If a manga was to made into a game, this is how it should be done. Excellent work.
Reviews for "Mana Collectors"
I don't normally like games like these ones but this was the first.
The controls are simple and the game is fairly easy to understand after some time.
The fact that the game was a bit too easy is my only complaint.
horrible controls
Short and good for a single playthrough, the game does have its drawbacks, but I can see that there were at least steps taken to mitigate them. The drab colour palette and dull background makes one's place on the map difficult to pinpoint, but there is a minimap made to easily track yourself and the boss, so I never found it that difficult to regain my bearings. There is a terrible amount of chaos on the screen, but with the witch's shots always being red it wasn't too hard to always be aware of her attacks. The enemies also progressed to the point where it was hard to keep track of them, but at least the sameness of shape allowed me to understand that they were similar to other enemies and plan accordingly.
However, the game could certainly use a few tweaks to improve overall gameplay. Spell selection was a pain, and cycle menus should only ever be used when the player can pause the action. It would have been far easier to map each spell to a number button and have the player simply hold that to cast the spell. On that note, holding the button didn't really make much sense, and given that the game is more centred on keeping your mana bar full instead of timing an attack, all spells should have been delegated to a simple button press. Lastly while exp growth always gives a sense of achievement it should be punctuated by a visual cue to hint at the player's growth. The health bar and mana bar could have been set to grow out with each increase, and the use of colours can easily show players that spells have changed or grown with their levels. Likewise if the familiars were suppose to be different or better as you got more of them and increased their level I couldn't tell at all. Again a visual cue would have done wonders in a game that is so consistently chaotic.
All in all fun, if a little confusing, but still in need of some polishing. Certainly worthy of a sequel.
This is an awesome idea. It took a while before I understood exactly how the game work, which creatures I should focus on blasting, in which order, what the blue dots did, etc, but the concept is great. The controls are smooth, the HP/MP/LVL system works well and the scenery is really detailed. I don't think I've ever played a witch before either. Nice work!
-cd-