Great game! I felt that the only thing that could be improved is the accuracy of projectiles, or like some kind of shadow or indicator as to the position of the projectile in the air. Good luck!

Aw man, I was really pumped about the style of this game, and when I jumped in I thought the graphics were sweet, and really done in a great pico-8 style, and also that the controls were nice and tight.

I just couldn't quite get on board with the fundamental idea of waiting out the enemy's power meter like a clock. I had some fun with it, but I really wanted to be a bit more proactive. I would have played a bunch more but when the skeletons polished me off and I saw that I had to wait out the cyclops again, you lost me because there was no agency for me to make it happen faster.

If I could chuck spears back with Z, I would have been sold.. but then I guess your whole concept was to try this experiment of the player being too shy to attack! Totally worth trying, but I felt a little too constrained as your player for it to hit home for me.

But excellent execution on the idea otherwise. Actually a lot of savvy little choices, for example the radius shown on enemy attacks so it's super-clear when I will take damage. And I shouldn't forget to mention the solid sound that was adding to the feel.

So strong marks on a lot of the aspects here, I just wasn't your man for the waiting game - no biggie!

*EDIT:*

OK I'm leaving my initial comment because I almost walked away feeling like that.

But I went back for one more test and I realized there is a whole other way to play it!

You CAN be more proactive dealing with the cyclops, even though you cannot attack. Once I figured this out I was able to beat him much faster, and retry the dead a few times until I beat them as well. So I've revised the votes a bit upward and I don't think the waiting game is as bad as my comments above said. But without some care the player, it seems, can fall into the trap of that impression.

Pkenney:

Thanks for the comments! And yeah, I wanted to add ways for the player to be proactive without attacking. As you have found out, you can bait the cyclops into using his more tiring attack, to defeat him faster.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to create similar strategies for the skeleton and the dragon (the skeletons are much easier if you manage to save the columns, though).

Thanks for taking the time to write your comment!

Man, this game really came along. I really like it - it's kind of like punch out with huge monsters. I agree with @pkenney on the proactive piece - killing the cyclops quickly is very satisfying. I also still think a camera which tracks the midpoint between you and the monster would be useful. If the monster cannot be targeted (like when the dead are separate or when the dragon flies away, which I assume is supposed to be unpredicatble), just have the camera center on the gladiator. The current camera DOES have a cinematic gravitas to it, but when you run really far you can't see where you are going.

Awesome game - maybe the best 'game' I've played here yet.

Loved it! Had lots of fun playing this. But man, it is HARD!

@PBG thanks for the comment! The dynamic camera is on my TODO list, but I just didn't have the time to do it until the deadline (the dragon was very last minute). I wonder what would be good ways to speed-up the skeleton and the dragon? Maybe a "taunt" key that would cause them to do stronger attacks, to add a bit of risk vs reward?

@Gabriel I am glad that you liked! Here are some hints:
- Try to taunt the cyclops into stomping, instead of throwing bouders.
- If you can keep your columns alive, the skeletons become much easier
- The dragon attacks are strong, but very formulaic - if you can understand the formula, you can dodge him easily.

Good luck!

I didn't really figure out how to effectively play this game... I ended up very confused about what was reducing my health, and I didn't even notice that the stomp attack reduced the boss's health by a lot more. My intuition was that maybe having the columns destroyed would lead to the next stage. Might be too hard for me to get anywhere with it though.

Besides that, I do like the environment graphics and style, and in addition the animation when columns are damaged, and the damage waves / circles feedback is nice.

I'll try this again later and see if I can get any further... (Update: I was able to get further, but I don't think I would have ever come up with this strategy)

I played this on stream at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/163569305 - Timestamp 00:02:42

Bossfights without attacking, cool idea! :)

Cool mechanics not attacking but dodging felt a lot like Dark Souls 1 :)
Also bosses had more than one attack!

Waiting for the ennemies to use all their energy is a nice use of the theme but I would have like to be able to do something for them to die faster because it's rapidly getting a bit boring.

Apart from taht point it's a nice game with cool retro graphics and audio!

I love how you twisted the theme, forcing your opponents to lose their power is a clever idea. The game's tough, especially since your energy seems to be lost forever. I'd add some way for the player to gain energy back, maybe not at full level, would it be slowly with time, or by picking items probably first thrown by titans as weapons. Nice idea and mechanics again, plus you made music, a title & game over screens. And Pico-8 is great! :)

Smart use of the theme! This is pretty well presented too, the graphics and music are pretty neat. I liked that you can beat the cyclops very quickly if you know how to bait him, but I couldn't find any such tactics for the skeletons or dragon. Glad to see more PICO-8 games! Keep it up! :smile:

Man, I love this game. Such a great concept, though it's very difficult, and the enemies do live for quite some time! I'm going to have to tackle it again tomorrow to see how far I can get, as that Cyclops just doesn't want to let me live. Great job! :D

Nice game! really dig the perspective. Only managed to kill the cyclops, the skeletons kiked my ass :P

Congrats on the entry!

It's seems easy, but it's clearly not ! It was fun to try again and again, but I'm not so good, so I quit before beating the third monster. Good job !

This idea is so ridiculous it couldn't be bad game :D Execution is pretty good to: nice music, pretty graphics, character control feels right. Dodging is done perfectly. Just fights are taking too much time.

I really enjoyed this game, it was different from other games i have played so far and that is good. The graphics were cool and the overall concept is really cool. You made a really good game and you should be proud!!!! :)

Funny! I died quick on the second fight (I forgot about the dodge move, lol), and the first one took too long for me to want to retry. I kinda wanted a taunt button or something I could use to speed him up.

I enjoyed the concept and enjoyed playing it for one go :)

@ExciteMike You are totally right about the taunt button. If I ever come back to this game, I will make sure to add that.

@Elgreggos Picking items that the Titams threw away is a great idea :-D

@Tbaudon Yeah, It would be nice to have a taunt button.

@Sgstair Thanks for the video!

@Emery, @TeddyDD, @LeReveur, @Rombus, @eggnog, @felixmcfelix, @Xarras, @IdinaKlopstock, Thanks for the nice words, everyone!

Great game overall, really love your theme interpretation. The only thing, I got really bored, while fighting the first boss :D