Phantom Express

Really polished game, maybe aside from the controls/inventory management being sort of clunky. Tried both arrows + arrows alternative, and both took some getting used to, but I eventually beat the game on the latter option.

I especially liked the art and story, it was very cute :D

This was really fun to play! The art and atmosphere in general were fantastic. I too had some troubles with the UI and some of the mechanics - I got overwhelmed by throwing all the coal I could find into the engine which spawned a TON of cars and enemies - I didn't end up making it past the 3rd or 4th car. I think the wrench would have been good if it had its own dedicated key. I know that throws off some of the balancing but it would just make it a little easier to play. Well done!

Played your game! https://youtu.be/JWu55n9oBEA

The game starts off with an absolute bang. I was immediately immersed by the cutscenes and story. After that amazing intro, the music that begins is timed so well that the musical cues hit every dramatic beat in the beginning gameplay. From the initial start to the sudden tension as you go to another car. I felt you also had a very good foundation in the gameplay loop. The gameplay naturally ramped itself up as more cars get added and you're forced to frantically run between cars to fix things up. The uniqueness of each car too created a map that felt dynamic and not just "running through the same car again" type of feeling. So there was a lot of fantastic synergy happening in the gameplay. I did feel however that my enjoyment came in a bit of spurts because of that. I loved the hectic nature of the game but the inventory system slowed down the fast paced rhythm that the game was doing a good job of showing. Particularly on the car with the potions where if you're carrying too much, you have to use springs to jump through it. I do like the idea of having to manage an inventory. Should I keep all the items I have? Or should I keep my speed? It runs a little bit in contrast to the frantic nature of the game having to quickly make decisions but I felt the contrast wouldn't have been so bad if the inventory system was a little easier to navigate. I didn't feel as though I needed to make decisions but more fight against the controls to quickly drop things and keep going on. Maybe it is because of how long the train gets and how fast the train car health drops but I didn't feel like inventory management felt like a thing so much as drop, sprint, collect more as you go. I think a lot of the fun agony that comes from decision making and inventory is enough time to feel oh no I made the wrong decision or some time to agonise over it a little more. In Phantom Express' case, the management was more a test of how skillfully you can manage the inventory. Overall, the game has absolute fantastic polish and a really really cool gameplay loop. What an awesome mechanic overall and interpretation of the theme.

Also recently saw season 3 of Infinity Train so hooray for magical trains :D

edit: ran across a small bug where the music didn't restart when I replayed the game. Had to restart the full game. Not a big deal.

Super solid game all around! Fun to play, cool mechanics, almost beat it (might give it another try soon). Art was fantastic, music fit perfectly.

My main feedback would be regarding the controls/inventory system. I dropped my wrench one time too many I think hahah

Really well done! Congratulations!

I feel the weight mechanic should not have been implemented. Having the backpack limitations was enough as it was. It might have been more acceptable if there was a smoother way to use springs.

Speaking of backpack. You really should have made things more contextual. As it was navigating the backpack was less than enjoyable.

The pumpkin enemies were quite annoying, taking many hits to kill.

The art was great, and the story was good as well.

Train cars would degrade in health way too fast though. Making it hard to navigate new cars and keep up with older ones.

an overall enjoyable experience. found the buttons bit confusing and would've preferred just switching items on the fly and not having to open the inventory. I also got locked out once because I didn't have springs or a keycard to get through the alchemy cart. The atmosphere is good and the music is very fitting for the setting. Took me 2 tries to win and I enjoyed it a lot.

The polish on this is amazing, such smooth animations and beautiful art, this is brilliantly done, nice one! :)

The art and music in this game are phenominal, I am really impressed. I found the menu broke the immersion for me and I would rather have a way to swap items that keeps me in the action without having to stop gameplay. I didn't care for the weight system. I thought the slow was too drastic and I would rather you limit the number of items I could hold instead. Also, I don't think you should be able to drop the wrench as I ended up losing it in my first play through. With that said, I enjoyed my play through of this and I think it has a lot of potential.

The game feels very polished but it can be frustrating when the neccisary items arent available to get through/around a door. It's really nice that there is gamepad support but I feel like the buttons are kind of mapped strangely. Overall a great entry

Fantastic art and music. They created an immersive experience where I felt the excitement and stress of defending a train. However, the controls were not great. The buttons to jump made it difficult to do so while moving, and on top of that the weight limiting the height of your jump was to punishing. The game also needs some work on balancing - Not all of the items are really useful (or at least I didn't understand them to be so), the weapons didn't /feel/ as strong as I wanted them to be when fighting monsters. The game would've also benefitted from having a clearer objective. I understood I needed to fight things attacking the train, but wasn't sure how to prioritize which cart to fight stuff at any given moment. Overall, lots of potential, gameplay and controls just need tuning.

pretty fun, the music is good, i love the cover art, my attention span is killing me i love this game tho

The game was very well done. Love the art. Had to do a lot of decision making, especially when carrying stuff that affects movement.

Really very good and fun. The graphics are perfect and the music makes the train ride a pleasant experience!!

I hope to see more in a next update. IT WAS HARD. Maybe by making the key that opens the door keep it open for the rest of the game, and the main weapon is not an item in your inventory but part of the character will make the game more balanced.

This was a lot of fun! I was a bit confused, but it felt good to the point where I wanted to learn more! :)