Bestial Reception

Bestial Reception has the tag "side scroller" but that's not true.
It is way more of a roguelite.

The following dissection of the game is a mixture of constructive feedback to the dev and a review for my fellow gamers

You choose a character out of four, with the possibility of unlocking an additional two.
The conditions of unlocking these extra characters are unclear though. (Note to dev: Maybe it should be mentioned somewhere)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028013988

Each character has a special ability it can trigger every 15 seconds or so, as well as a weapon specific for said character.
This adds a welcome variety and unique possibilities for pairing between skills and weapons.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3027983455

In the selection screen, the text is too crowded.
To fix this: 1. Place each parameter on a separate line and
2. Use images instead of words, e.g. a heart = health, etc., and standardize across the game (i.e. in the merchant screen)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028014464

When selecting a character, it's only the ENTER key that allows us to proceed.
Add LMB as well as already done in other sections of the game, like here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028014880

There's no escape back to the main menu from the character selection screen.
You are literally forced to either continue and start a new run or to ALT+TAB to force quit out of the game!
This must be addressed.

This roguelite offers a twist:
Enemies drop artifacts hindering you one way or another. Pick them up and endure their passive effect till you reach the merchant and sell each for coins, which you then use to upgrade your rather skeletal arsenal. You may choose to ignore them and rely on your default weapon.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028015897

A neat trick is to leave the negative-effect artifact on the ground & only at the end of the level do you pick it up!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028016478

The color of this boss's health meter -and the health bar of your own character actually- is confusing.
Maybe change it so that 'red' means full health and 'grey/black' means lost health. As it is, dark red for full health while bright red for lost health are just too ambiguous.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3027983881

When the player is in the middle of a run and hits ESC, this is the menu that appears.
It might be a good idea to add more information, like the default gun you start with, your health, current stats, etc. As it is, it's a bit too bare.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3027984368

Typo: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028016023

The game features 10 very straightforward achievements, except maybe the two involving unlocking the extra two characters.

The achievements should have clearer wording:
It says, Kill 50/100/200 enemies.
It should say, Kill 50/100/200 enemies "in a single run."
I know because the 200 achievement didn't unlock for me although I killed over 150 in a single run before, so yeah!

Also there's a small typo in the achievement Thick - skinned
It should be Thick-skinned
No spaces around the -
~~

I did have some fun with the gameplay and the sound effects cracked me up! Check the duck in the trailer lol

Conclusion

At the price tag of $2.99, the game isn't expensive by any stretch. Yet again, there are so many terrific master pieces (Tomb Raider 2013, Sleeping Dogs, Ryse: Son of Rome) that go on sale for exactly that same price.

So I find myself recommending against purchasing the game at full price.
In the game's current state, maybe for 66% off it would be a good deal.
I hope the dev addresses these issues because the game does have solid potential.



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Playing as different representatives of the animal world we clear the map from other representatives of different worlds.
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