Echoes
A downloadable Echoes
The Project
Presenting my debut project, first one that I'm commited to completing.
Here is a prototype for a metroidvania project I've been crafting over the past few weeks. Drawing inspiration from masterpieces like Blasphemous, Hollow Knight, and similar titles, I'm excited to share this early gameplay with the community. Your feedback and suggestions are important to me, and I welcome any insights you might offer. I'm still new to game development and I want to learn from peers.
The Game
In a realm where ambition can be both a beacon and a curse, a young adventurer is drawn to the allure of glory and riches. But every quest has its risks, and some fates are more intertwined than they appear. As shadows loom and mysteries unfold, a journey of bravery, sacrifice, and determination begins.
The Controls
First protagonist
| Keyboard | Mouse | Controller | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Q left & D right | Left joystick | |
| Jump | Space | South button | |
| Attack | K | Left Click | West button |
| Roll | P | Right Click | Right trigger |
| Counter | O | Wheel Click | Left Bumper |
| Interact | E | North button |
Second protagonist
| Keyboard | Controller | |
| Move | Q left & D right | Left joystick |
| Jump | Space | South button |
| Attack | K | West button |
| Dash | P | Right trigger |
| Special Spell | O | Left bumper |
| Primary spell | J | Right bumper |
| Heal | F | East button |
| Interact | E | North button |
What's Next
🎮 New Levels & Enemies : Create fresh, challenging levels with unique enemies. Ennemies that are actully interesting and that add character to the game.
✨ Spellcasting System : The second character is getting a magical upgrade! Look forward to mastering spells of electricity, fire, rock, and wind, each with its own passive effects
🛠️ Continuous Improvement : Being a solo developer means the progress can be quite slow, as I’m doing this in my free time after school or work. Rest assured, I'm dedicated to enhancing your experience with every change.
Credits
I'd like to extend my gratitude to everyone on this list for their work that I chose for the art of this project.
OcO - Enemies & Character
pimen - Magic Effect and Character
brullov - Environments
Ansimuz - Environments & Characters & Sound
Sounds from Zapsplat
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- New character & New levelMar 02, 2024
Comments
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I assume the prototype ends on the "On the making..." screen? If not, then I probably missed something lol. Was gonna address the weird controls, but you've already answered it in another comment. First time I've heard of an AZERTY keyboard lol.
Just to get it out of the way, I feel like the swordsman's "counter" is a bit slow. I got used to the timing eventually, but having it counter a bit earlier would be more forgiving. And even then, it seems like the counter doesn't really provide any notable benefit here. You can jump, roll, or even walk away from certain attacks to not get hit. An improvement may either be: (1) You can hold the "counter" button for as long as you want, (2) Making the character actually counter and deal damage after a successful block, or (3) The shield can reflect projectiles, tho I think this can just be something you obtain mid-game. Also, I hope these are considered for the next playable character's shield/blocking spell, too.
This is a small one, but I was kinda disappointed that the last part wasn't a boss fight lol. It was setting up to be one, so I got a bit excited and ready. Then the protag got fking pummeled lmao. I know it's likely for plot progression, but an unbeatable tutorial boss fight is more fun, y'know? The thought of having a chance to beat a scripted impossible boss battle, at least I get excited about it. It's understandable if you ignore this, tho; this is more of a personal preference, after all.
In any case, the concept sounds really fun to play once it becomes more fleshed out. The "spell incantations" part looked like the distinguishing feature for me, but I do wanna know how you plan to add them in-game. Will it just be cool chants alongside cool-looking magic, or is it an actual mechanic? I imagined a skill mechanic with incantations after reading the game description, but I don't wanna deter you from your original ideas. I'm willing to share the idea I had if you want, of course, lol.
All in all, I'm looking forward to how you develop the game further. I hope my feedback and suggestions were useful for the game's development.
Ah, btw. A bug (maybe?). Being killed by the spikes still respawns you alive, even tho the death screen appears. Maybe there wasn't a spike death animation coded in? Idk, and I doubt it's a pretty major issue.
What is a pretty major issue is that the death screen is frozen? I can't press/click the "Take Revenge" button; I always reload the page to try again. Anyway, that's all (-v-)
First of all, thank you for your feedback - it truly means a lot to me !
Btw, I’m French and our keyboards are set up in AZERTY here, so we often have to change the controls settings for most of the games we played haha. And yes, the prototype does indeed conclude with the “On the making…” screen.
Regarding the counter part, your suggestions have been incredibly helpful. I was somewhat uncertain about how to give it a purpose beyond rolling, but your idea of deflecting projectiles sounds fantastic.
As for the boss fight, my intention is to make it a scriptable impossible battle. However, I wanted to gather feedback on what I’ve already created to mesure it was a good prototype. So yeah, the boss wasn’t quite ready for the battle - perhaps I was a bit impatient haha.
To be completely honest, I introduced the idea of the protagonist getting defeated because I felt the character’s moveset was somewhat limited. Given my constraints in obtaining assets from various talented artists, I thought this would be a better way to introduce a new character with a wider range of gameplay possibilities, rather than just replacing the original protagonist.
Now about the next character, I’ll give you more details. Currently, the spell incantation system is rather basic, involving magic attacks that consume the character’s mana or energy. But I would like to make it a more complex mechanic, with both “offensive” and “defensive” modes where spells can change, and successful defensive incantations might even replenish energy. I thought that it would be a cool way to differ from the typical “cast a spell, run out of mana, drink a potion” routine.
I’m making note of the bug report; it seems to be related to the WebGL build, as I haven’t observed it during the development phase. However, I appreciate your attention in spotting it – thank you!
By the way, I’d love to continue discussing the ideas you mentioned earlier. It seems like you’re coming with fantastic concepts, and that’s precisely why I’m here!
Again, I thank you for your feedback and seeing you appreciating the prototype gives me a lot of motivation actually, hope you will be there for the next update :)
Aye~ I hope everything goes well for the game's development.
I agree with the fact that perhaps the swordsman's moveset would be pretty limited, unless he gets RPG-style attacks like fking "Tornado Slash" or "Sword Flurry", lmao. In any case, unless the swordsman can use a bit of magic, has magic equipment, or is really good with the sword, his attacks would be kinda plain.
As for the idea I had, I think it clashes with your "unlock spells by using points" system, so I understand if it doesn't fit into your vision of the game. This also got very long and detailed, so apologies for the wall of text:
Basically, I imagined the "incantations" as a moveset-building mechanic. It would involve 2 or more types of magic (I'll use the 4 classic elements as an example here) and a strong attack option (either a "Skill" button or holding the "Attack" button). Maybe the character begins with all the elements acquired, or he has to learn them during his journey.
Either way, aside from the elements, the character could also acquire "incantations" from certain areas:
The incantations would be different methods of using his magic. Examples would be a "Dash" incantation, a "Summon Familiar" incantation, a "Crowd Control" incantation, a "Multi-Hit" incantation, etc. Basically, spell chants that any type of magic can do. Then, you can mix and match the elements and incantations to create a spell, while assigning the spell to (Spell attack), (UP + Spell attack), (DOWN + Spell attack), and, if you want, (LEFT/RIGHT + Spell attack). Pretty much like Hollow Knight's fireball, shriek, and dive spell, but customizable.
Each element would create a completely different version of an incantation spell, which essentially creates several unique spell combinations. That means players get to customize their skills based on how they wanna fight/play.
Example spell combinations:
The downside is; this is probably very complex and would take forever to implement properly. There's also the balancing for each spell so that there aren't any single overpowered/underpowered spell. The amount of animations would also increase. Overall, it's a biiit overambitious of an idea for a first game, but yeah, that's the idea I had from seeing "spell incantations".
Hey ! No need to stress about the length of the explanations they’re actually just what I was hoping for. You’re making my day.
About the firs protag, I should mention that with the set of animations I have for this character (thanks to oCo, by the way), it’s a bit tricky to incorporate magic use without it feeling out of place.
Actually we pretty much had the same ideas about the spell mechanics, and I already made a good part of what you proposed. At the moment the new character has a 3 step attack combo like the previous protagonist, crouch attack and jump attack and a dash. She also has “Special Attack” which is assigned to a button, and then two types of magic attack. One with a fast incantation which target the closest enemy if in range, or a charging spell with multi-hits kinda like a flamethrower.
My plan was also to include elementary spells in the game, with like Earth and Air as a defensive/crowd control style and Fire/Lightning offensive style ( didn’t find too much cool water spells ). And if I found a way to make some particular spells like familiar summon ( first protagonist could maybe make an cameo, who knows ? :) ), I think I would let the player assign them to the special attack.
Regarding the implementation, it’s true that those ideas are quite ambitious but the fact is that I’m having a lot of fun doing it so I’ll give it a shot haha.
By the way, a big thanks once again for all your help and suggestions, I’ll make sure to add you in the credits section haha. If any other ideas come up or you’d like to chat in the future, don’t hesitate to add me on Discord at “indie_tomo” – it might be a better place for a chat, haha ( you can ignore this of course if you don’t feel like it ).
Cool prototype
Thank you !
Fix the controls please, q to move left??? And your tool tip says r, but its actually d to move right. 1/5 stars
I have a AZERTY keyboard, so that’s why Q is for left and not A. I’m working on the functionality to be able to change keys in game to avoid this kind of issues. Thank you for your feedback !