This demo is incredible. The atmosphere is perfect and the combat is really fun. Honestly everything about this game is just excellent. The only complaint I have is with the toggle run, where you have to already be moving in order to start running, and every time anything happens you get knocked out of it and have to toggle it on again. If there were an option for holding shift to run, that would be perfect. Overall, great game, can't wait for the full release. 10/10
Edit: forgot to review the boss fight. The boss fight was excellent, and I was going to complain about how the laser attack was impossible to dodge but it turned out it was just a skill issue on my part. Incredibly satisfying boss to learn and defeat.
I'm on Linux and I tried playing it through proton but I couldn't get my fps above 5. This is the first time I've tried playing a non-steam game through proton so the problem might be something I'm doing. I'd love to try again if you export a native Linux version.
Edit: I threw it on my steam deck and it's working fine there. No idea why my desktop is being a butt.
Hi Fixer! Many thanks for trying out the game on Linux. I'll try having an actual Linux build the next time I release a new demo. Out of curiosity, what version of Proton did you use on your Linux machine?
Happy to hear it works fine on your Steam Deck. I've used mine to try and optimize the game as much as possible on it, should run pretty well there!
I tried Proton 11, 9,5, and 10-GE. But the issue doesn't have anything to do with Proton. I realized a little later than all my games on PC weren't running well. Seems to be because I switch over to Wayland recently. When I changed back to x11 everything started running smoothly again including your game.
I made it to the boss fight but haven't beaten him yet. I found Project Goblin through r/Godot. I'm also working on a lowpoly action game (more soulslike than DD though) and its really motivational to see that one person can put together a great game like this.
If you do decide to make an native linux version and need someone to test it feel free to reach out.
This is shaping up really well Tinto. The Daimon fight was seriously hype and it seems he had a few tricks Daimon himself didn't. I can't wait to see what you've got in store.
Haha many thanks! Glad you like it, and no worries I have no plans of abandoning this project, although it'll be quite a while until I can release it lol.
That said, I plan on releasing more demos with more content. See you then!
Here's my feedback, I tried to give some kind of possible solution where I could:
Peace music will fade into combat music but not the other way around. Felt fine for the tower but felt kind of odd in the earlier grassy sections.
The ranged attack on the zombies is kinda overkill, especially when you're fighting like 20 of them, I just jogged away.
It was awkward trying to use my shield since I often tried to whip around to block something last-moment, maybe an option to snap behind camera on blocking?
Might be skill issue but there were a number of times I accidentally started a finisher animation when I meant to do a heavy attack, dunno what to do about this one. The right trigger isn't used so maybe it could contextually glow and allow the player to do a special move?
Hobgoblins felt annoying to fight, I get the logic behind them but I fought them all by slowly kiting around them and taking potshots. As an alternative, maybe they could get stunned when hit with 3-5 normal attacks, but don't take much damage unless stunned? I didn't see the standing stun state happen often so this might be a good place to show it off more.
The demon boss for some reason loved spamming lightning like 5 times in a row. You could add some kind of move tracker so it won't pick 1 specific move too often.
As an aside, I didn't have an issue with the 5 glow balls attack like some other people mentioned, I dodged it easily by running around it. The melee flash on the other hand kept catching me on the edge of my hitbox.
I was really impressed with how polished and how much content there was for an "alpha" demo, I really need to step up my game lol. I had a lot of fun with it and I'm really looking forward to more updates!!
Hey many thanks for playing! Glad to read you enjoyed your time with the demo. :)
The zombie section is there kinda to teach the player that they don't really need to beat all the enemies at all times! So no worries if you skipped that, that was the idea (although killing them might net you some nice item drops if you are lucky).
I've read more complains about the current way in which blocking works but honestly I can figure a "solution". Blocking is meant to allow the player block in any direction at any given time and it should block in the direction you are pressing on the left stick or the WASD keys. Let me know if that isn't the case!
The finishers are done by holding down the button. A normal press should never trigger them. Right trigger will be used later once I implement the magic bow, so the finisher input needs to stay as it is.
Hobgoblins were too much fore sure! I just updated the demo and nerfed them so they flinch when hit in the head, making them way easier to deal with.
The demon has some code to prevent it from doing the same spell twice in a row... but it was bugged lol. thanks for reporting it! Should be fixed on the last update. I also reduced the AOE radius of some of his attacks like the melee flash, which was a bit higher than it should.
Many thanks again for playing and for all the feedback!
I got to the Boss of the alpha, ill come back to him later Some feedback if you want it
Let players mantle up from hanging without having to point the camera toward the ledge (maybe). You currently cant do this, was a bit awkward in the first big room with water
I missed the tutorial for sprinting (Press-in on left thumbstick)
I missed the tutorial for Shield Bashing (very important for the armored enemies)
Overall i think you have very few points of health in the demo considering all the healing items heal for 8 or more over time?
I actually like the clunky nature of the combat, its very old school in a charming way, but I do wish the enemies didn't instantly recover after being shield bashed+ damaged
It makes combat feel like you have to cheese everything instead of engaging in a rhythm/dance with them like it maybe should. The most effective strategy was to hit & run
I was never able to actually do the pickup-enemy -> throw thing very often because the animation just takes too long and the enemy you want to throw at interrupts you
Hey there! Many thanks for playing and for the feedback. :D
I don't know what you mean with the first bulletpoint, you can climb without having to worry about the camera at all! Just press "up" on the left stick or the W key and the player will mantle.
I've modified the welcome screen to insist a bit more on the tutorials. Both sprinting and the shield bash are explained on the tutorial section, but I believe people aren't paying a lot of attention to that lol. Once I have NPCs around the area I'll have them point out that stuff so it's harder to miss.
Later on the player will have up to 16 life crystals, which is why some items can heal that much. That said I'm considering having 8 during the prologue, but first I wanted to check out how difficult the game is for people while just having 4.
The hit and run I see a lot of players doing sure wasn't intended. I believe the gobs and the zombies are perfectly fine and manageable as is but the hobgoblins sure were too much, so I've nerfed them so now they flinch when hit in the head, making them way easier to deal with even in groups.
saw you on /v/ and was won over by the little dancing dude gif. an extremely charming homage to dragons dogma and classic high fantasy. good, clean fun, I guess lol. some notes:
the block button would swing my dude around facing away from the hit, and make blocking against a group unreliable enough to not use.
there's an invisible harpy, I think you've heard that before
killing the demon wasn't too hard in my opinion, though it was quite difficult. challenging like a final boss should be. great move set too, by the way. what I would say is that dealing no damage on his body or limbs feels bad. like, even if it dealt a tenth the damage of a headshot I don't think you'd get the complaints. the aerial light attacks and sky cut are too inaccurate to get headshots reliably.
About blocking, it's complicated because I want the player to be able to block in any direction at any given time, so the thing that matters most is the direction you are pressing on the left stick/WASD keys to determine the direction of a block. I believe the player could get used to it after some time of playing the game so for now I'm leaving it as it is, but I'll review it further if people keep complaining about it.
I believe I've fixed the invisible harpy bug. Also glad you were able to deal with the demon! I was worried it could be too much for a first boss. In the last update I've made his hitbox bigger, so it's easier to deal damage to his weak point now be it with aerial attacks or the Sky Rend skill.
I played the alpha demo and was very pleasantly surprised. This has a ton of potential and is a lot more polished than I was expecting.
Here's some feedback in no particular order:
I couldn't figure out any proper counterplay to the armored hobgoblins, I ended up mainly baiting their jumping slash and hit-and-running. Likely a skill issue on my part, but it felt like I was cheesing them.
Level and fight design are really solid. All the right fundamentals are in place: great pace, new elements thrown in constantly, rewards for paying attention, etc. It really shows you know what you're doing.
Loved the sneaky hidden door, very well hinted at. Excellent zombie ambush as well.
As it seems to be a common topic: I found the difficulty to be perfectly fine for a short intense challenge (or a hard mode), but it might be escalating a bit too fast for an introduction in a larger game. I only died a couple times but I had to used nearly every item.
Lastly, and this is very subjective, I think the weakest aspect is the art direction (primarily the visuals). It's competent and achieves a fairly convincing N64 look, but feels quite bland to me. Dungeon section aside, it didn't build any particularly strong feelings or sense of immersion.
I understand it's a very early build, but at the moment the appeal is mainly just the systems and the challenges. The game would be a much stronger experience if it was also doing something thematically deeper on the whole. That said, I also think it's better to be minimalist and tasteful than the opposite, so take it or leave it.
Hope some of this is helpful, I'll be on the lookout for more updates!
Hobgoblins sure are way too overtuned, and they've been nerfed in the last update. They now flinch and interrupt their current action when you hit them in the head, allowing the player to deal multiple attacks in one go instead of having to do so much hit-and-run.
Happy to read you enjoyed the level design! I'm the kind of dude who looks behind every nook and cranny in a game and love feeling rewarded when doing so, so I'm trying to put some of that in the game.
I'll try improving the art direction but tbh, I wouldn't have a lot of faith in me being able to achieve it but I'll try my best!
Here's my first playthrough/impressions Alpha v0.1.
I love the environmental combat. I like the part where the goblins pushed each other into the water. I think there's lots of potential to do more whacky stuff for future levels. The controls are good and the foundation is solid.
The later levels had a really bad enemy spam problem. It limited my playstyle to just hit and run or be overwhelmed. I wasn't able to do environmental kills as I would like.
The boss was also pretty rough. The only move I can reliably do damage with is when he does the laser attack. My last attempt took me about 17 mins to get the boss down to half and he started spamming lightning non-stop.
Overall, I think it's really charming, and it didn't disappoint. I had a lot of fun.
Thanks for playing! And also for recording it, the video will help me a lot.
Glad you enjoyed the combat! Sadly the goblins pushing each other into the water is a bug that I've already fixed. When unable to reach the player they are supposed to resort to ranged attacks (throwing rocks) instead of chasing forever without even going unaggro.
The difficulty in the later part has been a pretty common complain and I'll tone it down, as I'm toning down the demon as well: he'll have 80% of his current health, a bigger hitbox and I'm refactoring the blue magic missiles attack so they work in a way that's easier to evade.
I just beat the demo and MAN that final boss was fun. I thought at first, “holy hell he has a billion moves there’s no way I can do this on four hearts”. And I did the Dragon’s Dogma classic of using all my items, everything I got, did a bunch of jump attacks, knew the best spots to land hits (eye lasers was definitely the easiest). Also spotted some nasty stamina traps with the magic missiles, honestly better to save your stamina and take the one damage if you can manage it.
I actually heard the goblin sound effect, at least the squeaking one before, in another game! Shout outs to Exiled Kingdoms. Brought a lil bit of nostalgia.
But, seriously, a mix of Dragon’s Dogma with some very light Zelda elements was really fun. If I could go back to my greatsword days, it’d be over. Really reminded me of the fun of Bitterblack.
A lot of people have complained about the magic missiles, so I'll be changing that attack to something that doesn't force you to block all 5 of them at times.
And damn, having my game compared to BBI might be the best compliment I could ever ask for. Many thanks! Hope you stay around and play the next demos. Next one will just be some patches and improvements but the one after that will have some new content.
When I booted this up I was kinda curious what engine was used. Now, I see it's done with Godot makes me want them to showcase it as an example of some of the cool shit you can make with the engine.
Many thanks for the 5 stars! Very happy to read that you had fun with the demo and enjoyed an approach to action combat that's not the usual souls-like combat we get so often nowadays.
Hope you enjoy future demos as much as this one. See you then! :D
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This demo is incredible. The atmosphere is perfect and the combat is really fun. Honestly everything about this game is just excellent. The only complaint I have is with the toggle run, where you have to already be moving in order to start running, and every time anything happens you get knocked out of it and have to toggle it on again. If there were an option for holding shift to run, that would be perfect. Overall, great game, can't wait for the full release. 10/10
Edit: forgot to review the boss fight. The boss fight was excellent, and I was going to complain about how the laser attack was impossible to dodge but it turned out it was just a skill issue on my part. Incredibly satisfying boss to learn and defeat.
i like this game, very polish
Thanks for playing! Glad you liked it :D
I'm on Linux and I tried playing it through proton but I couldn't get my fps above 5. This is the first time I've tried playing a non-steam game through proton so the problem might be something I'm doing. I'd love to try again if you export a native Linux version.
Edit: I threw it on my steam deck and it's working fine there. No idea why my desktop is being a butt.
Hi Fixer! Many thanks for trying out the game on Linux. I'll try having an actual Linux build the next time I release a new demo. Out of curiosity, what version of Proton did you use on your Linux machine?
Happy to hear it works fine on your Steam Deck. I've used mine to try and optimize the game as much as possible on it, should run pretty well there!
I tried Proton 11, 9,5, and 10-GE. But the issue doesn't have anything to do with Proton. I realized a little later than all my games on PC weren't running well. Seems to be because I switch over to Wayland recently. When I changed back to x11 everything started running smoothly again including your game.
I made it to the boss fight but haven't beaten him yet. I found Project Goblin through r/Godot. I'm also working on a lowpoly action game (more soulslike than DD though) and its really motivational to see that one person can put together a great game like this.
If you do decide to make an native linux version and need someone to test it feel free to reach out.
Happy to read that! Thanks for verifying that the game was running fine once you got that issue sorted out.
Also thanks for the kind words! Once I have a Linux build I'll let you know. Have a good one!
This is shaping up really well Tinto. The Daimon fight was seriously hype and it seems he had a few tricks Daimon himself didn't. I can't wait to see what you've got in store.
Many thanks! Hope you like the stuff I have planed for the first act after the prologue (the demo area). Should be cool!
SOVL
I really enjoyed the boss fight
Thanks! Happy to read you liked the boss, as it was the part I feared the most before developing it.
I belive it's challenging but not too hard. Hope I can strike a similar balance in future bosses.
Please god keep developing this, shit's cash 10/10
Haha many thanks! Glad you like it, and no worries I have no plans of abandoning this project, although it'll be quite a while until I can release it lol.
That said, I plan on releasing more demos with more content. See you then!
Just finished the demo and I really liked it!
Here's my feedback, I tried to give some kind of possible solution where I could:
I was really impressed with how polished and how much content there was for an "alpha" demo, I really need to step up my game lol. I had a lot of fun with it and I'm really looking forward to more updates!!
Also thanks for the free ringtone <3
Hey many thanks for playing! Glad to read you enjoyed your time with the demo. :)
The zombie section is there kinda to teach the player that they don't really need to beat all the enemies at all times! So no worries if you skipped that, that was the idea (although killing them might net you some nice item drops if you are lucky).
I've read more complains about the current way in which blocking works but honestly I can figure a "solution". Blocking is meant to allow the player block in any direction at any given time and it should block in the direction you are pressing on the left stick or the WASD keys. Let me know if that isn't the case!
The finishers are done by holding down the button. A normal press should never trigger them. Right trigger will be used later once I implement the magic bow, so the finisher input needs to stay as it is.
Hobgoblins were too much fore sure! I just updated the demo and nerfed them so they flinch when hit in the head, making them way easier to deal with.
The demon has some code to prevent it from doing the same spell twice in a row... but it was bugged lol. thanks for reporting it! Should be fixed on the last update. I also reduced the AOE radius of some of his attacks like the melee flash, which was a bit higher than it should.
Many thanks again for playing and for all the feedback!
I got to the Boss of the alpha, ill come back to him later
Some feedback if you want it
I actually like the clunky nature of the combat, its very old school in a charming way, but I do wish the enemies didn't instantly recover after being shield bashed+ damaged
It makes combat feel like you have to cheese everything instead of engaging in a rhythm/dance with them like it maybe should. The most effective strategy was to hit & run
I was never able to actually do the pickup-enemy -> throw thing very often because the animation just takes too long and the enemy you want to throw at interrupts you
Hey there! Many thanks for playing and for the feedback. :D
I don't know what you mean with the first bulletpoint, you can climb without having to worry about the camera at all! Just press "up" on the left stick or the W key and the player will mantle.
I've modified the welcome screen to insist a bit more on the tutorials. Both sprinting and the shield bash are explained on the tutorial section, but I believe people aren't paying a lot of attention to that lol. Once I have NPCs around the area I'll have them point out that stuff so it's harder to miss.
Later on the player will have up to 16 life crystals, which is why some items can heal that much. That said I'm considering having 8 during the prologue, but first I wanted to check out how difficult the game is for people while just having 4.
The hit and run I see a lot of players doing sure wasn't intended. I believe the gobs and the zombies are perfectly fine and manageable as is but the hobgoblins sure were too much, so I've nerfed them so now they flinch when hit in the head, making them way easier to deal with even in groups.
Thanks again!
saw you on /v/ and was won over by the little dancing dude gif. an extremely charming homage to dragons dogma and classic high fantasy. good, clean fun, I guess lol. some notes:
the block button would swing my dude around facing away from the hit, and make blocking against a group unreliable enough to not use.
there's an invisible harpy, I think you've heard that before
killing the demon wasn't too hard in my opinion, though it was quite difficult. challenging like a final boss should be. great move set too, by the way. what I would say is that dealing no damage on his body or limbs feels bad. like, even if it dealt a tenth the damage of a headshot I don't think you'd get the complaints. the aerial light attacks and sky cut are too inaccurate to get headshots reliably.
keep it up, this is great stuff.
Thanks for playing!
About blocking, it's complicated because I want the player to be able to block in any direction at any given time, so the thing that matters most is the direction you are pressing on the left stick/WASD keys to determine the direction of a block. I believe the player could get used to it after some time of playing the game so for now I'm leaving it as it is, but I'll review it further if people keep complaining about it.
I believe I've fixed the invisible harpy bug. Also glad you were able to deal with the demon! I was worried it could be too much for a first boss. In the last update I've made his hitbox bigger, so it's easier to deal damage to his weak point now be it with aerial attacks or the Sky Rend skill.
Thanks for the feedback! :D
I played the alpha demo and was very pleasantly surprised. This has a ton of potential and is a lot more polished than I was expecting.
Here's some feedback in no particular order:
Lastly, and this is very subjective, I think the weakest aspect is the art direction (primarily the visuals). It's competent and achieves a fairly convincing N64 look, but feels quite bland to me. Dungeon section aside, it didn't build any particularly strong feelings or sense of immersion.
I understand it's a very early build, but at the moment the appeal is mainly just the systems and the challenges. The game would be a much stronger experience if it was also doing something thematically deeper on the whole. That said, I also think it's better to be minimalist and tasteful than the opposite, so take it or leave it.
Hope some of this is helpful, I'll be on the lookout for more updates!
Many thanks for playing and for the feedback!
Hobgoblins sure are way too overtuned, and they've been nerfed in the last update. They now flinch and interrupt their current action when you hit them in the head, allowing the player to deal multiple attacks in one go instead of having to do so much hit-and-run.
Happy to read you enjoyed the level design! I'm the kind of dude who looks behind every nook and cranny in a game and love feeling rewarded when doing so, so I'm trying to put some of that in the game.
I'll try improving the art direction but tbh, I wouldn't have a lot of faith in me being able to achieve it but I'll try my best!
I love the environmental combat. I like the part where the goblins pushed each other into the water. I think there's lots of potential to do more whacky stuff for future levels. The controls are good and the foundation is solid.
The later levels had a really bad enemy spam problem. It limited my playstyle to just hit and run or be overwhelmed. I wasn't able to do environmental kills as I would like.
The boss was also pretty rough. The only move I can reliably do damage with is when he does the laser attack. My last attempt took me about 17 mins to get the boss down to half and he started spamming lightning non-stop.
Overall, I think it's really charming, and it didn't disappoint. I had a lot of fun.
Thanks for playing! And also for recording it, the video will help me a lot.
Glad you enjoyed the combat! Sadly the goblins pushing each other into the water is a bug that I've already fixed. When unable to reach the player they are supposed to resort to ranged attacks (throwing rocks) instead of chasing forever without even going unaggro.
The difficulty in the later part has been a pretty common complain and I'll tone it down, as I'm toning down the demon as well: he'll have 80% of his current health, a bigger hitbox and I'm refactoring the blue magic missiles attack so they work in a way that's easier to evade.
Thanks again!
gorlbelm
I just beat the demo and MAN that final boss was fun. I thought at first, “holy hell he has a billion moves there’s no way I can do this on four hearts”. And I did the Dragon’s Dogma classic of using all my items, everything I got, did a bunch of jump attacks, knew the best spots to land hits (eye lasers was definitely the easiest). Also spotted some nasty stamina traps with the magic missiles, honestly better to save your stamina and take the one damage if you can manage it.
I actually heard the goblin sound effect, at least the squeaking one before, in another game! Shout outs to Exiled Kingdoms. Brought a lil bit of nostalgia.
But, seriously, a mix of Dragon’s Dogma with some very light Zelda elements was really fun. If I could go back to my greatsword days, it’d be over. Really reminded me of the fun of Bitterblack.
Many thanks for playing DD-bro!
A lot of people have complained about the magic missiles, so I'll be changing that attack to something that doesn't force you to block all 5 of them at times.
And damn, having my game compared to BBI might be the best compliment I could ever ask for. Many thanks! Hope you stay around and play the next demos. Next one will just be some patches and improvements but the one after that will have some new content.
See you! And thanks again. :D
Awesome work buddy! ( Feedback on X ) :D
Many thanks for playing and for all that feedback! :]
When I booted this up I was kinda curious what engine was used. Now, I see it's done with Godot makes me want them to showcase it as an example of some of the cool shit you can make with the engine.
That's one hell of a compliment, many thanks!
Based Dragon's Dogma enjoyer
Fellow DD bro! I hope you like it a lot once you get to play it
need my indie dragon dogma aaa
based
looks like it should be a lot of fun to play
Sure hope so! The demo will come out really soon, hope you like it!
Hey you! I just read your review.
Many thanks for the 5 stars! Very happy to read that you had fun with the demo and enjoyed an approach to action combat that's not the usual souls-like combat we get so often nowadays.
Hope you enjoy future demos as much as this one. See you then! :D
This look amazing! Can't wait to give it a go!
Glad to read that! So cool to have people excited to try it haha.
I'm implementing a last batch of mechanics before working on the demo level. It should arrive more or less soon, hope to see you there! :)
Hyped to eventually play this man!
Not as hyped as I am for you to play it!
do not hurt the gobs
Weapons are all made of foam, so don't worry they are all just pretending!