Beast's Fury 2D Hand Drawn Fighting Game

[BeastsFury]

Hello I am Ryhan Stevens, Project Leader, Creator and Owner for the 2-D fighting game "Beast's Fury" that's currently in production. We are currently looking for feedback

Download Link: http://www.evildogserver.com/share/BeastsFuryDemo_v7a_READ_RELEASE_NOTES.zip

Games Mechanics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IinRTmKASY

Youtube channel (basically our game production vlog): http://www.youtube.com/BeastsFuryGame

Thank you for your time.

[TAI-X]

The most obvious criticism to be made is that the sprites are way too small relative to the screen. You shouldn't be afraid of making them bigger if you can adjust the dynamic camera accordingly.

 

Also, something about the animations and hits just looks weird and off, like it's a 2D fighter that feels like a 3D one. It kinda reminds me of Art of Fighting 3 in that respect, but I don't think that's what you were going for. I think some of the movements have more frames and detail than necessary, to the game's detriment, especially the "landing while knocked down" one. Skullgirls also had this problem to some degree.

 

I'm also not fond of the cloyingly generic and Orientalist chop-socky kung-fu styled music and stage, though I'm guessing you're not looking for input on aesthetic details. I will say that I feel like you guys are trying a little too hard to be "the next Skullgirls."

[4r5]

Also, something about the animations and hits just looks weird and off, like it's a 2D fighter that feels like a 3D one.

There's no hit stop when attacks make contact. Atleast, not in the latest video I see on their channel.

[White Man]

Also, something about the animations and hits just looks weird and off, like it's a 2D fighter that feels like a 3D one.

 

I was going to make a similar comment.  Some of the links in the combo video remind me of the bound system in Tekken 6 and Tag 2, where you had a lot of weird physics issues like standing punches picking characters up off the ground and launching them seven or eight feet into the air.  I see some similar things happening in this game, and it definitely does not look any less awkward in 2D.  Fighting game physics are obviously absurd, but they should be consistently absurd in a way that applies universally to every movement and hit.

One thing in the combo test video I saw that I really liked: at the 30-second mark, a character gets moved into the corner mid-combo, then gets bounced OUT of the corner when the other player continues the combo.  I don't know if that was an intentional gameplay mechanic or a little glitch in the physics engine, but I'd recommend keeping it.  BlazBlue has given me a distaste for fighters where you can just move somebody into the corner and pressure them for the entire round.  I really like the idea of a combo system where certain moves adjust the other character's positioning in a way that doesn't lock them into the corner.  It opens up a new level of strategic depth as you're forced to make that decision: Do I end the combo early and leave them in a disadvantageous position on the playfield, or do I go for the most damage possible and leave them midscreen where they have more movement options?

The game is still waaaaay too early in development for me to comment on the aesthetics in any amount of detail, so I'll just say that the sprite animation is looking good so far.  I do agree with TAI-X that the high frame count on animations could be a detriment in some cases as it tends to bog down the gameplay a bit, but I think you're still a ways off from tweaking stuff like that (though it's possibly something that at least warrants consideration as you proceed).  The idle animations look really nice.

[Hollysmoke]

Unless I'm wearing them, furries make me uncomfortable. Good luck with your endeavors.

[TAI-X]

I didn't catch that one of the combos bounced the guy out of the corner. I too would be totally on board this mechanic being explored further, even if it was a glitch. Hell, combos started as an unintended bug.

[Xtra_Zero]

I recommend being more clear about your system, namely having clear inputs that are made for the game's engine, ala P K S HS D (GG), A B C D (Melty / BB), A B K G (Soul Calibur), lp mp hp, lk mk hk (Street Fighter), instead of referring to moves just by their controller buttons.  This does a few things: it gives meaning to the controls, as the buttons natively don't have any meaning, gives your game a general structure to work within (which makes breaking that structure even more significant), and makes porting it easier.

Hitstop.  No hitstop is fine, but be aware that the standard is to have it.  Also, adjust the combo system appropriately.  Be clear about the difference between buffers, chains, and links.  A game with no hitstop is better with buffers, whereas a game with hitstop is better with chains.  Links are arguably fine in either.

 

I have a beef with cinematic supers.  I think anything that temporarily stops players from interacting with the game is generally a bad idea, but hey SF does it so w/e (note that GG does not really do this.)

Hitboxes for the moves seem a to reach a little far?  This is not so much a big deal atm but make sure to have the hitboxes be reasonable for the attack animation.

Personally, I think you should have an interesting game without the combo system before you go and make everything comboable.  The best fighters are generally not reliant on their combo systems, but on their neutral game and the options each player has in various situations.  A combo system, while more or less expected these days, should not be too high of a priority.