Thanks for playing my game and leaving feedback, dude, I appreciate any feedback I can get.
So, yeah, the blue thing is, in fact, a shield known as the Energy Buckler. In the tutorial (which I omitted due to it being incomplete), the Minister states to "right click to block". The tutorial will return and I'll add a part in the manual explaining the Energy Buckler in more detail like with the weapons.
I have recently rebalanced the enemies in the Iron Ghetto to spawn less fire and health orbs because many people have alerted me to the fact that the game became too easy as a consequence; as a result, they now spawn less orbs. Strangely, most of the later enemies are very stingy with their health and fire orbs, and only in the Iron Ghetto are the enemies very generous.
The AI for Brutus Canor, the boss of the area, has been updated since Demo Day to be less...bad. I cured the Viceroy of his epilepsy and he no longer spazzes out after attacking, but I will see about fixing this snapping issue. Canor is difficult, but when compared to the other bosses, especially the final boss, he's about as lethal as a puppy.
I'll see about changing the interaction radius for the lamps such that, once players interacts with them, they can immediately switch stances and activate them.
I have it set for sometime around December, as cutscene creation, voice acting (Gotta get my buddies to voice the protagonist's buddies), bug fixes, and general quality-of-life improvements are all that's needed at this point. Besides, it's the year of the dragon and I'll be damned if I don't release this game in this momentous timeframe.
Again, I appreciate you for playing my game and leaving feedback. The next update will include the completed Iron Ghetto, as some parts have been omitted due to time constraints (such as the Quest from Belinda the Ageless One and the full cutscenes for Brutus Canor).