Hi there, I had first started playing this game about a month or so ago, and finally sat down to complete it in one sitting.
The game was enjoyable to play, had some wonderful rock music to accentuate the underground mine and castle backgrounds, the instructions for using each new magical attack work in sync with the changes to the controls, and kudos to using a female character as the protagonist :)
Aside from the remappable buttons not working for the J button (if you switch the attack button to something other than J and then want to change it back to J, you can't), there's a little typo when the purple lady decides to make a strategic withdrawal/retreat.
Even though I couldn't locate all the remaining treasure boxes, it was still helpful to have them displayed i the map for later backtracking.
All in all, I look forward to playing the full game when it's released :)
I did a spotlight video on this game about a week ago. It was a really good demo! The effort and love is there and I can't wait to see if Duck Block Games does make it into a full fledged Castlevania-type game!
This is feeling pretty good so far, but I found some minor issues. The acceleration/deceleration should be disabled if you want it to feel like Aria Of Sorrow / Dawn Of Sorrow / Portrait Of Ruin, which are all great games that seem to inspire this one. They have 0 acceleration/deceleration when walking, so you have total control over the movement of the character.
There's a similar issue with jumping. In those games listed above, jumps' vertical momentum stops immediately when the jump button is released, which allows for very precise attack points in mid-air. In Forsaken Castle, jumping floats beyond the target point.
Another issue is that the back of the whip doesn't deal damage. In Portrait Of Ruin, the back of the whip deals damage. This can be helpful for quickly attacking something approaching from up and behind.
Switching directions in the air doesn't work quite the same way, but this might be due to the horizontal acceleration/deceleration.
Played through it; very fun game! As a fan of Aria Of Sorrow, Dawn Of Sorrow, and Portrait Of Ruin, I'm excited to see where this game goes. I would buy it with the right feeling of character control.
I made a part 2 of this game as, I didn't want it to drag out and, I really enjoy what Duck Block Games has done with this. If you are like me a kid of the 80's and, want some Castlevania Nostalgia with a brand new concept or, if you are new to that type of games and, may enjoy side scrollers you won't want to miss out on this game!
Real fun! Great demo ive always loved these types of games! i had a blast and cant wait till the full game is out! Cant wait till see all the abilities in the full release!
Forsaken Castle is all the fun of a Castlevania game and all the exploring of classic Metroid, but without the frustrating difficulty of either! Mellow music and an anime character style lighten the overall tone of an undead riddled game, but do not hinder enjoyment in any way. From a well crafted level design and background providing depth to the areas you traverse, to the easy to use controls, everything in this game seems to work very well. It even has hidden treaures! (Though I couldn't find them all...) This is a fine work overall, especially for a Pre-Alpha.
Good job, devs. You made a nice thing and I'm interested in seeing more.
Had a blast playing this. I do have a second part of this game once I learned the keybinds of the keyboard better. Takes some getting used to I bet playing on a controller is 10X easier. It reminded me a lot of castlevaina the many joyus hours of my youth spent on that game. This game makes you not want to put it down due to nostalgia and, it being it's own type of game.
You've absolutely nailed the art style and really managed to evoke some nostalgia for retro metroidvainias, more castlevania than anything else, but I see the inspiration from both. The upgrade and ability progression is fantastic and it really lent a sense of momentum to the demo. However, I did find the combat system somewhat stale due to the fixed angles and lack of air control, these might be personal preference, but I talk about it extensively at the end of the episode. The strangest thing to me was the music choice though. There were some instances where it was okay, but others where it didn't fit at all. Smooth jazz doesn't really fit in an undead filled cavern... But the whole package looks pretty promising! Well done!
Hi CoalFire! Thanks for the video and the feedback! I posted a response to some of your concerns in the comments section of your video. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I have heard about this project before and I must say that it really is a very well-made game. The mechanics seem to work flawlessly and the graphics do the retro thing well, while having some modern touches.
We'd love to have your game taking part in this year's Game Development World Championship - if it's ready enough by October.
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Hi there, I had first started playing this game about a month or so ago, and finally sat down to complete it in one sitting.
The game was enjoyable to play, had some wonderful rock music to accentuate the underground mine and castle backgrounds, the instructions for using each new magical attack work in sync with the changes to the controls, and kudos to using a female character as the protagonist :)
Aside from the remappable buttons not working for the J button (if you switch the attack button to something other than J and then want to change it back to J, you can't), there's a little typo when the purple lady decides to make a strategic withdrawal/retreat.
Even though I couldn't locate all the remaining treasure boxes, it was still helpful to have them displayed i the map for later backtracking.
All in all, I look forward to playing the full game when it's released :)
I did a spotlight video on this game about a week ago. It was a really good demo! The effort and love is there and I can't wait to see if Duck Block Games does make it into a full fledged Castlevania-type game!
Here's the spotlight video!
This is feeling pretty good so far, but I found some minor issues. The acceleration/deceleration should be disabled if you want it to feel like Aria Of Sorrow / Dawn Of Sorrow / Portrait Of Ruin, which are all great games that seem to inspire this one. They have 0 acceleration/deceleration when walking, so you have total control over the movement of the character.
There's a similar issue with jumping. In those games listed above, jumps' vertical momentum stops immediately when the jump button is released, which allows for very precise attack points in mid-air. In Forsaken Castle, jumping floats beyond the target point.
Another issue is that the back of the whip doesn't deal damage. In Portrait Of Ruin, the back of the whip deals damage. This can be helpful for quickly attacking something approaching from up and behind.
Switching directions in the air doesn't work quite the same way, but this might be due to the horizontal acceleration/deceleration.
Played through it; very fun game! As a fan of Aria Of Sorrow, Dawn Of Sorrow, and Portrait Of Ruin, I'm excited to see where this game goes. I would buy it with the right feeling of character control.
Awesome game! Just loved!
Played it on my show Indie Game Roundup (Starts at 54:07 if embed isn't working). Very promising so far!
Good little game for a 2 person dev team!
Real fun! Great demo ive always loved these types of games! i had a blast and cant wait till the full game is out! Cant wait till see all the abilities in the full release!
Really looking forward to the full release of this game. Very impressive.
Forsaken Castle is all the fun of a Castlevania game and all the exploring of classic Metroid, but without the frustrating difficulty of either! Mellow music and an anime character style lighten the overall tone of an undead riddled game, but do not hinder enjoyment in any way. From a well crafted level design and background providing depth to the areas you traverse, to the easy to use controls, everything in this game seems to work very well. It even has hidden treaures! (Though I couldn't find them all...) This is a fine work overall, especially for a Pre-Alpha.
Good job, devs. You made a nice thing and I'm interested in seeing more.Good game, i enjoyed it while it last.
Thank you for the good game. And update that game. I wanna play more. I wanna see how this story ends!
No words, there's no words to describe how beatiful is this game. Oh, i found them.
Master craft.
This is really cool! I'm excited to see what else is going to be added!
This game is AWESOME !!!!
Really good game, but short
it's just a demo so far
I like this game very much, it was a wonderful experience! I can't wait for the final release! Keep up the good work Duck Block Games!
I love games with pixel graphic .This game have good potencial .So i try to support author - create walkthrough (simple i know)
Hope you Enjoy! \ (•◡•) /
You've absolutely nailed the art style and really managed to evoke some nostalgia for retro metroidvainias, more castlevania than anything else, but I see the inspiration from both. The upgrade and ability progression is fantastic and it really lent a sense of momentum to the demo. However, I did find the combat system somewhat stale due to the fixed angles and lack of air control, these might be personal preference, but I talk about it extensively at the end of the episode. The strangest thing to me was the music choice though. There were some instances where it was okay, but others where it didn't fit at all. Smooth jazz doesn't really fit in an undead filled cavern... But the whole package looks pretty promising! Well done!
Hi CoalFire! Thanks for the video and the feedback! I posted a response to some of your concerns in the comments section of your video. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Played some of this on my channel! Really nice little demo! :)
Thanks for checking it out and for making the video!
I have heard about this project before and I must say that it really is a very well-made game. The mechanics seem to work flawlessly and the graphics do the retro thing well, while having some modern touches.
We'd love to have your game taking part in this year's Game Development World Championship - if it's ready enough by October.
Thank you! We have a ways to go in development yet, but we're picking up steam as we solidify our foundation! We shall see if we can make it in time.
Good luck with that then!
This looks sooo good! I'm downloading this right now!