Usually not my kind of game: twitch time events :P (or I suppose it's more a pseudo-real-time battle system, which sounds better and like something I might play more often XD) Regardless, I was having a lot of fun; slowly getting used to the various enemy moves along with figuring out my own, the slow-drip of the story, upgrades, etc.
Also the game really reminds me of good old flash games *The Nostalgia*
Loving the storytelling, having conversations with the opponents in either the arena or sparring works pretty well, along with the other stuff that happen in the first 3 or 4 losses. (I assume the characters without dialogue merely don't have them YET, because I want to hear what they have to say! Even a grunt or two would be nice :P)
(Though the convo where Assassin talks about revamping her order seemed a tad awkward... Perhaps too much detail, or talking too much? And I wasn't entirely sure why Gerald 'reconsidered' the offer :P)
Regarding the battlesystem, I'm liking how it really is both simple (you keep the same moves) and it still takes time and effort to master, thanks to the opponent designs. I haven't figured out how to defend against all the attacks, but I feel from how you design things that there's probably always a way.
(an idea: perhaps some moves could give a partial defensive bonus in some cases? I can't think of the example when it happened RN, but sorta like how you could cushion a blow by moving with it instead of simply taking it? This obviously wouldn't work on many attacks however, so it's just an idea)
I think it was pretty cool having the opponents be in a random order, giving the impression that they're also fighting in the tournament (though one wonders when one of them will achieve the wish ;P) EDIT: I guess I have to agree that some enemies don't seem to scale as well as each other, Imp is fairly weak (though the fake-out moves are nice) and Potion master's attacks overall seem just a tad too weak. EDIT2: Love the reference 'ancestral avatar' reference BTW.
Anyway, my main issue with the combat system is that for some reason, triggering Kicks (or Mana Drain) doesn't seem to be consistent for me. (I have trouble figuring out when the window to choose them remains open, sometimes it works when I think it should, othertimes it doesn't seem to.)
(so idea: perhaps a small fast bar for when you still can choose those options much like the one when standing still?) Thanks to the fact that it's always clear for other moves when I can (or should when defending) do them, I always know when lag is the issue.
NOTE: my PC is a potato, so some issues, including the above mentioned, may be a result of that. I was sometimes getting lots of stuttering, but closing some unnecessary apps mostly fixed the worse side of it :P... Also randomly had all of the sound and music die, but that also happened a bit after windows explorer needed to restart... Anyways...
REACHED THE END OF DEMO?! (that Cheater Boss monster! No wonder nobody else got their wish XD)
I want to know what happens next! Who's the voice calling for help (Imp seems to know something.) And why does nobody else seem to know anything (unless maybe the banished royalty was pretending not to hear..?) So many questions, I EAGERLY anticipate the finished game.