S-lay The Dragon

It is clunky and the dev is far too self loathing, but I'd say it's good, the gameplay is about playstation level, but that does seem to be the intent, the scenes are varied good, and the models are expressive and nice looking. oh and the difficulty system is a nice touch. I really do hope the developer wasn't too disheartened and is continuing to work as I'd like to see more.

The game is not bad. The the enemy models look nice, the game captures the PS1 look pretty well, the controls are clunky but not unresponsive, and most of the game's problems don't seem too hard to fix. For a first 3D game, this is pretty nice, it has potential, it would be a fine, if basic and limited little game, but it gets frustrating and mind-numbing to play once the pedestals come into the mix. Specifically, the orange orb ones. After like 10-15 minutes, this feels less like a dungeon crawler and more like a "Dev Self-Depricating Rant Simulator". At least put all of this behind-the-scenes stuff in an extras menu after you beat the game or something, not in the middle of the game. There might unironically be as many of these dev rant pedestals as there are enemies on the map. After the 8th or so of these, I just fully stopped reading the orange orbs, there's only so many times I can stop playing the game to read about how much better it would've could've should've been.

I greatly enjoy the game despite its flaws, its a neat little dungeon crawler that takes inspiration from old PSX games which is fine but that being said I do have some gripes with it. The stamina system is extremely strict, attacking and defending costs a little too much preventing any kind of rush down to your target but worst if you use all of it you are vulnerable for a whole 10 seconds while it recharges. I think the punishment is way too harsh if you are going to have controls like this where its already difficult to strafe. The render distance is also aggressively small its almost claustrophobic not being able to see whats coming up ahead and act accordingly when you encounter another dragon. The Water Dragons are really hard to play around when they show up as while you are fending off the other drakes they get free reign to just pelt you and you just have to pray you are blocking at the right time to either be safe or parry multiple attacks. They're projectiles should probably be slower to better adjust. The dev even knew a room full of them wasn't fun which brings me to my next gripe. Half of this game is the Dev's frustration diary where they outline all the things they wanted to do but couldn't, things that went wrong, or just general failings with the game like level design. I hate this so much because for a first attempt at a 3D game i cannot stress enough that THIS IS REALLY GOOD, it proves its concept very well and is pretty attractive for people who love this esthetic, but its just sad to constantly see the dev beating themselves down with every shrine i read. One thing i took with me from my Graphic Design degree is never let people know where you fucked up. If they think what you did was perfect let them think that and dont give them the reasons its not. I understand the dev had a lot of trouble on their time limit but they need to be more proud of what they did accomplish especially when the animations are pretty hot. I'm a bit of a spoiled millennial so it kinda sucks how the one thing the Dev seems to think they got right is what I dislike the most being the controls player fell should probably take a little more precedent over mimicking older style or at the very least made more appealing with some quality of life like keybindings or a quick turn. I hope the Dev learned a lot from this experience including being more respectful to themselves above all else.

For a first 3D game, I see where they were going with it, but overall the controls are just the worst thing about it. Blue Drakes are just the worst thing to deal with because of their projectile and sticking constantly to the backline, making each hit you do on the front line a 50/50 whether or not you'll get hit with very little you can do to stop it. Strafing being on Q and E make strafing and turning impossible because this game uses the arrow keys, so the Drakes all completely outclass you in both movement directions and even speed. I love the orb that says "You *can* win every fight with the same tactic". There is no *can*, you *have* to win every fight with the same tactic. The same slow, uninteresting backing-up-like-a-dumptruck tactic because of the stingy stamina system and the Drake's better movement putting you at a constant disadvantage in every fight you take. I like the style of the art, and this IS a first attempt, so 2 stars for that, but this game is certainly not it.

i fought at least 50 of these dragons that all you can do is kiss and still didn't find the last boss dragon. the water dragons are way too OP with the water ball you cant move out of the way of. I think if blocking was better or you were pointed in the right direction the game would be better

For a first 3d game, this is really peak! Really like the PSX style! Yeah Combatsystem is too simple (the boss is okay) but I really would like a game like that in a longer run, like the dev wanted to make with the missing mechanics and all! Hope his next will be as he planned it.