The game’s visuals and sound design are really well done, and combined with its unique concept, it definitely stands out. Especially since there aren’t many rhythm games in this jam.

However, as someone who’s played quite a few rhythm games, I think the note key layout could be improved. Usually, rhythm games use four directional keys (like the arrow keys or WASD), which feel more natural to press. In your game, the notes are mapped horizontally (J, K, L, ;), which works better for finger touch-based rhythm games, like piano-style mobile games.

But on a keyboard, this layout makes the game unnecessarily difficult. You could technically play using both hands to balance it out, but since you also added extra keys on the left side, it becomes even more frustratingly difficult. Not because of the notes or timing (which is the fun part of rhythm games), but because of the awkward control design itself.

I’m sorry if I’m being too direct, but I really just want this game to be fun for everyone. Even for those who aren’t very familiar with this genre.

Cool concept, I like this take on the "timing puzzle" formula. The visuals were really well done too!

While I’m not very good at rhythm games, the aesthetics look really good. I really liked how the progression makes each new level feel more dangerous, and that growing sense of despair when you realize there’s no way out of the situation.

Maybe it's my AZERTY keyboard's fault, but some of the notes in the UI didn't match the keys I had to press x)

Other than that, the game looks great, the concept is original, and I'm always up for a good little rhythm game.

If the game gets an improved version, I'd be happy to play it !

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to play the notes correctly (I'm horrible at rhythm games), so I had to use the "press everything at once" exploit lolololol

I just LOVE that the pause menu fits the page background! That's a great detail.

I was pressing the right buttons at what I thought were the right times but input registry seemed really hit-or-miss, heavy on the miss. There seems to be some disconnect between the UI (visuals/audio) and the actual gameplay, I've had similar issues developing rhythm-type games myself (though maybe I'm missing something not typically being a rhythm game player)

Wow, I was pretty horrendous at this lol. Thankfully, the game is quite forgiving, so you can just continue no matter what. It's a short rhythm game, and I think it does its job for what it is. I do wish there were more variety in the songs, since it is a rhythm game, and also a bit more background on the story. But it was made in a week, so it is already polished as it is.

Here's my playthrough of your game! It's at the start of this video. 

I really want to like this. The art is amazing and I love the concept, but when it came to gameplay I was pretty much just mashing keys to get through each stage. 

Gorgeous game! Pixel art and music were phenomenal. Unfortunately I am as musically challenged in games as I am in real life.

Tutorial I felt threw me to the deep end from the get go so would be nice to have some sort of difficulty settings but completely understand if that goes against the intentions! 

I do think the note layout may benefit from being fixed at the cost of not matching the notes? AKA more guitar hero like where the keys come up in the same place.

Really loved the style and the pixel art. The dialogue system also is very smooth and easy to follow. 

And while I am a big enjoyer of rhythm games, I can't say I enjoyed this one very much. Great aesthetics plagued by gameplay issues, having the same key regard to different lanes makes it very unintuitive and for me at least unfun. Especially in the last level that throws an entirely new key at you suddenly. The singing also doesn't feel like it matches the represented key presses, but overall the piano sounds great. 

Melding fears around performing and a horror game jam is really clever. Wonderful art style. A bit too difficult, perhaps? My brain kept wanting lower notes to be lower in the row, so that threw me!

Great work!

I suck at rhythm games, but I liked how generous you were with your ratings. I got at least 75% score in the songs I've played, though the Demon Conductor thought that wasn't enough. So I guess I'm stuck in Hell forever. :( 

Excellent jam submission! 

For once, I did not totally suck at a rhythm game! HUZZAH~~!

Thank you for being very generous with your rating, I swore that I missed every single note haha. Very cool concept, I love the eldritch horror x musician concept. It reminds me of a musical King In Yellow.

Love the sound design and 8-bit style! Very stylistic and wonderfully unique! ^^

Cool to see a rhythm game in the jam with a horror twist.  I bombed every song but i liked the story concept and how it the asdf note mechanic was tied to the story.

I love rhythm games so had fun with this one! I love the story and presentation, works super well! Found the gameplay quite hard, since it's not like usual rhythm games where required input is related to certain positions or colors, so a bit frustrating at the beginning. Sometimes the audio did not sync perfectly with gameplay as well. But either way had fun once I practised a little more! I really wanted to see more of this story, congrats! Amazing game

I played this several days ago but I wanted to really give it a go before leaving a rating. I loved the pixel art (her cinched waistline!) and thought the gameplay was solid, though I failed pretty miserably on every song available to me (skill issue). Thanks for making and sharing your game!

The Pixel Art Was Beautiful And I Loved The Concept Of A Spirit Singer Matching Her Song. I Wish The Notes Matched The Music Better, But Otherwise Great Job.

I loved the look of this game! The pixel art style and interface. I think it was a nice idea and it feels complete, but personally I found it a little difficult on the first tries, maybe a tutorial scene would have helped, or to use different keys for the notes.

Cool Story! I liked that you made a rhythm game which is horror! Good stuff!