Hello all, didn't expect to see you all so soon after just releasing a game but here I am with my eighth dubbed "Bullet Witch." This is mostly a combination of a left over plugin I almost used in Darkwater combined with finally experimenting with Kisekae. I would loosely describe this game as "bullet hellish" even though I'm not sure if that really applies. The game consists of 6 stages where the enemies will shoot at you with projectiles and your goal being to eliminate them with your own so it is at least somewhat similar but probably not as extreme as the genre is known for.
As some may know from playing my other games this is nothing like anything I have ever made before so bear with me if it's not perfect because I assume I'm going to have to tweak things quite a bit. I didn't plan to release it so soon but feedback for this type of game seems very important. Not only will this dictate how I continue to balance it but also potentially if I choose to expand upon it. I beg you not to be too harsh in your criticism and take it for what it is but we'll see how that goes. As I stated I've never done anything like this before. Also, this seems like a good time to note that sometimes the game will crash even though this seems to be fairly rare. I think it just can't handle everyone going on sometimes on screen and I can't figure out how to avoid this issue.
The art style as a mentioned before uses models I made using Kisekae which I know is a mixed bag when it comes to people enjoying that. (I just have to say I had a blast messing around with this program and don't know why I haven't done it sooner, haha!) As you progress through a stage your current player character will be gradually transformed and you will be able to see this visibly in the corner as you play. If they are fully transformed you will lose the stage but are still able to progress. There are four endings to find depending on how many of the players are transformed in the end so don't be afraid to lose!
The game is extremely short as it stands. You could probably see all the endings in about 15-20 minutes if I had to guess. (Which honestly seems like a shame considering how much work I've put in but that either here nor there!) I guess that about wraps it up for now just please let me know what you think and I hope, at least, some of you enjoy this little experimental mess of mine!
This game is very much a game-first sort of thing, which I quite enjoy. Given the engine's limitations on movement, it's surprisingly fun to play and move around in once I got used to not having diagonals and some of the input delay common to RPGmaker games (but not generally an issue in most RPGs), and the map design definitely makes it feel more interesting than the most common fiterations of "RPGMaker doing not-RPG things" game to me. I look forward to seeing what comes next for it, and would whole-hearted recommend trying what's here already.
I would describe this game as "flawed but fun".
It stylizes itself as a "bullet hell" but the next Touhou it is not. The game loves to have enemies shoot you from offscreen or trap you on a tiny bridge where you have no ability to dodge; usually both at the same time. The controls feel poor in general because of how much you have to lead your shots to get them to hit. It's also sometimes unintuitive what props can be shot through and which can't.
The game is also buggy; there were benign issues like how the music doesn't start properly if you begin a stage very quickly, but I also had a hard crash on Stage 2.
The graphics are Kisekae and don't really do enough to be a main draw.
There are four different endings but I don't think most of them are worth a playthrough. The only one I really liked is the "bad ending".
Still, the idea of a TG Twin Stick Shooter is pretty amusing, and it's decent enough to be worth trying. If it was fleshed out a bit more and the gameplay was significantly improved I could easily see myself recommending this. As it stands, it's more of a shrug.
For those who're wondering there are 4 endings to the game, and I recommend getting them in this order.
No one Transformed
Final boy transformed
1-4 boys transformed
All Boys Transformed.
As for the game itself. It's a good short game, and takes maybe 20 minutes to get all endings. The TFs aren't slow, but they aren't fast either, it's balanced really well. I'm kind of sad one of the endings didn't get as much thought or time put into it, but given the 'randomness' of the results, I understand why it's also the hardest to program for. Still I'd have liked an image along with the blerb on that particular one.
A nice short & simple game with fresh gameplay. It could use a bit more added to it, but the creator themself acknowledges it's a bit short. Definitely worth a playthrough!
