The game started amazingly: a cutscene, in Luanti, with proper animations (!). I was mesmerized. Unfortunately after that I found myself stuck twice in a pitch black area, to only find out (by reading another review here) that it's a bug. Using the solution suggested in the review, I teleported myself in the actual area the player is expected to play in and I decided to give it a chance. And that's where I found back my enthusiasm.
Sounds are well-finished, the animation of doors is great, no useless inventory, custom HUD. However, my enthusiasm kept decreasing as long as I kept playing. The game is basically a big maze, with a refined graphical and sound system. If my first reaction when opening a door was of amazement, after the 40th one in 5 minutes with basically nothing else happening was "oh, ok, door..". I didn't finish it as I found myself stuck in a room where I couldn't see basically anything, but in general the game wasn't entertaining enough after the first minutes and I wasn't really interested in continuing. Running through the maze became a chore, which is a pity, considering the focus that the author has put on the artistic side
I apologize for the bug, it's never happened to me and I thought I had prevented it from being a possiblity. I'll try to fix it post-jam.
To be honest, I thought the exploration section wasn't enough of a maze when I made it: every path will lead to the next checkpoint as long as you stick to the path of most resistance (e.g. if a door can be activated with a switch, choose it instead of the other doors in the room). You can go in circles, but if you remember and avoid paths you've already taken, it's not very likely. Looking back on it, I think that making the exploration section as much of a maze as it is actually contributes nicely to the puzzle aspect of the game, because you're forced to think about where you're going instead of blindly following the author's cues. And in the context of the story, it also makes sense: the structure wasn't designed with Key's pleasure in mind, and the boss is using the puzzles to weed out small fry. The goal of the game isn't just to keep you constantly entertained, I'd like it to challenge you as well.
That said, I'll grant that the game has a slow start with the exploration stage. The interesting mechanics begin to be introduced after that, which is why it's unfortunate that you didn't want to keep going. I expect it could probably also use some improvement to make it less likely to go in a circle on the first try.
The game started amazingly: a cutscene, in Luanti, with proper animations (!). I was mesmerized. Unfortunately after that I found myself stuck twice in a pitch black area, to only find out (by reading another review here) that it's a bug. Using the solution suggested in the review, I teleported myself in the actual area the player is expected to play in and I decided to give it a chance. And that's where I found back my enthusiasm.
Sounds are well-finished, the animation of doors is great, no useless inventory, custom HUD. However, my enthusiasm kept decreasing as long as I kept playing. The game is basically a big maze, with a refined graphical and sound system. If my first reaction when opening a door was of amazement, after the 40th one in 5 minutes with basically nothing else happening was "oh, ok, door..". I didn't finish it as I found myself stuck in a room where I couldn't see basically anything, but in general the game wasn't entertaining enough after the first minutes and I wasn't really interested in continuing. Running through the maze became a chore, which is a pity, considering the focus that the author has put on the artistic side
I apologize for the bug, it's never happened to me and I thought I had prevented it from being a possiblity. I'll try to fix it post-jam.
To be honest, I thought the exploration section wasn't enough of a maze when I made it: every path will lead to the next checkpoint as long as you stick to the path of most resistance (e.g. if a door can be activated with a switch, choose it instead of the other doors in the room). You can go in circles, but if you remember and avoid paths you've already taken, it's not very likely. Looking back on it, I think that making the exploration section as much of a maze as it is actually contributes nicely to the puzzle aspect of the game, because you're forced to think about where you're going instead of blindly following the author's cues. And in the context of the story, it also makes sense: the structure wasn't designed with Key's pleasure in mind, and the boss is using the puzzles to weed out small fry. The goal of the game isn't just to keep you constantly entertained, I'd like it to challenge you as well.
That said, I'll grant that the game has a slow start with the exploration stage. The interesting mechanics begin to be introduced after that, which is why it's unfortunate that you didn't want to keep going. I expect it could probably also use some improvement to make it less likely to go in a circle on the first try.