Skyflower

First Hour Impressions
So I like to play the first hour of Early Access games and keep (rather pessimistic) notes about my experience: what I'm thinking, what I have a problem with and what I enjoy. I'm posting these notes for the developer to see to hopefully give them a good idea of how a completely new, unbiased player experiences their game for the first time. So this is mostly for the developer but if you're looking to try this game out, feel free to read through my notes. Warning: this will most likely get lengthy.
Gameplay Notes
I know it's Early Access, but basic options would've been nice (like a music mute so I can play my own)
Throws you right into it with no mumbo-jumbo, good
The teleport should prompt the player perhaps, so they don't just leave tons of money/whatnot on the ground and leave the level prematurely on accident: I had no idea what the teleporter did, maybe a quick hint?
Teleporters are a bit random actually, I just hit one right after starting a level and it just teleported me to a different one in a random spot, what's going on?
Sort of slow-paced for a bullet-hell, at least movement-wise
No clue what this cross statue does or is, no clue what this red ball trophy does or is, no clue what this ethereal floating gray ball does or is, a TINY bit of explanation would be nice (alright, the ball hurts me, but how do I interact with the statue/trophy??)
Instead of SHIFT being a walk function, shouldn't it be a sprint? This is a bullet-hell
I guess there's something good about just learning as you play, but asking me to purchase items I know nothing about is a bit far, guess I'll just have to gamble...
Too easy
First boss WAY too easy
Nice progression in introducing new enemies, still don't know how the level progression works though
Items feel kind of like Risk of Rain-style, I like them
Alright, difficult isn't too easy, it's too spiky, first playthrough was easy as hell, second was insanely difficult, it should be balanced a bit more delicately
HINT TO NEW PLAYERS: The shield spell blocks one hit, it is NOT time-based
I'm having a lot of fun now, but I fear this will get very dull and repetitive quickly... There really isn't much variety at all
Game is way too easy now, get one lucky upgrade and you win
Some enemy designs are creative while others are just downright random or unfitting
Wait, I lost a key by going to the next level??? But not every level has a locked door, nor does every level that has a locked door have a key. Or at least I thought?
"Chance of Lightning" item is a bit OP, the range is insane and it hits so hard
Maybe bullets are too bit or the range of attacks is too far, but I barely get to see any enemies, they're all dead by the time I get within range, and I would just stop shooting from so far out but their bullets are so big I can't approach until I blind shot in their direction until they're dead
There should be more variety in the main character's weapon
I'm assuming levels are randomly generated, if so the generator needs a bit of work, I've been put in some poorly-designed levels, as well as downright boring ones
Is it just, or is there no way to approach the lady boss who shoots the rotating lines of green bullets? No matter what I do I can't approach without getting hit
Aesthetic Notes
Very pretty and sleek, easy on the eyes
Shiny, glowing, very lovely art style but nothing too unique; this pixel style's been done many times in the recent past
Death animations are cool
Cool way to show the character die as well
Music is fitting, but could be better
The screen shake during combat is very well done and makes the game feel intense
Music is now unfitting, very calm while game is hectic and violent
Sound effects in general work, I like them
Spikes a bit hard to notice, they don't look like something that would cause damage or even have a relevance: they blend in and move so slowly
Why do health packs sound like they're hurting you? The screen even shakes like they caused damage
The actual artistic ability demonstrated is rather low, however
Technical Notes
Music splice when transferring levels is off-putting
The perks are cool, but the boxes should pause the game, enemies could shoot at me while I was trying to decide which one to get
Game uses my special ability if I minimize it, click on something else, and go back to game (???) (I think it may have been one of the buttons I pushed to minimize the window, it's probably a special ability hotkey)
BUG: The game froze and crashed after I entered the first portal after the first boss
BUG: When I use my special ability "bullet wave" while up against a wall, even if I'm facing away from it the bullets all hit the wall and dissappear
You can get the enemy who charges you easily stuck on the wall making it a 100% safe fight
BUG: If you brush against walls sometimes you get stuck on them even if they're flat
Um, the shield power-up didn't work. I RMB, got a shield, walked through a bullet immediately, and it killed me, just one bullet, not two
The menu doesn't even have an exit button?!
Game desperately needs the bare minimum before it should be made any more complex or be given any more body
The balancing is absolutely broken
Conclusion: Overall, Skyflower is pretty fun, but very repetitive and won't be able to be played for long amounts of time. It's one of those games you play to fill up a few minutes of free time, not something you really get into and try to progress in, because it's frankly too dull for that. I do recommend it, however, since it has a very fair pricetag, and can be quite enjoyable if you just mindlessly wanna shoot things. It's main flaw is the balancing: the difficulty goes all over the place, the abilities aren't balanced, items can be downright OP or useless: it needs a lot of basic playtesting and foundation before it'll be better than DECENT.
To Developer: If you ever release a large patch and/or change some mechanics or big parts of the game, or simply just want some playtesting for bugs, feel free to contact me for further testing and input!

Green Elf shot the FOOD! : 7/10
+ Great use of pixel art
+ Early access but fully playable and fully enjoyable
+ Deaths are amusing
+ Deceptively simple combat that gets frantic
~ Early access and hopefully will be improved and expanded on
~ Some enemies are seriously annoyingly tough
~ Some maps feel unfairly setup with traps and waves that are unavoidable
~ Boss battles are seriously tough
- Nothing bad.. for a budget price its well worth it right now

For only $3, a fun little distraction. Plays kinda like The Binding of Isaac. Multiplayer isn't up yet and the game is still in early access but until the game gets a full release give this game a buy if it goes on super-sale and/or looks entertaining!

Got this from a Groupees bundle months ago. Downloaded the DRM-Free version and gave it a shot, I've always had an affinity for top-down shootyers in general. When you add things like perma-death and leveling,stats, power-ups, etc... it gives me nerd wood... big, huge, meaty nerd wood... or woody nerd meat??? I'm not quite sure now... but whatever..
great game for what it is... graphics are doo doo... but I personally don't care about that... the gameplay more than makes up for it... it's fast paced, it IS grindy, but it all goes so fast it doesn't feel like it....
for the price you can't beat it.... do buy. I have spoken.

Games fun. If you like bullet hell games you'll like this. Some bugs here and there but it is early access so I assume they will be fixed. Other than the small bugs that need to be fixed its really fun its like The Binding of Issac but with bullets.

Its a very fun dungeon crawling shoot em up.If you like a challenge then this is a game for you .
Also funny death screens. YAY.
8/10

Yes yes it is no longer in development, but you know what? If you are looking for a simple top down shooter, its good. It has randomised levels, assorted baddies, and a levelling system with some interesting abilities.