The core of a decent platformer is having amazing controls and then applying them to a difficult stage layout. This game has extremely sub par controls, and introduces its challenge by making a stage that shouldn't from a layout perspective be incredibly challenging, but is damn near impossible due to the incredibly lacking control scheme. That is not how you make a good platformer. 1.5 stars for decent pixel art and background setting, but the control scheme makes this pretty much unplayable, so that doesn't really carry much weight.
Reviews for "Sanguine 2"
why are the controls so laggy? is it the game or my computer?
I'll start with the positives.
I like the look and general mood of the game. The first few minutes, at least. The graphic style is a nice blend of 8-16-bit era stuff, which is usually a nice thing to see. Nothing new or original, but it works.
The controls have a really 'weighted' feel to them, which is a great thing to have, when implemented correctly. In this game it might be worth it to rebalance things a bit. Speeding up for jumping, jumping with precision (which is required, and I'll get to in a sec) and sliding when landing just don't quite feel right. I cannot review the full game because I have no access to the full game. The first pit to cross when you're introduced to the chain in the dungeon under the bridge... I cannot pass over it. I've gotten close, or so I think, but with no tips or clues as to if I'm doing it right or not... I'm stuck. I find it nearly impossible to both make the perfect jump and to throw the chain at the right time AT the same time.
I'm sorry dude, but you're getting a low score from me. The game looks promising, but if the tutorial already requires fully mastering the control scheme, it's just not for a casual platform lover like myself. Hopefully (if you agree/get similar feedback) you can make this game work for everyone.
-ZC
RayBeckham responds:
Why do you say that it's nearly impossible to jump and throw the chain at the same time? You press and hold jump, then just hit the chain as you near the apex of your jump.
You say there are no indications as to if you're doing it right or not. Huh? If the chain never reaches the wall, you threw it too early. If it does but you're too low on the wall, you were too late. How is that not a clean and obvious indication?
It makes me worry your keyboard might have a key pressing conflict of some sort. I've stated this everywhere, but, when you throw the chain, you are pressing up to 4 buttons at one time and some keyboards won't allow certain keys to be pressed at once. If you open up the menu and go to keybindings, the buttons will flash if you are holding them down... if they aren't flashing, the game isn't registering the key presses correctly. Rebinding new keys may enable a working combination... I wish it weren't this complicated.
Unfortunately, I can't control people's hardware and most platformers are designed with controllers in mind, not keyboards. But maybe this isn't the problem you are experiencing.
If not, I don't know what to tell you. I intended the game to be hard, not causal. I wish I could see what people are doing when they say they can't stick a landing because I find it laughably easy, having grown up on platformers like Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, etc.
But that's the point. I didn't want to make an easy, simple platformer with the same yawn i've seen before set to a different theme. I wanted mechanics and gameplay that a person had to figure out and get into. When you read the reviews, I seem to either get scathing reviews talking about the frustrating controls or people who absolutely loved it. At an average score of 3.6, i'd wager most people didn't have difficulty figuring out how to play... and I suppose no matter what you do, there's always going to be a percentage of people who don't play the game right or won't figure it out.
Changing the chain at this point would be a disaster, breaking many aspects of the game and forcing me into another month of work and, likely, unintended consequences that must be fixed. Changing the controls to be tighter would make a lot of the game easier and would devalue second playthroughs... possibly damaging the scores I received from people who actually enjoyed the challenge.
As much as i'd like to please everyone, I feel that the real game is figuring out when I should stand my ground and when to cave to the complaints of players. I have to ask myself... "is this guy just an idiot?" Or, "Am I just so used to the game I don't realize how hard it is?". Again, the reviews are back and forth... and I think that's acceptable. Surely a hard game won't appeal to everyone, but there is an audience for what i've made here and they seem to be having fun.
I feel, at this point, it is what it is. I'm sorry you felt that the game was only worth 1 star... (hardly seems fair *big inhale*) but that's your judgement and that's fine.
Unplayable. Controls RUIN the game. Skip this one.
RayBeckham responds:
Why on earth would my game be frontpaged and be carrying a decent score if the game were unplayable?