I quite enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was very charming, and the art style was really nice, and certainly added to the charm, and the cutscenes were funny, though i wish they were a bit more, especially at the ending, or between levels, despite really liking it, i do have a few minor nitpicks.
-Backgrounds at the beginning felt a bit rough, could have used some improvement, and the other parts could have used a slight change in the backgrounds
-Gunslinger at the beginning also could have used a slight retouch.
-RPG segment was kinda weird with the random heal and damage, you didn't really have a choice of things because the only choice you have is to heal a ton and hope that the boss doesn't instantly damage you with a higher amount of damage.
-Story seems to want to be there, but the cutscenes stop half way in, leaving me wandering what's going on between the levels, or why are they there.
Overall, a nice chapter, and while i like the art style and i thought the platforming was nice, i would have liked to see more of the story, as the parts we did see were intriguing.
Author Comments
PLAY THE MOST RECENT BUILD HERE: https://sonicinasuit.wixsite.com/tidalwave/swordsman
Honestly, I thought I replied to this review much earlier, lol. Anyways, glad that you enjoyed the game so far! I wasn't big on the RPG segments either, they were basically a compromise after I couldn't get in-level bosses working. AquaGmd has since helped me rework the RPG system to be less luck-based. As for the story, I wanted to leave bits of the story ambiguous in this chapter for more details to be revealed later on in the game, until eventually all of the pieces are put together, kinda like how Cave Story handles it's story (this game is heavily inspired by it. i recommend it, it's an incredible game!) Chapter 2 will definitely have a lot more story bits. I tend to jump from project to project so I'm not sure when Chapter 2 will be finished, but there's an early pre-release build in the author comments if you're interested in seeing more. (PS, Gunslinger is a perfect nickname for the villain. Swordsman, Gunslinger, it fits really well.)