E3 Demo Feedback for the developer's team

Just got through my second playthrough of the demo, here's my notes:

The title screen is very pretty, and I like the fill animation when it starts up. It gives the impression of a sunrise, while still giving the castle a forbidding, gloomy look.

Miriam looks and feels good overall. The movements and animations are elaborate and deliberate, giving it a sense of weight. I particularly like the turning animation, very reminiscent of SotN, as I'm sure is intentional. I like Miriam's combat pose, and think it fits well with the after-kick stance. Her idle stance, however, looks odd with her weight on the front foot, particularly transitioning from the kick. After doing a sidekick like that, you either want to kick again, or plant in front, with your weight on the kicking foot. The combat -> idle transition animation handles the shift in weight, but the afterkick -> idle transition doesn't. The main problem is that her legs are so close together, so it doesn't allow room for her to shift her weight properly. I think I'd have preferred the wider idle stance shown earlier, though it was certainly less feminine (perhaps because it was). Regardless, I think the issue could be easily solved by transitioning from after-kick to the combat stance, rather than directly to the idle stance.

For reference, here's what I'm referring to for each animation:

"Afterkick"	"Combat"	"Idle"

For afterkick and combat, her weight is on her back foot, and the front foot is ready to strike. For idle, however, her weight is on her front foot. The transition from combat to idle shows her shifting her weight from one foot to the other, but transitioning from afterkick to idle is too abrupt.

It's a little weird to be able to jump out of the backdash at any part of the animation, since her feet aren't technically touching the ground, but it seems like a nice feature for mobility, and not too hard to imagine that she could kick off the floor during the backdash. It's nice being able to rapidly perform the backdash, without needing to do silly animation canceling, but I do share the concern that since it's faster than walking, some people will feel compelled to do it for the sake of speed, even if they would rather not because it's silly. I do like the landing animation for the backdash, and I find some strange pleasure in walking one direction, then rapidly turning and backdashing at the same time in order to hop forward. Backdashing into a kick also looks very nice.

The item popup being in the corner when you open a chest feels more uncomfortable than it seems like it should. Other items found on the ground display the same way, and have in other games as well, without being a problem, but it does make it feel like the item pickup is disassociated from the chest. As others have said, having the item visually appear over the chest would help a lot, even if the name continues to be displayed in the corner.

I did find it odd that the map rate, gold, enemy kill, and play time counters don't work in the menu, but doubt that the developers aren't aware of it. Just strange that they're there, and that there is gold to be collected, but the counters don't work. The item collection sound seems very familiar to me. Certainly pleasant.

The equipment screen feels a little redundant, having the overview, but also being able to switch slots after you've selected one. Not necessarily a problem, and I've seen worse equipment screens, but it seems more complex than it needs to be, and wastes screen space. Miriam's character model being there doesn't add much when it doesn't visually change to reflect what's equipped. The item selection interface might as well always be open, rather than needing to pick on a slot first.

The way the landing animation cancels attacks is particularly annoying. It should transition into the standing version of the attack, rather than canceling it. As it is, it makes combat feel unresponsive or clunky when attacks are interrupted or simply refuse to come out when you're jumping around.

The sword swing animation is satisfying, and the after-swing stance looks good. However, there are two problems with the transition out of that stance. First is that the sword disappears from her hand before the transition, drawing attention to the fact that it just disappears. It should either disappear later, as part of the motion of her arm, to support the illusion that she's putting it away, or it should disappear more dramatically, to make it clear that it's magic. The other issue is that sometimes it transitions directly from after-swing to idle, and other times it transitions from after-swing to the unarmed combat stance for a moment before quickly transitioning to the idle stance. After-swing to idle looks good, apart of the disappearing sword, but after-swing -> unarmed combat -> idle has some unnecessary arm-waving that looks silly.

I still think Miriam looks far too plastic, and stands out from the background in a bad way. She and the enemies look like they're pasted on top of the scene, rather than being part of it. The teal highlight on her boots is particularly bad, and so is how rigid her hair is, particularly in the cutscene at the end. Buer looks particularly pasted-on, partially because of the way it bumps around without necessarily touching the walls it's bumping into.

The interface, however, is particularly nice. The blood dripping from the crescent under the portrait, and filling it as you take damage, is a neat little detail that adds a lot of style. The vial for HP, and the stained-glass flowers around the MP bar are clear representations that can be understood at a glance, while also being thematically appropriate.

As others have said, the net platforms are particularly iffy. They don't move like they should for being rope, it's hard to tell where the platform is, and it looks strange jumping through them. Miriam should definitely jump in front of them, rather than inside them.

I must admit some disappointment that touching enemies hurts you. I'd hoped we could move past that as a game mechanic, and require the enemies to actually attack you to deal damage. As it is, the hitboxes are a little odd, particularly on the Dullahammer. It's hard to tell what's safe to touch, and what isn't, and what part of the attack animations are actually dangerous. When it's swinging its head around, it won't actually hurt you, and you can safely jump through it. I'd rather they be more aggressive, but be able to jump on them safely.

The shard collection animation is absolutely fantastic, though it's strange when the flying shard hits Miriam in the back, yet then is inexplicably shown piercing her body from the front. Either it should fly around to ensure it hits the front, or there should be a separate animation depending on whether it hits her in the front or the back. Anyway, it's neat that you can tell when an enemy is dropping a shard during its death animation. The level up animation is also fantastic, though it catches me by surprise every time.

Seama seems to have 12 HP, and yet a single attack of Cerulean Splash at 10 damage will kill it. I'm guessing that Cerulean Splash hits multiple times, since I see a second damage number pop up after the enemy dies, but the timing makes it confusing. I'd expect the numbers to pop up when the damage is dealt, offset if necessary so that they don't overlap. The animation for Cerulean Splash is also a little underwhelming, particularly when it's described as a "whirlpool".

The shard info screen hints at some interesting progression elements... Shards appear to have both a level and a quality rating. I wonder how they'll be increased... It's nice that the type and power are displayed, rather than having to guess.

I really feel the stained-glass flowers that restore MP shouldn't be able to float through walls. It's annoying when they drift out of reach.

Directional shards are neat, and I like Miriam's aiming animation, but the control scheme makes it particular hard to aim while jumping, because of having to quickly shift between jump and the stick. I'm not sure what a good solution is, however.

The kung-fu shoes are great. I'm glad that the kicking animation isn't just for unarmed, and that there's at least one weapon that makes use of it. Hopefully there are more. It's also neat how it changes Miriam's look, but raises the question of why doesn't the long sword? Why does it disappear whenever it's not being used, rather than Miriam carrying it around?

Head Flail appears and disappears so suddenly that it's hard to see it. It could stand to be a bit more flashy, rather than just blinking in and out of existence. Something to give it a sense of weight, rather than just looking like a scarf that Miriam is flinging around.

Vepar is absolutely hideous, and not in a good way. I think parts of it look like they're supposed to be crystalline, but it's hard to tell when the whole thing is so shiny. It doesn't look organic either. The color scheme is garish, and it looks like plastic putty even more than everything else. It was neat how it showed up throughout the stage, however. The part where it crashes through the wall and spits out the three Seama eggs is quite the surprise.