Post by thegraywatcher in Twiwood Tales comments

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I would not recommend this game to anyone trying it. There is no explanation on how stats, moves, or even combat really work outside of that buttons exist. It combines this turn based style with reaction based defensive actions, which is a neat idea but is extremely frustrating in practice. Your action goes off instantly yet the enemies is on this goofy delay with no good tells on the timing for any of it. It is always a coin flip if it will work or not. It is extremely grind oriented and you start off so weak that fighting a single enemy is difficult while multiple is just impossible. I don't want to devote hours learning how all of this works when it isn't fun or rewarding to do so. And all of this coming off a censored version of the game with them pushing people to go to the patreon for actual access to what is likely the only rewarding aspect of this game: uncensored scenes.

What this game promises and what it delivers are not the same and it is not worth your time despite the interesting concept.

TwiwoodTales1 year ago

Hey there, thegraywatcher!

Thank you for your detailed comment - we really appreciate it, as it helps us improve our game! We agree that you've raised some good points, and we owe you an explanation in return. Firstly, we recognize the need for tooltips and explanations of the stats, and we plan to implement these (thanks for the suggestion!). Regarding the grind/difficulty issues, we have already revamped the levelling, scaling, and equipment mechanics. The next version should offer a much smoother and more rewarding experience.

Regarding the censored content and the Patreon details: The version posted here is an outdated alpha demo of the game. We initially planned to host two different demos in the future (censored and uncensored), but real-life issues forced us to focus solely on developing the game, rather than producing different demo versions. We apologize for this - it's not the level of professionalism we strive for, but our resources are limited.

On a positive note, we've been diligently developing the game in all aspects over the past six months and are committed to delivering what we promised.

Lastly, you're more than welcome to visit our Patreon page to read the latest development updates, which are free for everyone. Alternatively, you can use a 7-day free trial to try out the uncensored version of the game, though it currently has the same shortcomings, except for the censorship.

Thanks again for your feedback!

thegraywatcher1 year ago

Starting this by saying, I appreciate you reaching out and responding. That is a very good sign from you and I'm glad to hear you are making improvements!

To give some more specific feedback than before, I think you need to focus on a good tutorial at the start to help explain things to new players. Maybe offer a way to skip it as well for those familiar. Perhaps a much more condensed version of the first level? Say a total of 3-5 encounters with a pair of branching paths so people get the idea of what is to take place. You can explain the stats here and give out enough materials for a player to increase a couple of stats before they really begin the game in earnest. If they skip maybe just give them the materials for the stats for free rather than through the tutorial gameplay so they don't feel cheated.

As I said the concept is interesting, but if you want real time elements then you need to make the visual ques clear and mechanics precise. Think Dark Souls in how enemies telegraph attacks or actions for you so you know when to make certain actions even if they don't give you a lot of time to do it. You are combining 3 different mechanical systems here being turn based, real time action, and rogue like progression. They don't exactly mesh well together naturally so I'm aware it will be challenging to pull off. I do think you are on the right path but definitely needs more fine tuning.

Anyways all I really have to offer opinion wise. Hope it helps and hopefully the improvements you already have done really work in your game's favor!

TwiwoodTales1 year ago

Thank you so much for your valuable feedback! We truly appreciate the time and effort you put into helping us improve.

We completely understand your concerns about the tutorial. You're not alone in this; other players have also pointed it out. While we've incorporated info slides in the first combat instance, we recognize that not everyone is familiar with the game genres we've combined.

Based on your feedback and others, we're seriously considering developing a more comprehensive and in-depth tutorial. It's crucial for us that players grasp the gameplay quickly; otherwise, they might lose interest.

Regarding the demo's mechanics, we're aware of the issues. Specifically, some actions were not executing properly when commands were entered rapidly. Good news - this has already been fixed!

We also acknowledge that many enemies' attacks aren't clearly telegraphed. Our goal is to find the perfect balance in signalling these attacks so that the game is neither too easy nor too difficult. This will take some time and testing, but we're committed to getting it right.

Oh, and before I forget! We've recently implemented a prototype of the 'INFO' feature. This addition is designed to help players better understand stats, combat, and other game aspects, hopefully easing the learning curve.

Once again, thanks a ton for your feedback. It's invaluable to us as we strive to make our game the best it can be.

itch.io

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