I'm so happy I got a chance to play this. So, here are my suggestions...
- Sorry to beat a dead horse here, but definitely get those boxes fixed up. Holding E wasn't so much a problem as registering the pick up was. I think the box issue will sour other wise good levels for people, so nipping that issue in the butt will be important for getting more accurate impressions of levels. It seemed moving toward the box while pressing E made the pickup registering faster (edit: should have read your description more thoroughly).
As ExtraCheesyPie mentioned, the box fell through the floor a few times on the 3rd level for me as well. (Also, It looks like you are aware of this glitch, but I noticed with boxes you are able to pick up multiple boxes at the same time if you are close enough to them.)
- Something I noticed on several levels, was some overtly straightforward steps in solving levels. For example in the 3rd level (my favorite) when you open the door using the box to get the key you pick up the fire ability, which is immediately used to burn wood and grab the earth ability. What would be lost if you picked up the earth ability in the room with the key? (Edit: Disregard that first example I understand why it was needed now.) Or on the 4th level where you use the water ability in front of you to go through the water slit across from you, then use the fire ability in front of you to burn the wood next to the water slit. This isn't necessarily bad when the overall puzzle has enough challenge, but its something to keep in mind going forward. In early levels puzzle steps being super straightforward is good for helping teach the player, but in later levels you'll have to ask yourself what purpose a straightforward step has and if it should be kept, made more complex, or cut.
- On the 4th level, you cannot see the first box you need from the ground. Now, because there is an air pad right next to the tower that holds the box, its fairly obvious you need to go up their, but I would recommend not hiding puzzle components like that.
- Now this next point almost contradicts the point I made above, but I would suggest making the walls to inaccessible floors higher then they need to be in order to block the player. Like, if you go with the bare minimum height to stop a players jump from working, then the task of reaching that floor is less significant. Having higher floors, I think, would give off the impression that the obstacle is more challenging then it really is. This in turn makes the accomplishment of completing a level more fulfilling ( though I'm pretty much talking out of my ass here). Another thing is that with such short walls players might feel that the obstacle is more artificial or that it's unfair. If the player could climb walls like a typical person, they could easily overcome the obstacle. It's like in the Pokemon game how a bush blocked the player from their objective. A rock or something more substantial would have made more sense to the player, even though the difference between the rock or bush would be purely cosmetic.
- Its probably too early to give suggestions about the art, but I would suggest changing the wood to something more solid. All the holes in-between the logs gave off the impression that you can pass through it with water. Even though I realized rather quickly that its not the case, I occasionally found my self instinctual trying to pass through the wood with my water ability. (Speaking of which, I think a good replacement for the water slit would be something like a chain-link fence. However, I didn't have a problem spotting water slits, so it's not a pressing concern.)
- Even though its probably just a placeholder. I would suggest making the avatars color change much more dramatically for each elemental. I had quite a hard time telling Earth, Water, and Air apart.
- Level 3 was my favorite. I really enjoyed that, despite how small the level was, it was really packed with a lot of different steps. I Also really liked how elements from one step got used again differently in a future step, more specifically the box being used to activate the door, then again as a boost up to the higher floor.
- I found the last level to be my least favorite for a couple reasons.
First, I found all the teleporters to be a bit annoying, because it was confusing as to which ones went where (though making the left tele in each pair always teleport you to the center was a nice touch) and there was alot of unnecessary / redundant teleporters . I would suggest getting rid the 'convenience' teleporters that sent you to he center of the level and get rid of the second pair of teleporters, which seemed to be redundant. Also, the first teleporter that sent you to the first pair of teleporters is unnecessary.
secondly, It was harder to get my bearings on this last level. The problem wasn't so much not knowing
how to complete the goal (getting the 3 boxes), but not knowing
what the goal was. Of course after playing a second time it was obvious, but on the first run through I was quite confused as to what I needed to do.
Edit: after watching your video on the final level, I noticed a solved the level a bit differently then you. in order to get the first box that is visible to the player vie, I didn't end up needing the teleporter at the bottom of the towers, I just jumped from the edge, where the earth ability is given, to where that first box perched. Also, I missed the box below the towers at the start, so I took one of the far away boxes first instead. If that sounds like something you wouldn't want players to do (though multiple approaches to puzzles may actually be a good thing), then I would suggest maybe blocking the top cliff of the map with the wood and don't give players the fire ability until the player retrieves the first two boxes. Maybe you could put the fire ability next to the first visible box.
- On that note I would suggest trying to find a way to communicate clearly where each teleporter sends you and what each box container activates. In Portal for instance (you probably hate that comparisons) they have
lines that connect the buttons to doors (which also light up when active). Lines might not work for this game, especially for the more organic levels, so perhaps some sort of light or gas trails might work or a numbering system.
Edit2:
- Another thing, I got used to it very quickly, but when I first started playing, the camera felt a bit too high up to me. As a played more I wasn't bothered by it, so idk if its really a problem.
Overall, I was quite happy with what I played and hope to play more levels soon!