Hej ~
I played quite a bit your demo (the initial release and the v.0.1.2) and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. For a demo in such an early stage of development, my playthrough was the most pleasant : there are already many implemented mechanics and the demo generally plays well without encountering any real difficulties or bugs every 2 meters. Therefore, I must admit that I look forward to seeing what the next updates will bring !
The future game could prove to be very solid and perhaps even rise to the top of porn side-scoller games, given the quality already present for a "simple" demo. Of course, there is still some way to go and improvements to be made but I am confident for the future !
That being said, I will allow myself to highlight some points that would deserve – I think – some attention. This list will not be exhaustive but I hope it may be useful in your future developments.
Regarding the graphics and animations :
In general, the animations are very clean and the erotic drawings are very good too. The pixelated side of Peach’s animations (when she gets grabbed) doesn’t shock me insofar as the side-scrolling parts are themselves pixelated (I find this rather consistent with the overall style).
Moreover, I am not personally a detractor of drawings by AI as long as they are made with a minimum of quality. Which is the case here! The morphology of Peach is very good, I did not notice any error in the animations, nor did I find the usual flaws of the drawings by AI. So it’s a very good point as far as I’m concerned.
Regarding the side-scrolling phases, they are also very well modelled: we know where we’re going and what we’re doing without ever getting lost (the game is not too dark and the colors are bright enough to have an idea of what awaits Peach further ahead).
However, I must admit that Peach’s running animation is a bit... odd. To use the expression of another user: « she kinda runs like a pigeon »... which is not totally wrong once you saw it like this x)
Maybe the animation could be slightly improved to look more natural (even if it’s not extremely serious either – there are other more essential points I imagine – but it is interesting to note).
On the other hand, regarding the animations during the grab phases, if I had to make a recommendation (more than a criticism), I would say that it would be nice to have more fluids on Peach’s body, especially close to her pussy when she gets creampied. It might be a detail but I think it could make a great difference.
In addition (but this time, it’s a more subjective opinion), I think it would be cool if we could witness a form of progressive belly inflation when the enemies cum during the grab phases, rather than an instantaneous result of a full belly. That being said, I don’t know how feasible this would be, nor if it wouldn’t be a bit too complex to implement.
Furthermore, the ambient music and the "wasp boss" theme are good. We are trully immersed in the game. On the other hand, for the music during the "grab" phases, I find that it’s maybe a bit too "funky", compared to the overall game atmosphere which seems quite dark. Certainly, I’m not asking to have the OST of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but there is a certain dichotomy between the side-scroller phases with a mysterious background music and at the moment when Peach gets grabbed, the music becomes « almost pop ». Music a little more soothed would fit a bit better I guess.
Regarding the gameplay :
In general, it’s very pleasant to play (especially for a demo!), but some mechanics can cause some issues and certain points deserve improvement I think (some of them have already been raised so I'll try to keep it tight).
First of all, Peach’s accuracy with her gun is way too scattered! Certainly, it gave me a good laugh after Peach picked up the pistol, saying that she had already taken shooting classes and yet, in front of an enemy 2 meters ahead of her, she managed to shoot 4 meters off the target. At first, it was very funny, but in the long term, it can quickly become frustrating. It’s a bit unfortunate because Peach’s justification of knowing how to use a weapon pleased me for the consistency of the story (I mean, it’s not because you saw John Wick movies that you become a gun-fu expert)... but even without military training, I don’t miss mobile target so badly xD
Maybe you have in mind to integrate a mechanism that would grants Peach more accuracy with every combat level up (which is a good idea in itself, especially since it could be interesting to keep the fact that Peach loses in accuracy when she does not stabilize her aim), but this requires some adjustments (even for the first combat levels). It would also be all the more appreciable because shooting in certain parts of an enemy results in a critical hit (which could offer a rather interesting gameplay challenge, especially with tougher enemies or a higher level of difficulty).
To give an example, flying robots who shoot a laser with their eye are very difficult to kill (and become quite frustrating honestly compared to the rest of the roster) because they can shoot from very far away and Peach already has trouble hitting a target at 1 meters (so 5 meters away, let’s not talk about it!)
Besides, I take this opportunity to address the topic of difficulty related to enemies. In general, a rebalancing will be necessary, but it’s a demo and the easy mode allows to progress quite easily (the brutal mode on the other hand is well named!). On the other hand, flying robots who shoot a laser with their eye are – as I said previously – the only enemies that I find really frustrating because of a situation that has often happened to me against them : Peach cannot reach them from afar, yet they have a disproportionate range compared to her. Problem, it is impossible to move forward too much without taking the risk of getting hit by the laser (or the enemy himself) and from the moment we are touched, we tend to enter a loop where Peach will have difficulty getting up and keeping his distance, while trying to hit the enemy. And every time we get up, we take the laser and so on (it’s possible to try to duck to dodge the laser, but it’s not very optimal)... And I am talking about a situation where there is only one remote robot! As soon as there are several or they are accompanied by faster enemies, the game turns into an endless gangbang. Therefore, I think that the priority in enemy reworks should be on this one.
In addition, there is a certain problem with robots attacking from the ceiling (especially those going down in a straight line, since the others are slightly visible). And I will put this problem in parallel with that of Peach’s movements, as well as that of energy management. Let me explain: enemies coming from the ceiling often go too fast to be dodged so it’s an automatic grab scene when they appear. It is almost impossible for Peach to dodge them for three reasons:
- Peach’s animation to turn around is far too long (and not only with this enemy, by the way, but in a general manner). It is also often more interesting to force the passage than to turn around/flee... except that with the accuracy of Peach, it sometimes becomes a matter of faith !
- Impossible to run to pass the sprite because the hitbox is too big compared to the distance traveled. And since the descent animation of the enemy occurs when Peach is almost below the enemy’s area, it is impossible to speedrun it.
- Also impossible to kill the enemy before he reaches us: melee is not fast enough, as for the shot, it is not accurate enough and the animation not fast enough either.
I don’t know exactly how you would like to proceed to improve this point but with these few precisions, I hope you will find a solution more easily.
Subsequently, Peach doesn’t have enough energy OR the energy bar gets empty too fast after a few actions. This can be problematic when facing several enemies in the same room because after two melees, the energy bar is greatly reduced, so it’s difficult to sprint to flee and once again, the accuracy of the shot does not help. And this energy problem is particularly problematic when Peach gets grabbed and resists because the moment Peach stands up, his energy bar is empty. And often, this leads to getting grabbed and chained again. In fact, the invulnerability phase does not last long enough and, having no more energy, Peach cannot sprint to flee. I sincerely think that the energy bar should not decrease when resisting an enemy. This leads to too much constraint in terms of gameplay.
On the other hand, I would like to applaud the gameplay ideas that are really enjoyable (and that we don’t see often enough in games in general), notably:
- when we try to open a door under attack, the progress bar does not disappear and the interruption does not turn into a "softlock" of gameplay! It’s a very good idea because you can force your way when the fight becomes complicated without being caught in the middle the moment you receive a hit ;
- the fact of being able to kill bugs when they hit us with a click on the yellow sprites on the screen! It’s really good because it allows to offer a second chance when Peach is attacked by a lot of them (because the hitbox can sometimes be tedious due to the size of the bugs). Especially since clicking on the screen also allows Peach to make a melee attack, thus hitting the other bugs that are attacking us at the same time!
- the fact of being able to hide and manage at the expense of a little lost time, it allows one to reflect a bit on their progress without having to move forward as if Peach were in the middle of a minefield.
- ammunition scattered a bit everywhere. It’s very good because there is nothing worse in this kind of game than running out of ammunition after encountering two enemies (which is often synonymous with defeat in that case)
- the timer, which is sufficient to take your time, but which also offers a real stake (since otherwise, it would be impossible to lose the game and – even if I am not a fan of die and retry in porn games – it is good to have a minimum of challenge).
Finally, regarding the enemy roster, I might repeat what was already mentioned by others, but I think that some more « lively » enemies would be nice. Don’t get me wrong, the enemies present in the game are very good and have a good design as well. But I must admit that robots do not have the same « sex appeal » as a real creature made of flesh (or what comes close to it) could have. And the bugs in themselves are quite niche. Personally, they don’t bother me, nor do they fascinate me but I know that for some, it’s quite prohibitive. Not that they should be removed from the game (it’s still your game, so your choices), but offering other « common » enemies in the roster would be a good idea to fill a wider range of players (for example, I do like the idea of having dinosaurs in a dense forest. But let’s see what everyone think about it with the poll then!). On the other hand, I like the possibility of disabled bugs in the options. It may seem like just a detail, but it’s very appreciable!
Moreover, I will not address the subject of Peach’s fighting levels and sex level: there are things to do but for now, I think he is too early to get a definitive idea (for combat levels for example, I didn’t see any difference between level 1 and 10 so I imagine that nothing has been implemented at the moment).
As for the mechanics of birth, I think it would be appropriate to offer the player the possibility of triggering it manually because sometimes we wait 30 seconds without anything happening and after passing a door filled with enemies, Peach can’t stop spreading her legs on the ground every 2 meters x)
By the way, regarding the issue of controls, and without dwelling on it (because you are already working on it, if I am not mistaken), the current keyboard + mouse system did not bother me, but I can hear the arguments of those who find this problematic. So, I leave it to you to judge at best !
Others interesting suggestions from other players :
- Peach tits should get bigger and lactating the fuller the belly is or the higher the Sex lvl is.
- Maybe add corruption stages (Peak is eagerly looking forward to get fucked) and/or add consensual texts too.
- Add modifiers for attack speed or increase damage.
- Develop the idea of birthing. For example, pets that attack enemies for a while, then grow up and start attacking the heroine, so she needs to leave the location faster.
There you go ! That’s already a lot so I’m not going to write a novel either x)
Once again, the demo is very good as a whole (it’s rare to have such a playable and pleasant demo in a development stage so early) but it’s simply to highlight and share the points that I have noted, and which, I think, can greatly improve the game. I can’t wait to see the rest of the development and what the next versions will bring to us !
Wishing you the best of luck in your project ~