So, I haven’t read the rest of the thread but I’m sure what I’m going to say has been said by countless other people before. It is what it is, I suppose, and I hope it won’t render my comments less valid.
To start off, this is easily a game I’d put in the top 3, or at the very least in the honorable mentions. It’s short, sweet, but still has a lot of replayability with the inclusion of three characters. All of which control frankly better than I thought they would. At least at the low and mid weight level. The movement is springy, even if the animations are relatively simple. The idea of giving each of the knights different mobility options is one I really, really dig. And you found a real clever way to reuse level layouts too, by taking the “metroidvania” approach. Y’know, “you need to have this ability to get here” kinda thing. I can say much the same for the three queens.
The main point here being: You approach this game in a way that’s very friendly for a game jam. Instead of trying to make this big and amazing thing, you began with a simple idea and worked with the limitations you had, you used them to your advantage. That’s actually commendable.
Now, there are a handful of issues. The main one being how unwieldy the bird and cat knight become at their third weight level. They rise very little and fall really quickly. In my opinion, far more than they should. To give a specific example, the tower for the cat knight. There’s a point where two sets of spikes stick out at each side. At the lower weights, that part is perfectly doable, as they drop a manageable amount on the jump and on the grab. At the third weight, I had to chose whether I wanted to hit the spikes above me or below me. I checked several times running the game at 25% speed and the window, if it’s there, is way too small. There’s a similar situation in the bird’s last level, but I didn’t test it that extensively, so maybe that was just me being trash. On another note, checkpoints, or some type of leniency mechanic, I’d say it’s very necessary. Whether it’s, as I mentioned, checkpoints or, like, regaining 1 heart after collecting X boxes, doesn’t matter. I really do believe there has to be some sort of safety net. Moreso since failing forces an end to the level, and, honestly, can lead you to start the game from the beginning. And I feel like I wouldn’t be making such a big deal out of this if you could get back to where you failed quickly. Now, if you’re going for a perfect run, failing in the third level, well… doesn’t make for the fastest return, yanno?
As a final note, I was going to bring up a little bug I had, where I’d accidentally skipped a feeding session and jumped directly to the third level. Thought it was a feature, but after perfecting the level and not getting the special ending, I realized it was certainly not. That said, I’ve seen the patchnotes, and it’s been fixed, so this has now become a moot point. So, instead, let me gush over how cute the queens are. Absolutely, unbelievably lovely. Cat and Mouse were my personal favorites, both in how they gain and in how they react to their respective gain. S2G I can see the horny in the cat queen’s eyes and I love it. I really cannot stress how great of a job you did with the characters.
TL;DR: Really simple game. Really good game. Absolutely had the right idea for executing a game jam game. There was some mildly infuriating stuff, but I suppose that’ll get eventually sorted out. The characters are really fucking lovely. I’ll be severely surprised if this game doesn’t get a spot in the top 3 or even a mention.
