Played for a bit over one Hour.
Prologue obviously is still Placeholder I hope, three Lines of big Text clicking next isn't very exciting, you could put a nice Intro Sequence before the Tutorial. Later in Development of course.
It feels very nice to play, Cleric wis cute. All in all the new Models look nice, but your Environments, overworld, town, Dungeon Interiors need work I think. You could - and I think you should - really clutter them and make them look interesting, like proper MMORPG Dungeons instead of just squared mostly empty Environments. Also makes Positioning just a bit more important if you can't just move to anywhere/see from anywhere in Combat.
On Positioning, it's nice that you can command your Partymembers, but I think it'd be nice if they were more intelligent, rather then strictly standing in Place unless commanded. Ideally I'd like them to have an Intelligence Stat that determines how well they dodge AoE, when they take the Decision to move somewhere, if they cancel their casts to dodge based on their health or when they use certain Abilities. It'd really add to the Atmosphere if you could get a Ranger that constantly moves a tick between Autoattacks or after special Shots to get into a better Position, or a Mage who just stands still and spams a big Fire Explosion or something. Makes each individual Run a bit more unique if you don't really know from the beginning how each Partymember acts and have to adjust for that.
While not needed, it'd add to the immersion if you and partymembers could jump. Would also be helpful in allowing more interesting level Designs. It is pretty immersive anyway tho, I wrote this after playing instead of tabing out like usual.
Music is nice and non-intrusive while assisting the Game. I'm hoping for different Soundtracks based on which Dungeon-type you're in, wether its a Crypt, a Ruin, a Cave or whatever.
I think Stats are initially too high, I'd prefer it if you'd not start with 6000 Health, but maybe 60.
I don't quite understand why you automatically descend once the Timer runs out. I like it more then the previous Death Skeletons spawning, but I'd like it even more if you would just have to decide to either find the Exit quick for a Reward like it shows in the Text, or abandon the Reward in Favor of exploring the Dungeon throughout.
Cromwell was a nice Surprise having actual Boss Mechanics. I did not expect that. Overall, while in Essence still simple, it's nice that the Bosses have different Mechanics. This could be expanded to be more movement heavy tho, but that'd require more intelligent Allies. With just the three Movement Commands I have available, dodging the giant AoE feels a bit dumb, with forcing my Ranged Allies to walk towards me into the AoE while I walk out.
With the longer Dungeons and more Bosses ( at least I think they're longer) it makes more Sense to start each one back at level 0 then at previous Demoday. I'm assuming Dungeons later on will potentially become longer aswell.
Sadly there was only one Dungeontype to play in the Demo. I would've liked to keep going.
Different Healers starting with different Spells immediately feel different to play, and not having a full Choice which one and which Spells you get, makes it more interesting in each individual Run.
I did not get enough Coins to upgrad anything in the Barracks, its really expensive compared to everything else, but seems pretty strong, so I understand that it has to be more expensive.
Minimap is barely visible against the Dark floors, dark Fog in the Distance, consider making it light instead. Level being at the Top right, aswell as healing on overlap instead of click took some adjustments, but at least the healing Thing makes Sense I think. What would be really great, but really optional would be to allow the Player to customize their HUD to their liking.
One Time Camera rolled into a rather bad Position, no Idea what caused it, maybe trying to look straight down by accident. One Time I thought I was lvl15 but then leveled to lvl14, no Idea if that was a Bug or I misread 13 for 15 tho.
I think the biggest Thing this Game needs at the Moment is an overall Story, with a proper Intro etc, and a Graphical Overhaul for the Environments. A more interesting looking City, less Square Dungeons, a more interesting Overworld, better Graphics for the UI Elements. You have some sliding on the Floor which should be fixed, and pretty much all casting has the same Animation, most of the Spells look rather similar on their Particle Effects aswell. I think you could go the Extra Mile on both of those to make it that bit more interesting to look at.
As for Gameplay, a bit of precast Time to immediately cast upon ending the previous one could go a long Way I think, and you need better NPC-AI I'd say. Also Party Layout in front/back Lines doesn't seem to always carry over between Stages/After Death, I had to readjust this a bit to often.
Then ofcourse more Enemy variety instead of just different Colored and Sized Skeletons. Not necessarily on their Abilities, those seem to be varied enough, and you have a quite alright Cast of Heroes and a Ton of Spells already, but in their visual Design.
It felt rather bad when rolling a Party of 1 medium and all heavy Armor otherwise and dropping a ton of great light Armor Pieces. This was when I only had 1 Option to take for each Tank/DD/Healer so I didn't really have a Choice to optimize that. Maybe only drop Stuff that can actually be equipped by your Partymembers, or decrease the Chance for other Stuff to drop or something. But that's just a maybe, as soon as you unlock 1-2 extra Options in Group Select this becomes a non-issue I think.
At some Times I was about to think that this is too hard, but it always just ended in a really clutch Fight, or me just not understanding the Boss Mechanic correctly, not having a proper Spell for it, or not preparing with Potions etc. properly, so I'd say Balancing is pretty good overall at the Moment.
Was Fun, great Game.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.