Magenta Horizon

Alright, Raeng allowed me to make a post about my creation, so I'm going to shamelessly shill it.
It's called Magenta Horizon, a 2D-platformer-brawler-combo-action game influenced by DMC, Doom Eternal, and Hollow Knight. Yeah, that combination doesn't quite make sense at first, but you'll see what I mean.



- The basic premise is that you are a reaper in an afterlife, and you kill demons that are on your way. The stages are working like less-convoluted doom where you have to find multiple key items to open the blocked path. And that keys are scattered around the level filled with arenas after arenas.

- It will save your progress automatically once you beat a level, and you can always select it from the level selection menu. Also, changing the difficulty setting is possible at any time. (Though it will reset the level you are currently playing)

- Melee combat is similar to Hollow Knight, (where your pogo attack movement becomes the main positioning/counter tool) but there are many melee combos you can chain with your L joystick directions and your character states (like jumping and wall climbing)

- No upgrade trees for the melee combo or movement options, since I didn't want this game to have a dull early game. You can find, buy and unlock the ranged skills and passive buff items (necklace pieces) that can change your play style, but fundamentally it already provides many options.

- To provide simple but dynamic gameplay, my main focus was scattering shit tons of enemies in arenas. Every enemy has different moves that can be reasonably dealt with one by one but can make you fall into dangerous situations when multiple threats come at once. (this is why I compared it to Doom Eternal)
There are 15 normal enemies and 5 boss enemies in this build, and they will provide different patterns and different spawn points depending on the difficulty setting.  

-This is a downside I noticed while developing the game, but there aren't significant level gimmicks or arena design variations on each level, and every level is -aside from the boss levels- constructed in a similar way. Only the enemy combat sections are the most dynamic part. This is a thing I'm trying to improve in Act 2.  

-Only Act 1 is available on itch for now. (for free) Once Act 2 development is done, will release on Steam with EA, or I can just wait and develop Act 3 too and release them all together. The choice will be made when I have to.

So, yeah. Hope you guys can try it out, and I hope you guys like it. Feedbacks are welcome too!

I'll add that I've been playing a lot, currently going for max ranks on hardest difficulty. Here's some example gameplay:

I really like how with the spinning thing you can set it at different angles. Fantastic idea.

>I really like how with the spinning thing you can set it at different angles

Yeah, you can change the direction (or the attack distance) of every projectile skill you can use via L stick direction input.

Wrote a 4.5/5 review on Backloggd, link here but I'll copy paste as well. Great game!

Played for ~60 hours, SSS rank on hardest available difficulty for all levels. Runs here.

Really, really solid piece of work, especially for a game with 2/3rds of its planned content still forthcoming. Considering the game is free, there is no reason not to try it if you're an action game fan.

Magenta Horizon holds a deep reverence for two of the most fundamental pillars of action games: positioning and dynamism. Hollow Knight's influence on the movement (and the game in general) is obvious, but the addition of a diagonal dive and a hook attack that pulls you through enemies makes things significantly more interesting than simply jumping and pogoing around. DMC-like strings with various useful properties also add much-needed nuance and agency to the ground combat. The tension between safety/mobility in the air and options/damage potential on the ground informs almost every decision you make, and you'll find yourself constantly evaluating which is better suited for the moment.

A varied and volatile enemy roster puts this into context, and each disrupts you in different ways with melee attacks, speed, projectiles, or sheer size. The small helicopters are a favorite of mine: their simple attacks aren't much threat, but their spinning propellers will hit you on contact, making aerial getaways from more oppressive enemies deceptively challenging. Arenas filling up with hordes of different foes, all acting independently, gives rise to the delightful controlled chaos that so many of the action game greats are known for. Bosses are also pleasantly dynamic, with varied attack patterns and a Souls/Monster Hunter-style stagger system to keep things fresh. Once you beat the middle difficulty, give the highest a shot, it's where the game truly shines. Each encounter is completely redone, with tough enemies from the last stage suddenly appearing in the very first. Some of the best and most creative fights are found here, as the dev starts to go wild with cramped arenas, oppressive environmental hazards, enemy spawning setups, and synergistic compositions.

Each of the subweapons in the game are distinct, and have multiple situationally useful properties rather than explicitly hard countering anything. Creating the spike in midair will slam you to the ground (invaluable for movement), and the boomerang can be aimed in different trajectories to deal general damage over a wide area or stagger fliers quickly. Some even combine with each other: for example, timing your spike to skewer a boomerang creates a stationary spinning blade that deals massive DPS to anything in reach. A la Alien Soldier, each weapon can be assigned to one or more of 8 possible slots, and each slot has its own meter. The frightening levels of lethality you can achieve by maximizing this brings combat to a blistering speed, especially in later stages where tough arenas reward clean speedkilling.

Artwork and music are both obvious standouts that anyone can appreciate, and lend the game a distinct character. Pinks and purples cover otherworldly vistas, and the enemy menagerie is both delightfully creative and a treat to watch in motion. The progressive metal soundtrack is also fantastic, one of the best in recent memory.

There are definitely still some kinks to be worked out. As a new player, especially one without high-level action game experience, the initial experience is extremely overwhelming with the amount of options and movement you have. Almost nothing can be canceled out of, which works great as a design decision but feels punishing early on. UI needs some polish, and can feel cheap and awkward to navigate. Early level design is both needlessly confusing to traverse (especially since there's no map) and doesn't stand out much in terms of creative fights. Luckily, both of these improve as you get further in. Bugs pop up every so often since the game's still in heavy development, but in my experience these rarely affected gameplay. You can report any you find to the dev and he'll usually fix it quickly. The necklace system (equippables with playstyle-altering buffs) simply doesn't have enough options yet to provide meaningful tradeoffs. The game is also a bit light on content currently, as expected, but what's there is high quality.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed at the level of achievement here so far, especially in the context of a solo dev project. I can't wait to see where the project goes next, I only see things getting better from here.

TLDR just go play it, it's free. https://maddison-baek.itch.io/magenta-horizon

Honestly,’pretty interested in this game. I have a question though, is there an emphasis on the environment in this game or no?