Datadream Mirage

this is so good!! incredible art and animations, really nice music and sounds. a classic short metroidvania, but regardless i really liked the main mechanic. it's simple but has quite a bit of depth. i love the nuanced skill available with just the basic attack, where not only can you get more hits off depending on your distance to the enemy, but also that catching the projectile lets you attack more quickly instead of being forced to wait for it to despawn. the upgrade is even cooler, simply being able to stop the projectile in place gives you so much control over how to attack with it. i also love that the bounce ability is available even with the basic attack, the upgrade just makes it easier.
I got stuck in quite a few places (eternal punishment for always trying to find secrets), but otherwise i had a fun time throughout :)
incredible stuff!!

Absolutely incredible game. Reminded me a little of gutwhale and if it was more like a metroidvania than a rogue-lite but still, incredible.

First off, the presentation was great. The animations for the player and the enemies all felt great and were good indicators for their behaviours. Especially loved how clear and readable everything was. let it be the enemies, the player or the clear backgrounds and level layouts. The game felt really well paced, let it be the progression in difficulty in enemy waves, platforming or just the rate at which new powers are given. Especially loved how later enemy guantlets incorporated the environment as well in some way or the other.

The main mechanic itself is great. Love how you can sorta combo enemies by having the boomerang stay in place and do multi-hits. Especially love how you're really forced to use the flying ability in later parts of the game to dodge enemies in the large arenas that you find yourself in. Enemy design was simple but very effective, and allowed them to work wonderfully in groups to complement each other.

I think my only real qualm with this game is that the implementation of the theme ( from how I understood it anyway ) felt a little weak. That said, that doesn't negate everything I mentioned before

Frankly this game kinda makes me want to make a metroidvania or platformer now lol. Phenomenal job on this one and kudos to the both of you