This game looks really good and the concept is one that I find to be pretty cool, to put it lightly. Why do more games not let you play as a dragon??
Fun: This game is fun because you get to play as a dragon fighting for its survival. Defeating waves of medieval enemies as a dragon is a concept that deserves to be explored more and I seriously can't believe more developers haven't tried to do it before. That being said there are some things that negatively impact the fun, at least for me. The animations are seriously impressive. From the splash screen to combat itself, everything looks and feels realistic or at least as realistic as I think a dragon would act, there are some impressive death animations as well and I think the team who worked on these animations should be proud of their work in this area. However, there is something to be said about balancing realism and fun when it comes to animating. Any time you try to attack, there is an extremely long wind-up before the hit ever happens, and I understand the intention here. The developers want you to feel like you are a very large, powerful creature and that is certainly being communicated in these combat animations, but for the player experience this translates as being clunky in design on the surface level, but looking even deeper, it means players have to work to understand the timings of the animations to get very far in the game. And while I won't debate how fun it is for the player to count the seconds before a claw attack lands on its intended target -- I won't take sides on the matter -- what I will say is that trying to suspend reality slightly for the sake of fun will be more rewarding for any audience. Here's the thing, it makes sense for one or two VERY powerful attacks to require a long wind up and then delivery. Landing very powerful attacks by being aware of the timings of their animations CAN be very rewarding especially with such a wonderful payoff AND especially when those attacks have a chance to miss. This should be balanced with quick, fun attacks that maybe aren't as powerful and maybe not as realistic looking. I very much get the sense that the developers may have wanted to go in this direction but lacked the time, but in case they didn't, here are my suggestions: Make the flame attack so that it has little to no windup and make it bound to the spacebar being held down so that when its released the dragon stops breathing fire, give it its own resource bar or tie it to stamina so that you can't breathe fire forever. Make the claw attacks quick and respond right away, but make them do less damage and use little or no stamina. The wing slam should be slightly reworked, make it keep its long windup and delivery, but make it so that it staggers ranged enemies and instantly kills all enemies nearby. Shit, maybe even make the dragon roar after the delivery of the animation, really signaling that this is a very strong attack and drains a lot of stamina with a lot of damage output all at once. The bite needs to be faster as well, and perhaps the animation should be reworked so that the bite works at a closer range. Alternatively, the ranged enemies could be slightly reworked to where they stand around mid-range, i.e. bite range, and the bite only attacks one enemy but again deals a one-shot kill. In either case, I think the bite should be tied to stamina and use a moderate amount. Take it worth a grain of salt, but in my opinion, this would be very rewarding and would allow for more value gain from the current set of attacks. This is very basic and not completely thought out, but it would only add to the fun imo. Even if some animations end up looking not quite realistic (without entering the uncanny valley) the player experience of a more reactive combat system would actually lend itself to realism, or at the very least, the power fantasy that would come with being a dragon. In short, the animation style is clashing with the combat system currently in place, but it is very close to striking gold even as it stands currently. This was a broad category so my response here is a bit lengthy, I'll try to keep more specific groups more concise.
Theme: Obviously very on brand for the theme of the jam. Very well executed in that department, absolutely no complaints.
Aesthetics: The game is gorgeous, simply put. I am a sucker for medieval aesthetics. I have no complaints about any of the assets used or developed for this game. I will note here that I do think some UI elements in-game can be a bit clearer about the kind of information they're trying to display to the user. I found it difficult to understand at times what the numbers and different bars meant at times. Otherwise? Beautiful game.
Music: I'm not sure if this was produced in-house or if this is simply generic stock music found online, either way it's perfect, and fits the game perfectly. Again, absolutely no complaints and it's amazing.
Sound: There aren't many sound effects to pick apart here and that's not something I will fault the devs for at all here. Again, this was a game jam game, time constraints are very real. Would've loved to have heard some sound effects for enemy deaths, hit impact noises, claw impact noises, dragon noises. Really take it to the next level with some immersive sound design, but beggars can't be choosers, and we're all beggars in the face of time. Again, not a bad thing there aren't many sounds, but were this to become a proper release it would strongly be in need of many, many more.
Mechanics: A lot of what I mentioned in the fun category can fit in here too. I think there's something to be said about how the high score system is currently implemented. A game like this really doesn't need something like that in my opinion, however, I'm not against it either, and just as well it really doesn't feel like it exists at all in the game as it currently stands. My ideal vision for this game when it comes to this particular system, purely as a fan of the concept, is that multiple levels would play out and a high score screen would display after each level is finished until the user clicked a button to initiate the next level or return to the main menu. Idk if the high score system has any sort of online functionality where you see others' high scores, again, not something i think it would need, Even just the local player being able to see only their high scores for each level would be more than enough for me. Also I think there's some kind of magic-based enemy? I'm a bit confused as to what exactly this enemy is capable of doing, so far as I can tell, it casts a bubble which I suspect to be a shield? I almost have to wonder if the enemies should display healthbars above their heads, healthbars that dynamically change to display if they have shield hp to deplete before the dragon can deplete the main hp bar of an enemy. i.e. if they get a shield cast upon them. If it is a shield, I think its design needs to be a bit more polished as well, but again, I don't really even know what it is. Perhaps the dragon should be able to walk around? But I really don't hate the dragon being a fixed position either. This kinda lends itself to storytelling in a way, what creature wants to leave their home? And dragons aren't cowardly creatures. If I were a dragon I'd fight and die in my home too.
Story: Some might say there isn't much of a story, but I think the visual storytelling is everywhere in this game. The dragon hides away in its cave, knowing its the last of its kind, but its too late, and its been discovered. The only thing left to do now is to hold out for as long as possible and to go out in a blaze of glory. Call me simple-minded but I am utterly captivated at the idea of a dragon, the last of its kind, desperately fighting for its survival.
Overall: This game gets an 8/10 from me. Excellent idea with albeit some clashing systems that could be improved on to make this game damn near amazing, and I truly believe that. It's cool factor is enough for me to push the rating up, but it could stand some major sprucing before I'm willing to give it a 10/10. A game without an original idea like this one, but with the same clashing systems and issues would get a 6/10 from me and I suspect that others may rate it even lower. I prefer to speak bluntly as possible, so I hope this hasn't caused any major offense. I genuinely love the idea behind this game and if it ever turned into a major release, I truly hope I'd be able to contribute to it in some fashion, even if all I contributed was a mere review. Fantastic work so far, now let's keep it going!