The Bear Hunter

by devark
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.82
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.60
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.86
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.69
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.41
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.41
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.97
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★41%
The Bear Hunter

When the hunter's family is murdered by a monster, he seeks out revenge, only to make a disturbing discovery ...

Controls:

<WASD> - Movement
<Mouse> - Draw bow/Fire
<F> - Toggle Fullscreen
<Esc> - Exit

Developer notes (please read if you have time):

Hey guys, David here. Unfortunately I know a lot of you guys will be disappointed despite the seemingly promising premise and screenshots. There's more than 12 hours left but I have to submit now because of work commitments. Sadly, that means there isn't anywhere near the amount of content and polish that was originally intended. It's playable from beginning to end but you might feel "cheaped out" in some parts (especially that part which everyone's likely going to complain about), and for that, I apologise. It seems I was too ambitious after all. I worked really hard on it though so, nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy my take on the theme and get something out of it, even if just a little.

Follow me on twitter for game dev and pixel art! @daviddchen

https://twitter.com/daviddchen

Oh, and if anyone finds the side area, please comment that you have found it! It's a nice little "side story" but most people seem to miss it. Also the voice SFX were done by yours truly! (Technically this is my voice acting debut)

Comments53

crare
crare23 Aug 2015, 21:05
Really beautiful game! Nice twist of story at the end. I like the gameplay. Except you can kinda spam the arrows, but then again they won't go far so it's kinda balances it anyway. And now I feel bad for the bear.. :D
Devark
Devarkauthor24 Aug 2015, 09:12
@crare, thanks for playing! The spammed arrows also deal less damage. The intention was to reward players for drawing the bow back further which meant if you couldn't spam the arrows, there wouldn't be much to compare the strongest level of draw to. Glad you enjoyed it!
DragonXVI
DragonXVI24 Aug 2015, 09:19
Combat system's actually really cool & well presented. Graphics're great too! Could've done with a few more enemy varieties, the larger groups of slimes felt a little tedious. Nice twist at the end too :D
Andrew Deem24 Aug 2015, 09:21
Good game. Loved the art style and the gameplay. Shooting them arrows felt rewarding. Sad ending is sad. :(
nicotuason24 Aug 2015, 09:27
Beautiful art and music! But now I'm saaad...I saw the ending coming from the start but it made me sad anyway.
ajopart
ajopart24 Aug 2015, 09:30
Great entry. Beautiful graphics. Effective gameplay and sound.
Orni
Orni24 Aug 2015, 09:49
what a beautiful game
amazing work!
GoldPlatedXplodingFist
GoldPlatedXplodingFist24 Aug 2015, 10:02
Your game may be short, but the graphics look really good and the plot twist was a nice surprise.
Great work! :)
tuben999
tuben99924 Aug 2015, 10:27
Great game :) felt bad at the end ;P
Joseaper24 Aug 2015, 12:03
Amazing game, I loved the art and music. And gameplay was even greater the arrow mechanic is brilliant. What could be improved is the enemy types, I would prefer less and stronger over more and weak, but for two days that is amazing.
goet
goet24 Aug 2015, 12:04
Clich&eacute; as heck but enjoyable.
Conk
Conk24 Aug 2015, 15:42
Love the art style! What's with all the slimes? I just stared at the bear and quit, I'm no monster :P I mean if anything, I should be killing her family, not her, then we'd be even.

Anyway, good job!
Fatal.24 Aug 2015, 22:39
I really loved it. The graphics were great and I actually almost teared up at the end(even though I saw that ending coming from a mile away). Only critique would be that it's a little easy. But, overall, think it's one of the best submissions I've played so far.
Manou25 Aug 2015, 08:16
This got potential, nice work.
Togimaro
Togimaro25 Aug 2015, 11:39
A wonderfull game! A little too simple, we see that the narrative is the most important, you can shoot the enemies away before they react and the game becomes too easy with that, but overall it's an excellent game
S0rax25 Aug 2015, 14:46
Nice game, I love the design of this game, the music is really beatiful. But for me, the mother bear don't move, I don't know if it's normal. Small game, small story, but for me big success !
shawn4225 Aug 2015, 16:45
Beautiful game. I want more. So. Short. Nice twist at the end; I really felt bad pumping arrow after arrow into the bear.
SaintHeiser26 Aug 2015, 07:21
Very emotional ending! Game is lack with gameplay but visually and ideologically there is all right =)
cowboycolor
cowboycolor26 Aug 2015, 09:32
Dude awesome! I had to play because the screenies made it look so similar to ours, and it actually is pretty close, both in concept and controls. Keep up the good work <3
dancingmad26 Aug 2015, 12:10
Nice art direction and clean gameplay (well that I didn't found since the beginning that I had to maintain left click for powerful attacks) !

Theme is interesting but wasted because of the "boss" behavior (I know that it's because of your short time development and this work is already cool).

We'll try to follow your next productions because you have good potential !
Squid Blink Games
Squid Blink Games27 Aug 2015, 08:03
Simple, yet very satisfying controls and gameplay. Great execution, had a lot of fun with this one! Would definitely be willing to pick up a lengthier game developed in this style.
SoulGame
SoulGame27 Aug 2015, 08:40
Wonderful entry. A few notes:
- The art is super cute.
- I get the intention for the music, but it's a bit raw. The recording seems to be of poor quality, and the composition itself is a bit repetitive. (But I just realized it was a compo entry so... Nice work!)
- Gameplay & controls are neat. I'm fund of archers in general, and this one I love much. The Game Feel is clean and everyting in the controls seem super polished. I especially enjoy the speed of my character, I think it plays a big part in the Game Feel quality. Here again, impressive compo work.
- Too bad there are only defensless jellies... Enemies with ranged attack would have been sooo fun to kill. Looks a bit like a shooting gallery now. Lack of time? Design choice?
- The final boss was a disapointment for me. Of course I completely understand (do I? :D) what you tried to achieve with it, but the thing is it was too obvious... So non solely I have no boss fight, but I'm also not intrigued at all. Everthing basically screams at me "You'll be the monster if you kill it" : the name of the boss ("mother bear"...), the fact that is doesn't move, the fact that my character actually notify me that it doesnt move... All that breaks the ending twist which should be metaphorical and poetic (I guess?).

Anyway just wanted to make a constructive feedback, this is a super great entry anyway.
lemer27 Aug 2015, 11:10
The map is not very challenging, but overall the game execution is really good. Hope to see an evolution of this game in near future ;)
lucentbeam27 Aug 2015, 11:22
Nice work! I'm jealous of what you were able to accomplish in the time you spent. I love the combat... I've wanted for a while to see more of this style - I guess I would call it action RPG pushed in the direction of Nuclear Throne. I wouldn't beat yourself up about the end. In all honesty, this LD's theme was too narrow in scope, so the title gave it away before even playing.
Literal Games27 Aug 2015, 15:41
So sad! Incredible graphics and a great gamefeel. Arrows mechanics were fantastic, good enough to make a whole game out of!
randoman28 Aug 2015, 10:35
Very nice gameplay. I like how the arrows deal damage based on how much you pulled the string. I could see the ending from miles away, but it was enjoyable anyway XD
tmpxyz
tmpxyz28 Aug 2015, 11:07
Well implemented idea, nice work!
MrMordem
MrMordem28 Aug 2015, 11:15
Beautiful entry with a nice approach on the theme :) sprites are beautiful, the music sets the tone, and the gameplay is really solid, well done !
crucknuk
crucknuk28 Aug 2015, 11:40
I love this kind of graphics
Mach60KAS
Mach60KAS28 Aug 2015, 18:49
Story is a little clich&eacute;, but the spritework, animation and tile designs are all great. The game suffers from a sequence break - by cutting through the tree line, you touch one less set of footprints (as a result the boss doesn't spawn). I managed to find the graves, if that's what you meant by side story? Still, I was quite fond of this entry on the whole. Kudos!
Datamosh
Datamosh28 Aug 2015, 19:37
Small, beautiful, depressing. I loved it.
guoboism29 Aug 2015, 01:26
The developer to use the uncompleteness to aide the story telling, making a twist in the end! And thus the making the whole game complete!
HappyHour
HappyHour29 Aug 2015, 07:10
The simple but super solid controls made for a satisfying playthrough. Digging the design of the player character.
r8berto29 Aug 2015, 08:53
Nice pixel art, it's amazing you could do this in just 36 hours. Gameplay whould have been better with the addition of ranged attack enemies (IMO)
intXparts
intXparts29 Aug 2015, 12:55
Fantastic game! It was the perfect length and with a great spin on the theme. The gameplay is solid, I mean shoot, it's a bow and arrow, what's not to like. =)
gillenew
gillenew29 Aug 2015, 14:34
Nice I enjoyed the game, and also liked the brief story, was quite dramatic in the end :)
BoyWithStick
BoyWithStick29 Aug 2015, 14:47
Good ending. I really enjoyed spamming arrows, but figured out late in the game the charged arrows shot beyond the light and kept you stealthy. Was fun to play!
pirate_shell29 Aug 2015, 14:57
The graphics were well made but I did suffer some screen distortion sometimes. It was very minor though and the game still looked great. The piano melody was strong and was a nice mood piece but I felt it was just a touch too short and a touch too pronounced to be just a atmospheric track. The gameplay was simple and to the point and the story was well told and was a nice twist on fairy tale, RPG like narritives. Overall, a very solid entry with a few flaws that are understandable with the short time period!
dunin
dunin29 Aug 2015, 16:07
nice looking game, but the end isn't surprising: too long time with "mother bear" and why she doesn't protect her children when we arrived? With a real boss fight we don't think about the end and I think it would be more impressive...
Thingo Studios29 Aug 2015, 17:26
The twist isn't super surprising to be honest-- we've all played Shadow of the Colossus, yeah? I wish the bear made SOME attempt to dodge your shots if nothing else. But the gameplay mechanic was very enjoyable and the graphics and music are fantastic, so it's not like this is a bad game by any measure. In fact it's one of the best entries this LD I think.
NidzaKornjaca29 Aug 2015, 19:07
Combat system is cool, graphics are great, love the light. I found the ending quite predictable though, and the encounters with the enemies somewhat lacking variety and challenge.
xvw
xvw30 Aug 2015, 03:02
I like the graphics and the battle system!
That's a very good compo!

For your description: Don't worry about this, NOTHING can be "originally intended" in the LudumDare :D No apologise! You FINISHED this game, congrats! :D
kruemelkeksfan5 Sep 2015, 14:24
Great game. Worst about it are those depressive, pessimistic "Developer Notes"!
CtrlAltTea6 Sep 2015, 00:00
Beautiful art, solid mechanics, good music. I'd like the ending to be a little more... dramatic? but despite that, it managed to convey the message quite well. Good job.
uheartbeast
uheartbeast10 Sep 2015, 04:19
This was very well done. The mechanics were simple but solid and so even though there wasn't a tone in the game it was fun and satisfying. My only issue would have to be the music feels a bit repetitive but I understand that cause my game has music (if you can call it that) that I wrote in like 20 minutes haha. Once again. This has been one of my favorites! I hope you get at least top 20.

If you feel like playing a LD entry by a fellow GameMaker user check out my game "Grave".

-Ben
LukeZaz
LukeZaz10 Sep 2015, 04:47
Very nice game! Would've liked more to fight, but you can only do so much, and what there was was excellent - especially the art. Loved shooting just to see the effects.
namrog84
namrog8411 Sep 2015, 03:44
that was beautiful and wonderful, loved it!
DuzDuz11 Sep 2015, 17:14
Beautiful game! I love it!
kerotan24
kerotan2411 Sep 2015, 18:12
Combat system is nice, good game.
ilikescifi
ilikescifi15 Sep 2015, 17:39
Oh i love it. The combat system is (as mentioned) fantastic and simple. The story is nothing new but perfect for a Ludum Dare game. I really love it!

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