You watched me play this, but I'll put down my thoughts anyway for reference:
Good atmosphere and interesting art.
Weird gameplay mechanics, in a good way.
Card system is interesting, I'm curious to see where it goes.
The choice system seems fairly in-depth, especially as you can set your own backstory and relationship with characters you haven't actually met you.
It's quite difficult, enemies do a lot of damage. Feels like I have to grind if I don't want to get minced. Might be worth balancing some of that unless you want it to be kinda tough.
It was a lovely stream. When it comes to difficulty, grinding is not really necessary but it for sure makes things a lot simpler. There is more hidden depth in the combat than what initially might seem to be the case, and it is a fairly easy system to "break" in different ways.
I kinda of want it to be tough if you do not engage deeper with the systems, whereas grinding becomes a "easy mode". That said, the earliest parts of the game, before you get more options, additional characters etc are the parts where grinding gives you the most bang for your buck. Balancing shit is hard, any specific inputs are appreciated, etc: lower the cost of this, raise the damage of this.
Love the art direction, and the music has been very good. The story had me engaged during all my playtime.
Based on the print screens, and on the videos on your channel, and other streams, it seems there is a lot more content that I have somehow missed, but I couldn't get past the Motel reception. There was no way of interaction with the receptionist.
Feedbacks:
My only feedback so far would be to distinguish who is the current character speaking. You could color code the text, so, a different color for each character, or font, etc.
Or even better, would be to "enlarge" the portrait of the currently speaking character.
Bugs:
Chapter 1 - Jack of Executioners explanation at the playground is clipping outside the textbox.
An enemy called Spirit of Sickness had the sprite offseted.
Chapter 3 - It was hard to trigger the fight at the buss. I though it was the end of the demo.
I could not talk to the receptionist at the motel, so I don't know if this is the end of this demo, or if it's a bug.
Excelent game so far. Looking forward to see more!
Thanks for the input! Yes, there is a lot more content in there but some sort of new issue seems to have popped up which I need to look into. Events used to have an "area of interaction" outside of their spawnpoint or the character the event was tied too, this seems to have been disabled somehow... Another player ran into this earlier and I fixed it locally by cheating, need to find out what has actually triggered this : P
Chapter 2 starting out very strong. Got some problems with the boss, guess it's there to teach me how to use the character.
Loved the appearance of some characters from Ch1.
Music is fantastic, as usual.
Car movement is EXTREMELY slow, wish it was faster. And I got a bit lost on the map - I know there were literally arrows pointing where I need to go, but you can't expect me to see a big map and not explore? Nice (a)woken reference. Wish there were some points of interest to interact with on that map (I didn't find any if they are there).
What's up with one of your party members fighting doggy-style, ass-first? It's... uh.... unique?
Arthur wrecking shit up when? Can't wait to see what he's got cooking in Ch2.
> Chapter 2 starting out very strong. Got some problems with the boss, guess it's there to teach me how to use the character.
Yes, the first boss is there to tell you how Aylina is set up, she is a multi-selfbuff character which if applied correctly leads to insane damage output.
>Loved the appearance of some characters from Ch1.
Steffanie and Bethany never had their comeuppance, only Zacharie really did. This was a deliberate choice.
>Music is fantastic, as usual.
Thanks, these songs are still in the oven though, they will be better in the future.
> Car movement is EXTREMELY slow, wish it was faster. And I got a bit lost on the map - I know there were literally arrows pointing where I need to go, but you can't expect me to see a big map and not explore? Nice (a)woken reference. Wish there were some points of interest to interact with on that map (I didn't find any if they are there).
Car movement will be kept pretty slow to adjust to "car combat encounters" which are not in yet. Expect a fantaswat copcar reference in the future. World map will have an increasing spectrum of actual locations, but we are still early in development. Chapter 2 will have some "sidequests" too, encouraging exploration.
>What's up with one of your party members fighting doggy-style, ass-first? It's... uh.... unique?
She is the tallest by far, and with an afro, I was thinking of ways for her to not cover the other characters and a twerking yoga-position seemed funny,
> Arthur wrecking shit up when? Can't wait to see what he's got cooking in Ch2.
This is far off, darkrun is what I do last, but yes it is coming eventually. Arthur will have some very choice words concerning Aylina, her companions etc.
I tried to play Chapter 1 first but ran into some bugs. At first I somehow skipped the trigger for Billy's character screen to pop up meaning the rifle didnt spawn, walking into the rightmost tile next to the level transition seemed to get it to pop up. Unfortunately I cant pick the rifle up off the table no matter which angle I approach it from or what key i press which pretty much soft-locked me.
I played through Chapter 2 and I was really really impressed with how stylish and densely packed with cool shit everything was. Very distinctive visual style. The writing made me want to learn more about the setup in Chapter 1, the characters in Chapter 2 scare me up. The snake bitch battle was good stuff too, the battle sprites really caught me off guard. I feel like I cant give much feedback on the battle system since I was only able to play the 2 fights in this chapter, but it seems like there's a lot of room for strategy beyond just the usual attack/heal cycle.
Favorite character: Beef Wellington. I'm literally just going off the screenshot but i am so excited to see that motherfucker in action once I do get to play though Chapter 1.
Thank you for reporting these bugs, funnily enough I think they are new due to a thing I adjusted... Very good catch, I appreciate it. Will be easily solved.
An early chapter 2 preview can be accessed right from the get go for you guys who wants to see what is coming. Chapter 1 has had some bugs fixed, any reports of bugs and issues in Chapter 1 is highly appreciated.
Chap 2 stuff is still too fresh to be judged, it will be fiddled with endlessly as continue the story.
Comments
You watched me play this, but I'll put down my thoughts anyway for reference:
It was a lovely stream. When it comes to difficulty, grinding is not really necessary but it for sure makes things a lot simpler. There is more hidden depth in the combat than what initially might seem to be the case, and it is a fairly easy system to "break" in different ways.
I kinda of want it to be tough if you do not engage deeper with the systems, whereas grinding becomes a "easy mode". That said, the earliest parts of the game, before you get more options, additional characters etc are the parts where grinding gives you the most bang for your buck. Balancing shit is hard, any specific inputs are appreciated, etc: lower the cost of this, raise the damage of this.
Lowering the damage you receive would help a lot for the early parts, maybe make healing a bit cheaper too.
The game is looking great!
Love the art direction, and the music has been very good. The story had me engaged during all my playtime.
Based on the print screens, and on the videos on your channel, and other streams, it seems there is a lot more content that I have somehow missed, but I couldn't get past the Motel reception. There was no way of interaction with the receptionist.
Feedbacks:
Bugs:
Excelent game so far. Looking forward to see more!
Thanks for the input! Yes, there is a lot more content in there but some sort of new issue seems to have popped up which I need to look into. Events used to have an "area of interaction" outside of their spawnpoint or the character the event was tied too, this seems to have been disabled somehow... Another player ran into this earlier and I fixed it locally by cheating, need to find out what has actually triggered this : P
Hmm, think I found it right away. A plugin was interfering with it, will probably have a fixed version up soon.
Okay, this shit should be fixed now, I get it if you do not want to dive back. But if you do, the cheating room is where you want to go.
Ohhhh!! I'll try it out for sure. Thanks for letting me know! I'll inform if I found any other bug or issues
Chapter 2 starting out very strong. Got some problems with the boss, guess it's there to teach me how to use the character.
Loved the appearance of some characters from Ch1.
Music is fantastic, as usual.
Car movement is EXTREMELY slow, wish it was faster. And I got a bit lost on the map - I know there were literally arrows pointing where I need to go, but you can't expect me to see a big map and not explore? Nice (a)woken reference. Wish there were some points of interest to interact with on that map (I didn't find any if they are there).
What's up with one of your party members fighting doggy-style, ass-first? It's... uh.... unique?
Arthur wrecking shit up when? Can't wait to see what he's got cooking in Ch2.
> Chapter 2 starting out very strong. Got some problems with the boss, guess it's there to teach me how to use the character.
Yes, the first boss is there to tell you how Aylina is set up, she is a multi-selfbuff character which if applied correctly leads to insane damage output.
>Loved the appearance of some characters from Ch1.
Steffanie and Bethany never had their comeuppance, only Zacharie really did. This was a deliberate choice.
>Music is fantastic, as usual.
Thanks, these songs are still in the oven though, they will be better in the future.
> Car movement is EXTREMELY slow, wish it was faster. And I got a bit lost on the map - I know there were literally arrows pointing where I need to go, but you can't expect me to see a big map and not explore? Nice (a)woken reference. Wish there were some points of interest to interact with on that map (I didn't find any if they are there).
Car movement will be kept pretty slow to adjust to "car combat encounters" which are not in yet. Expect a fantaswat copcar reference in the future. World map will have an increasing spectrum of actual locations, but we are still early in development. Chapter 2 will have some "sidequests" too, encouraging exploration.
>What's up with one of your party members fighting doggy-style, ass-first? It's... uh.... unique?
She is the tallest by far, and with an afro, I was thinking of ways for her to not cover the other characters and a twerking yoga-position seemed funny,
> Arthur wrecking shit up when? Can't wait to see what he's got cooking in Ch2.
This is far off, darkrun is what I do last, but yes it is coming eventually. Arthur will have some very choice words concerning Aylina, her companions etc.
I have sped up the car now, it was a big improvement.
I tried to play Chapter 1 first but ran into some bugs. At first I somehow skipped the trigger for Billy's character screen to pop up meaning the rifle didnt spawn, walking into the rightmost tile next to the level transition seemed to get it to pop up. Unfortunately I cant pick the rifle up off the table no matter which angle I approach it from or what key i press which pretty much soft-locked me.
I played through Chapter 2 and I was really really impressed with how stylish and densely packed with cool shit everything was. Very distinctive visual style. The writing made me want to learn more about the setup in Chapter 1, the characters in Chapter 2 scare me up. The snake bitch battle was good stuff too, the battle sprites really caught me off guard. I feel like I cant give much feedback on the battle system since I was only able to play the 2 fights in this chapter, but it seems like there's a lot of room for strategy beyond just the usual attack/heal cycle.
Favorite character: Beef Wellington. I'm literally just going off the screenshot but i am so excited to see that motherfucker in action once I do get to play though Chapter 1.
Thank you for reporting these bugs, funnily enough I think they are new due to a thing I adjusted... Very good catch, I appreciate it. Will be easily solved.
Yes, I think I have fixed it. Will be uploading a "fixed build" once I have ported it and actually tried it properly.
i beat both SELF DOUBT and the SNAKEBITCH.
the music volume was extremely loud at the beginning, so i lowered it
i know it's still wip, but having a "fainted" animation frame instead of simply graying out the character would be better
An early chapter 2 preview can be accessed right from the get go for you guys who wants to see what is coming. Chapter 1 has had some bugs fixed, any reports of bugs and issues in Chapter 1 is highly appreciated.
Chap 2 stuff is still too fresh to be judged, it will be fiddled with endlessly as continue the story.