Zapling Bygone is a quirky 2D pixel art metroidvania where you control an alien tentacle monster who combines with different skulls to unlock new powers.
In Zapling Bygone you take control of a weird green tentacled alien called a Zapling which crashlands on an alien planet. Due to the fact that the planet has a much higher gravity than you’re used to you need to combine with something solid to allow you to move around better. Skulls seem to be your solid object of choice and you can combine with different types of skull as you progress to unlock new abilities.
Even in these early stages of development Zapling Bygone is a fun game that really impresses with its high quality pixel art animation, great sense of humor and vast interconnected world that’s filled with little secrets to discover. The ability to swap skulls and combine them with different perks is a great touch, and the character animation is particularly enjoyable. He may be a grotesque tentacle monster but he’s a joy to see in motion.
Download the Zapling Bygone Alpha Demo Here (Windows)
A good game, but I have a few notes that I hope the developer sees:
First off, the start is a little hard. With some of the rats taking 3 hits and most of them being on small platform, it seems like the game gets a lot easier later on, with the start being a section to die a lot.
Secondly, I didn’t understand how the badges work until a viewer of my stream pointed out what they were. Did I miss a dialogue box, or was that never explained?
Third I think invincibility frames should be increased and there needs to be better player feedback when damage is dealt. On the first boss, I couldn’t tell if I was hitting him or not.
That being said, this is a great demo for what is likely to be a fun Metroidvania. I went through and got all the badges, and am missing just one more statue. I like the momentum system there is for some platforming and I’m curious about what other skills will be unlocked.