Below The Blades

Hello again all, DillionMuse #1 fan here with 0.0.6 thoughts (I just barely missed out on 0.0.5 by like an hour bro is PUSHING these updates out)

• Monster: Mr. Grabs def felt a bit smarter but still manageable if you play right and if you get greedy you will still be punished. However ran into a bug where I went into an inside safe section then instantly ran back outside to taunt Mr. Grabs and he...did nothing. We were just chilling together on a ladder for like a minute so...whatever that means. 
• Box Repairing: Triumphant return of mid ladder box repairing!! glad to see them coming back in this build and also adding sounds to repair actions, while it's such a tiny change, feels like such a nice touch to pull it all together
• Platforming: Loved new platforming section and new type of level design as well. Ran into a bug though where I landed on the EDGE of a platform and got stuck for like a minute couldn't jump or walk up onto the platform which lead to me walking off but falling almost instantly bc I had seemingly reach terminal velocity while sliding across the edge.
• Posters: It might be helpful to make the text on the first poster about the toolbelt either bigger or highlighting it so new players don't get confused about "What tools?" "Where are the tools"
• And once again after reaching the ending screen that links to the Itch page game is rendered unplayable and if you wanted to do another run you'd have to full close and reopen

It's your favorite DillionMuse fan here givin my thoughts of 0.0.4!!

• Monster: Super dope, loved the design and I genuinely freaked tf out upon first meeting (I yelled so loud it didn't catch in Discord OR on stream which was wild bc it was real genuine scream of terror), loved the sound design of the clanking to signify it's arrival, however the enemy ai seems kinda buggy but I mean it's first appearance and ai is notoriously difficult so I don't doubt you'll figure it out!!
• Box Repairing/Lights: Finding boxes can be a bit rough since from a side view you can't see the bright red lights so adding either red lighting on the floor in front of a box, on the wall and/or railing, or maybe even a beam of sorts to help spot where they are (like in the maze section)
• Level Design?: LOVED the addition of the little tutorial posters (I think making the mention of the toolbelt on the first poster a bit bigger/more readable might help), more disheveled catwalk sections, and the pseudo-maze like part at the end (finding the last box in said maze was a bit tricky hence the above point about lights)
• Settings: I think having a brightness setting would be helpful to some people and splitting sound into different parts like "weather", "character sounds", "tower creaking sounds", etc. 
• And a Minor thing of after clicking the Itch link at end screen, it sends you back to title screen, but you cannot interact with anything and have to close and relaunch if you were to play a second time

Hey, me again with an update for the...update with less of structured good/bad/room for improve and more so just some points from having experienced both 0.0.1 AND 0.0.2

• Light Clipping: There is still a light clipping into the wall near the first ladder transfer

• Box Repairing/Lights: Glad to see the boxes updated with lights on the cable fault and the red light above become green after finishing but it's still a bit misleading so just making it change AFTER turning the power back on would make it better as a couple times I walked away thinking I was done only to have to come back to actually turn it on

• Door Lights: The red lights above doors can make you feel like you haven't actually unlocked them even when you KNOW you have especially if they are say on the opposite side of a ladder you're climbing up so perhaps changing the lights above doors to a yellow/amber color or white to keep the idea of "marking it as an objective" while not making me doubt my memory also fixing the texture on the door lock but ik you already know about it

• Stamina and Grip Integrity: I love the new stamina + grip integrity mechanics as they create much more immersion and add to the feeling that you're actually climbing in a dangerous environment without having a flashy or gaudy in your face UI showing you a stamina meter; however with all the ambient sounds from the storms to the creaks of the tower itself and the intense shaking during storms it can make it a bit harder to recognize what exactly is happening and how close you are to losing your grip and falling. I suggest either lowering ambient sounds/raising the heartbeat and breathing sounds at a base level and/or adding multiple volume sliders for players to personalize their experience and not get too overwhelmed. Also maybe making the zoom a bit more intense earlier, making the vignette of low stamina more clear, and somehow differentiating between the two/explaining in some other way be it through a tutorial of sorts maybe audio logs so the player has more time to take in what exactly is going wrong and how to fix it 

• Toggle vs Hold Ladders: The addition of a toggle is really great for people that might struggle with holding so many buttons at once. I will add that while it could be easier for less dexterous players for the most part transferring from ladder to ladder is a bit more difficult as you have to time it just right to lock onto a ladder and if you miss your timing you will just fall.

First off, I want to start by saying that I'm super excited to see what's inside of the top of the tower, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
The not so good.

Jumping from platform to platform feels a bit strange and not as clear as the climbing, either the jump height feels too low, or the gravity too, high. Usually I'm not a fan of super thight jumps in games where the mechanics aren't helping with a small amount of player expression. And somewhat contradictory to that is the fact that you have so much air drift control, which is unexpected and surprising for this type of games that lean onto a bit more or realism. The reason I say this is because on some sections where you jump from platforms to hanging stairs, one instinctively aims a bit away from the stairs so that when you are about to line up with them you drift towards them. But the drift is so strong that I often bonked myself with the wall or side of the stairs, and if you hit it at a certain angle you will loose all of the momentum of your jump, instead of sliding along the wall/side of the stairs. If you are lucky and in range of grabing the stairs you might be fine, but many times you fail the jump and it leaves a feeling that it's a bit finnicky. 

The good

Climbing feels nice, the animations, camera work, sound design all build a feeling that resembles actual rock climbing which is very cool imo. the way you have to slowly figure out what drains your stamina, what recovers it, what doesn't affect (like leaning to the sides) is all a very cool experience that gives a twist to the usual super clear stamina bar. The game ramps up with difficulty at a fair but challenging rate so you don't have to figure everything perfectly at the beggining. You can take it slow, but once you are at the last section, you really want to be as efficient as possible, so learning the optimal rythm to climb is fun but challenging. I just wish it was slightly more clear with some stuff, like when you slip when you climb too fast, which at first I simply thought that I was letting go with both hands and was confusing me a little bit. Also the vignette could be a bit more clear, since sometimes the audio from the wind and the heavy breathing from stamina loss can layer on top of each other and make it hard to tell if you are actually loosing stamina. Although the electric panels were a bit too simple, fixing them while climbing was a lot of fun and an interesting challenge, can't wait to see more variations of these in the future, and I hope to see more uses for leaning to the sides while climbings, looks to me like one of the best mechanics with the most amount of potential and possibly player expression.

The presentation is amazing, there's no doubt about that part. This guy knows what he is doing with the lighting and atmosphere. I would personally remove the railings from the first platform (or at least part of it), and let new players explore the idea of going to the water. Can't wait to see what kind of eldrich abominations will fill some of the spaces.

2 bugs I found:

- For some reason you can't jump on concrete (inside tower and top of tower)

- During the final climb, my hand was cramping, so I wanted to pause and change the climb method to toggle, but if I pause even while holding both climb buttons, you will release both hands, which costed me like 6-7 minutes of climbing.

speaking of which, if there is ever going to be difficulty settings in this game, make it so the hardest mode doesn't let you regrab the stairs if you run out of stamina, it removes a LOT of the tension knowing that you will only loose a bit of progress, or maybe find a workaround for that.

As a last suggestion, probably one of the scariest things I've experienced rock climbing (alongside trying to clip and falling, which is really well portrayed by running out of stamina while fixing an electric panel) is grabbing onto loose handles or a random critter scurries/crawls on to my hand. Usually in these scenarios nothing happen, you just have to maintain composure. Hope it gives you any ideas.

Ok, I'm not like a professional game tester/reviewer but I'm gonna try give my thoughts on a few things
Good/positive:

• The atmosphere of the game is peak, with the creaking metal, stormy weather (both the sounds and visuals like the gray sky), the setting being surrounded by nothing but water, and the general sound design
• The concept of climbing an offshore wind turbine in the open ocean and repairing it is pretty neat I think
• The idea of having to physically climb the ladders by holding forward AND clicking left and right mouse button is actually really cool and unique that I have ;t 
• The red lights read pretty well as "objectives"
• The repairing of the boxes feels like a really fun aspect especially when you have to balance stamina while holding onto a ladder, really really great gameplay loop
• Really love the respite of the interior areas as a good break from the absolute struggle the exterior can be
• I think it's HILARIUOS that some doors you have to think a bit before you open bc they'll just push you off
• Also I know it was optional but if you have a free like...40min-1hr climbing the ladder at the end while listening to Snake Eater from MGS can make for a funny moment if you're a fan of silly bits (There is literally nothing up there 

Things I personally struggled with/negative:

• The slipping mechanic feels really punishing and it felt like I would slip at times where I wasn't doing anything wrong (I could also just be crazy/skill issue)
• Jumping off ladders feels a bit tricky at times I think due to the idea that you aren't supposed to "let go" of the mouse buttons but instead jump while holding (again could also just be skill issue)
• The amount of time spent holding down multiple buttons can feel really rough at times and a bit tiring on the fingers
• I feel sometimes it feels like you can just be hanging for so long but that could also just be me being impatient
• Not necessarily a negative but the game is NOT made with speedrunning in mind so be wary that it is a slower game that you have to pace yourself, if you try to rush/get impatient you WILL struggle
• Sometimes walking around outside it felt like the walls had a lot of friction that restricted movement a bit unnaturally 

Ideas for possible changes:

• Sprinting feels a bit free so maybe not letting stamina regenerate while sprinting and/or when the "larger threat" is implemented maybe sprinting is loud and can attract a monster to give sprinting some kinda cost
• A light indicator at the cable fault in the boxes bc without it it can be a bit hard to figure out what you're missing
• Light indicator on a repaired box to turn from red to green to let you know it's already done
• Either slowing down walking or speeding up sprinting a bit to give a better idea of the difference as right now it barely feels different I personally lean to speeding up but that bc I'm just impatient
• Maybe having sprint as a toggle so you have one less button to hold constantly
• I know it's an early playtest build but menu for various settings like sound, accessibility, controls, and performance

I'm sure I missed or forgot something here and there but overall it was a good experience and I had fun. CANNOT wait for more development!!

Here is my brutally honest opinion.
The things I think are currently think are lacking or feel bad to play:
-In general the running parkour areas feel bad or different compared to climbing, I'd go to say they are also quite unforgiving and don't feel smooth or clicky.
-Currently the storm mechanic is neat but I think it would benefit from having some randomness. I would say add some variance where it may take longer for it to show up but not sooner. As well as making it so the stamina drain itself may last slightly shorter or longer. So far it feels like you just have to play with above 30 stamina and you'd be safe.
-I personally don't like the sliding off when you move too fast or falling while you climbing through storm, but that is skill issue I think.
-Despite me having a strong computer, it was making my system heat up quite a lot and in general was using more resources than I thought it would.

What is done right:
-Quite enjoy the atmosphere and visual looks so far.
-I enjoy the added sound cues and design for the different interactions (in particular the warning for the storm approaching is a nice touch).
-The sections where you focus on stamina, balancing the storm mechanic, and repairing is great and adds a layer of skill expression.
-The general concept of repairing stuff while having to balance other things is really fun and engaging as a player.
-Climbing so far feels quite nice and smooth, which is a really strong base that can be played with.
-Controls are pretty straightforward and easy to pick up.
-Overall good fundamentals/idea that I think will lead to a great experience once there are more sections.

What I think would be cool/bugs I found out:
-You can softlock by jumping off.
-You can climb with a single hand by repeatedly pressing with one button, making the game really safe and easy.
-Opening doors may push you off and force you to track up again.

-Menu to leave game and settings would be nice (especially volume)
-Accessibility options would be appreciated. I myself, without having hand related issues, found holding on for too long started to hurt. I think the shaking during storms may also cause issues with people who are prone to motion sickness. Maybe allowing keybind changes or single press button to stay in place.
-Checkpoints/saves
-Light indicator turning green when everything is repaired, and a quicker way to diagnosis what still needs repairing.

This was such a cool experience! The ambient sounds and environment was beautiuflly executed. I really felt like I was cold and wet and creeped out by the dark skies. I felt like a giant sea monster could rise from the sea and drag me off the ladders, or that I'd find a dead body or mysterious squatter inside. The environment was so convincing and the climbing mechanism was to immersive that I was gripping onto my mouse for dear life! LOL

I like the repairs mechanics as well! Simple tasks, but you're forced to pay attention to your surrounding and work carefully in a timely matter due to the bad weather.

At first, I was having a hard time climbing, but then learned I had to slower down and climb carefully as there are multiple ways to slip adn fall. All can be prevented by being more careful!

I'm excited to see what comes of this game! Dillion's such a talented creative, I know he'll make an amazing game!