Soul Matter by Nehvis

[raw]
made by Nehvis for LD 40 (JAM)

Soul Matter is an 8-bit action-rpg and was developed within 72 hours during Ludum Dare 40 by Nehvis (Programming & Art) and Draquise (Music & Art). In Soul Matter every choice matters and influences the outcome of the game.

alt text

Controls keyboard:

  • WASD - Walk
  • Space - Interact
  • Enter - Attack
  • Shift - Sprint
  • Left/Right - Toggle inventory

Controls gamepad:

  • Left stick - Walk
  • A - Interact
  • X - Attack
  • B - Sprint
  • RB/LB - Toggle inventory

Ratings

Overall 466th 3.547⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 574th 3.313⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 913th 2.774⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 625th 3.375⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 547th 3.547⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Audio 177th 3.688⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 827th 2.362⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 201th 3.758⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

BenBurgh
05. Dec 2017 · 01:53 UTC
Love the idea, brings back Undertale vibes!
gilborn
05. Dec 2017 · 17:22 UTC
Wow, really good, seems very polished, nice grapics, super sound design.
Great entry!
jushiip
05. Dec 2017 · 17:27 UTC
Played two times. First I tried by killing (almost) everyone, and couldn't beat the boss. Is there a way to beat him?

On second playthrough I went as pacifist and was actually able to finish the game. :grin:

I really liked the BGM and and the overall mood. Only negative thing that comes to my mind is that the trees threw me off, I wasn't sure what trees I can hit with a sword and what not. (probably cos it was the same sprite, I think)
Romana Kapustova
05. Dec 2017 · 17:41 UTC
I'm still a little bit confused about the "boss fight" - did it on third try, because I had no idea what to do and I'm still unsure about why it worked. But at the beginning, the atmosphere was really good. I liked the long bridges (even before realizing I can use shift!), islands, darkness around... Maybe I was a little too exited when I got the quest - considering I didn't manage to finish it... is there only one way to "finish" it or did I miss something?
jynspielt
05. Dec 2017 · 21:58 UTC
Love the Soundtrack!
🎤 Nehvis
05. Dec 2017 · 23:11 UTC
Thank you very much for the positive feedback! For those of you wondering about the boss: His HP are higher the more karma (the pink stuff) you have collected. Should have added some indicator I guess
Athoka
05. Dec 2017 · 23:43 UTC
I love the idea and the game! The boss fight was hard (i didn't win, but i keep trying). Good joob!
Lukuluk
06. Dec 2017 · 00:38 UTC
Really nice game! The soundtracks helped a lot to be immersed.
The end boss was hard to understand, so thank you for the check point! :)
Reality Blind
06. Dec 2017 · 11:45 UTC
Nice game, good job ✌
Druvsaft
06. Dec 2017 · 11:47 UTC
Hey, I really liked the atmosphere! Almost a bit creepy! Thanks!
TomBishopSPG
06. Dec 2017 · 12:14 UTC
I enjoyed it. The "failed interaction" animation is way too long. Speed that up and also make it so that I could keep walking while it's showing me I failed would have been nice.
kothead
06. Dec 2017 · 12:54 UTC
I agree with @tombishopspg on "failed interaction". Searching for ingridients was a little too long because of that. Anyway, it is a really great sumbission. I liked it a lot!
HolyBlackCat
06. Dec 2017 · 14:18 UTC
Nice, an interesting game for sure. Killed everyone and finished it. >:3

I missed a damage sound for the boss, it wasn't clear that I could actually damage him.
Iluvatar
06. Dec 2017 · 14:25 UTC
Great music, awesome graphics and gameplay. I had a lot of fun. So far, one of the best entries I have tried :)
sorlok
06. Dec 2017 · 14:25 UTC
Fun and interesting. I liked the idea of "multiple paths", but I couldn't figure out how to use the axe correctly (and I never did figure out how to unlock the secret chest at the beginning). Generally controls well, and I liked the zoom out effect on the bridges a lot. Enemy attack animations would have helped make it clear when the player was actually in danger. Great job!
ExNihilo
06. Dec 2017 · 14:33 UTC
You did a good job at managing to guide the player without any explicit pointers until the very last NPC, while of course leaving the easy way out of killing everything in sight. The atmoshpere of the game does actually draw you in a bit, too.
Goat Toaster Games
06. Dec 2017 · 14:35 UTC
Really great little game!
hatchet
07. Dec 2017 · 20:42 UTC
Great work on the graphics and gameplay. I would perhaps only make the grass tiles less repetitive, and the interaction animation skippable (for example, when you try to move again, that it stops). I killed everything on my way to the boss :D because I wasn't sure if I can interact with them or not. I felt a little bad :D Great entry, overall!
Sanpinchá
09. Dec 2017 · 00:24 UTC
Interesting concept! I liked the style and loved the music. At first was hard to fight the boss, but it was fun!
silkworm_sweatshop
09. Dec 2017 · 05:01 UTC
Cool little adventure! I actually did 3 runs to check the differences and I kinda wish there was a bit more to it. Still, I do like that there are more than one solution to things. Graphics work well and that music had a nice little bassline going on.
lukbebalduke
09. Dec 2017 · 18:03 UTC
It is a nice adventure, gameplay feels good and the setting was immersive. Great job!
CaylebLucas
12. Dec 2017 · 12:12 UTC
Really nice game, Love the visual style :)
terryg
12. Dec 2017 · 12:58 UTC
great graphics and overall feel. Had to read through the comments to see how to kill the boss. Here's my game play (spoilers obviously) https://www.twitch.tv/videos/208904338