Playthrough took me one hour and four minutes, a lot of that time was probably spent on the Mimic boss. Learning the boss’ patterns and beating it took about ten tries (all deaths occurred at Ancient Mimic).

The first phase is fairly straight forward, though when using a shortsword, sometimes the blue mimic would hit me as I first swung, and it wasn’t clear why since he can be stun-locked with the shortsword and I was almost at the edge of attack range.

The second phase is very well done, though hectic when first learning it.

The Ancient Mimic fight seemed very cluttered, it was hard to pay attention to all the mobs as well as random area of effect (the fire lasts a long time and poison spores cover most of the map when the mimic spits them). However, after fighting the ingrained urge to ignore adds, I realized that they aren’t constantly spawned and fought them in phases, slowly kiting my way to victory.

If any changes should be made, they are very minor ones to the ancient mimic section (I may have just been unlucky with randomized attacks). This is another unique and fun boss fight.

Story-wise i’m totally on board with the Zhamla twist, though you should consider the age of your audience. Showing someone being impaled with a sword is fairly shocking, especially for children, and if your target audience is younger, you may want to insinuate the death with a sword-flash-scene-cut to the character dead on the ground (minus sword). It will reduce the impact of the event and make Zhamla seem less strikingly evil, but it will also reach a wider audience.

If your target audience is older, keep the scene the way it is. Currently it is a shocking twist which perfectly demonstrates how insane Zhamla has become. However, because of the art style for the game (attracting a younger audience), you may want to include a warning about age-appropriate scenes of violence on the store page or something.

What originally seemed to be a lighthearted and funny parody adventure got very dark, very fast. You may want to consider if a large and sudden tone shift fits with your idea of the story and how it moves forward.

Even though Bag says “shrug it off”, it feels like something that will definitely come up again (as if Zhamla will be the final boss, or this event haunts the player). Personally it is hard to just shrug it off as finished even though it was all in the past, though that feeling may pass as the story moves on.

Whatever you decide, the game is coming along great, and I look forward to what comes next!

the new update is AMAZING!!! I cannot wait for the fourth zone but I know I will have to be patient. I love how the lore develops and expands.

I would say not to worry about the death scene

@Ninjarock: Thanks for the feedback! We’re aware of the dissonance in tone, and it is intended and how we’ve envisioned it! Perhaps when the game is due a proper release, we could consider having a setting that soften certain events (for parents playing with young children, or others who might enjoy such a feature).

@daniel: Thanks! We’re glad you enjoyed it :)

Playthrough took me about an hour. I think the story was amazing and it should stay as it is but I don’t know how it could affect a child.
When first seeing the elder, my frosty friend hit it before I did. This caused the game to freeze on the boss portrait until I pressed esc. When replaying, however, I didn’t experience the same issue so it may have been my computer.
The boss took me 4 tries to beat which is lower than the other bosses. The first phase was fairly easy as it was meant to be. The second phase was very well done and balanced. The third , however, could be improved. Despite all the mobs, I was able to focus on the Ancient Mimic. This kept the fight too short. The mobs became a distraction rather than a challenge. Maybe a way to ensure we would have to deal with the mobs could be found?
You are doing such an amazing job with such a small team. Keep up the good work! I can’t wait for the next update!