let you know we agreed with your critiques on the story.
Rest assured the writing has gotten a big overhaul so far, and we feel super good about the story in our new iteration. And we're stoked to share it with you in the future when the game officially releases!
Music, sense of mystery and easy to understand but hardcore gameplay, well that's something! Really enjoyed <3 Vibe reminds me of Yume Nikki, which is one of my most beloved games
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I’m writing this review in the hope that my feedback will be useful to you. I first saw your game at a friend’s place (the jam version), and after some time I wanted to play it myself for inspiration. I checked it out and saw a new demo and a Steam page, and I was really happy that you decided to finish the game, so I launched it right away.
To be honest, after playing for a bit I had mixed feelings. I started wondering whether the game was actually less interesting to play than to watch. For comparison, I decided to launch the jam version — and oh my god, it plays and feels much better. I’m not sure what exactly causes this, but for me one thing stood out very clearly: I really enjoyed shooting quickly in the game and constantly pushing those diamond-shaped blocks. In the demo version, however, shooting feels very slow.
I understand that this might be a reworked balance decision, but I genuinely had much more fun playing the jam version. I also noticed that in the demo I often died because of the trail left by the diamond blocks, while in the jam version I barely noticed this as a problem.
Unfortunately, I didn’t finish either version, but in the demo I died around 150 times and honestly got really tired of replaying the levels. Because of the long shot cooldown, I completed almost all levels without firing a single shot, except for the ones where I had to push stones to get a key.
It just felt strange to me because the slingshot seems like a key mechanic of the game, yet in the demo I sometimes completely forgot about it since I didn’t feel any impact from using it. I’ll be happy if I’m wrong, and if in the full release the slingshot gets improved over the course of the game and I can really feel the impact of each shot.
I wish you good luck with your game, and patience in development!
At first, I didn't understand that I needed to hold down E, and I ended up in the jam version.
I felt strong snooker vibes on the Dendy console. Interesting interpretation of the mechanics.
The storytelling aspect of the game still feels a bit weak, the mysteriousness of it feels like a shortcut for a lack of telling a story in this case. The character of the guitar player is strong but even his narrative is quite flat.
Some quite neat puzzles, a challenging boss, the art is full of character, giving much life to the game. The tile set for the puzzles might need a bit of variety (in a way that fits this abyss).
Thank you so much for all of your hard work!
Thanks so much for your feedback!
I'm the new writer for First Break (I got hired on right after this jam build was published), and I wanted to let you know we agreed with your critiques on the story.
Rest assured the writing has gotten a big overhaul so far, and we feel super good about the story in our new iteration. And we're stoked to share it with you in the future when the game officially releases!
Music, sense of mystery and easy to understand but hardcore gameplay, well that's something! Really enjoyed <3
Vibe reminds me of Yume Nikki, which is one of my most beloved games