Wow, it's so good to see this in action. I hadn't been following the site for awhile because it looked like information was coming out slowly these days; but here I come back and see a ton all at once.
This stuff looks
great in actual play. Various concerns that had arisen from the still images turn out not to be so, such as the "giant blood lumps" from enemies which appear to animate just fine in the end.
I'm also surprised and excited by the idea of additional themed areas. Giant bees? Sure, why not. Ah, Anubis? Hello! I had been concerned that Kali was overrepresented as a deity within the game (she's the only deity to be mentioned twice), so adding another one (at least) makes the game feel better.
My biggest concern is, again, with the music. Let me deal with an older issue first. I already
posted about this once, but now I can be certain what piece you're using for the title screen (the one at the end of the trailer). To rewrite: I hope you change your mind. Think about how much of the title music the average player hears--namely, about five seconds while deciding whether to start over after the most recent death or do something else. This means that, after a hundred deaths, the player will hear the thudding-and-fake-brass sounds of the start of that piece a hundred times, and grow to hate it.
Now, the newer issue. It's the brass again! Out of everything played in that trailer, I can say that the fake saxophone which starts playing a little over a minute in represents all my complaints about it. The music was, in fact, "uplifting" before we got to that point. Then it was horrible and, well, nasal somehow. Like playing music through a stuffy nose, while tossing silly notes around as if we were watching a children's TV show.
Am I saying "chiptunes" are the answer? No, no I'm not going to say "older is better, you may not innovate." I liked most of the rest of the musical pieces in that "Here be the musics" thread. I really, really hope that you get away from things that are
trying to be cutesy (the music across most of the trailer) or
trying to be classic-pompous-adventure-music-or-something-like-that (the title music), and just make music.
--Delmion
