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Well, the game is almost complete and I would appreciate the input. However, at this point I can't promise any big changes either. 

More feedback is always welcome. In my last playthrough I only lost twice and neither were at stage 7 so that explains how I missed it.

There is a way to grind by resigning the stage, that lets you restart the level and roll new encounters but keep the experience sorta like in Shining Force. That's probably why they give the player a dedicated "leave battle" spell now that I think about it. 

I know that limiting respecs makes the game harder but they need to have some cost for reasons I've outlined before. I'd rather think of a way to give players extra respecs instead.

Gazia redirecting hits to Finnegan is normal, she can force enemies to defend her when she is below 50% health and has a bias for picking Finnegan for this purpose. A mechanic that all Desert Guardians share is that their skills change depending on their total health. As an example, pariahs gain more damage and their skills carry an additional HP cost, but you already noticed that one.

Also, you can mouse over an enemy with the little shield icon at any time to see who is defending them.

Thanks a lot for playing the game.

I finally got around to playing Dirk the Adventurer.

I think you nailed the presentation, I have no complaints on that front. The visuals, music and writing, it's all good. 

The biggest problem with the game is general lack of polish. During my last playthrough I even crashed the game by examining a mushroom I stole from the beggar. Perhaps I deserved it for being so roguish, but I doubt it was intended.

Keep up the good work.

First time playing Plunderground, how exciting.

The game ran poorly at first with stuttering and long loading times but restarting it fixed everything somehow. However, there's a consistent crash that happens almost every time I go back to town. Luckily I didn't lose any progress but it's still a little annoying. 

I like how you start the game and immediately get a dwarf to join you in your quest, cool. On that note, the party system seems like a good idea. It's like a more streamlined Dungeon Siege.

The game in general is quite accessible I would say. Enemies go down quite fast and I didn't run into money issues or anything of the sort although running back to town wasn't really possible because of the bug I mentioned earlier. 

The presentation is decent for the most part although I must say the eyeless characters don't look so good up-close. Units having a chugging animation and burping loudly after drinking a potion is a great touch. I almost wish that they would smash the empty glass bottle against the floor too like in Rune Classic.

Besides what I've already mentioned, I think my biggest issue with the game at the moment is the lack of proper settings, especially when it comes to UI scaling. The HUD is perfectly fine and I like the playing card theme but the inventory and skills windows are really hard to read. 

Keep up the good work.

Thank you for playing, you have been a lot of help. 

The crashes on stage 7 are a little worrying because I haven't been able to recreate them and you are not the first one to encounter them. I was already aware of a lot of the issues you have pointed out and simply didn't have enough time to fix them in time but I hope to correct that later. The fact that others notice these imperfections as well is useful to know regardless. Adding a sound to the little RPS animation in particular has been on my to do list since forever.

As for the rest, I just haven't been able to come up with a good design for the special characters background. It used to a checkerboard pattern before but that didn't look good either. 

Gazia's AI is lore friendly.

Defenders can guard multiple units, but a unit can't be guarded by more than a single defender. I honestly didn't think this one through, I just copied Medabots.

The minigames are there to break up the fighting a little bit but they are completely optional and unavailable during the third act as to not kill the pacing. Also, with a the ability to pet an animal and a fishing minigame I'm only missing a metaphor for depression to be a real indie game developer. 

I can probably think of some kind of indication that enemies are immortal while others remain, but I don't know what yet. 

That's all I had to say that was even remotely interesting. Thank you again for playing and for the feedback. The document I use to record issues is sitting at 992 items and you posted more than 8 suggestions so congratulations on getting the 1000th note! I have no rewards at the moment, but I'll think of something.

Anime Marble Madness, intriguing. It looks quite polished already and the difficulty level suggests a high degree of confidence in the core mechanics. 

That being said I couldn't help but notice some jank. It's been mentioned before but I also experienced the transparency bug in level 00, enemies can clip into the architecture a little bit in 03, sometimes the camera will rotate twice with a single press and the main character starts clipping out of her ball after respawning. Also, I have completely subjective mixed feelings about enemies.

The lives system is interesting but it's a little redundant if the player hasn't reached at least one checkpoint yet. Otherwise restarting is always a better option that guarantees a lower time and more total lives when a checkpoint is reached.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for playing. Could you describe the crash in more detail? I can't pinpoint when it happens in the video and I can beat the level during testing just fine.

The respec bug is a good catch, since that's a recent change I haven't had that much time to test everything. The issue with the old respec system is that it removed all commitment from the equation which is a cardinal sin of RPG design. With the new mechanic the player should get 8 per character over the course of the game which I think is fair. I also believe that having trade-offs is good too and it's another way to indirectly balance strong 3 cost perks like Sword of Michael or Supreme Fighting Spirit. Maybe I could award more respecs some way for people who really need them.

The pariah has low maximum health and their damage is largely determined by how much health they are missing. The trick to dealing with them is to burst them down in a single turn. They are also rogues so they are more likely to attack  weakened party members and will actively try to score kills whenever possible. Their offensive skills costs half their MP so they can be bullied with MP drain skills or items such as mage leather.

The bulb they leave upon death turns into a fresh pariah in 3 seconds if not killed. The bulb has 10 health so it can be killed by a basic attack from anyone except Mosca who starts with 3 STR.

I really like these guys and I deploy them quite often. I hope you find this information useful and thank you for playing again.

Thanks for playing.

Everyone gets unlimited retries, that is intended. 

I have finished the test levels. I think I took 1 hour solving Advanced air control, and 15 minutes beating everything else, but I guess that's expected from a bonus bonus level.

I believe level 4 might be bit confusing because normally pressing a colored button toggles the corresponding springs, but in this particular example you are given the opportunity to hold 2 buttons of the same color and when that happens they act more as a ON/OFF switch rather than a toggle because holding 2 red buttons at the same time is the same as holding one. The stage is not particularly difficult but I don't remember encountering this interaction before.

Level 7 introduces a mechanic I consider noteworthy because for the first time a fairy other than the blue one is capable of enraging the toads. Of course, this was technically introduced earlier along with the brave fairy, but this is the first time it's required to solve the level.

I know I'm reading too much into it but this has slightly changed my perception of the blue fairy's character from mischievous to maybe a little compulsive because annoying the toads without poking them doesn't progress the levels. That means poking is more important.

Finally, there's a new unfinished mechanic in the form of the mysterious red area that attracts the friendly toads. This generally works fine with the exception of stage 12 where the yellow toad would sometimes get stuck walking right instead of up where it's supposed to go and I couldn't really tell why. 

Besides that I think the levels were quite straightforward and I didn't find any bugs or issues. The reason I had difficulties with Advanced air control in particular was because I didn't occur to me that I had to enrage the toad at the start rather than later on so I kept misusing the smart fairy to go in rather than out which left me short of a fairy to press the red button at the end.

Keep up the good work.

A mech game, the hand-drawn portraits definitely give it a unique look.

My main criticism would be that, for a game that's early in development, there are a lot of extraneous elements around. I believe you'll get the most bang for your buck early on by focusing on stuff that the player is going to interact with constantly. 

Perhaps fleshing out the cockpit would be a good first step since it's present at all times. The blobbo dashboard ornament is cute and I like how it shakes around when you do a sidestep but you could do a lot more with the space you have. As an example, the enemy radar and compass could probably fit in there, and the elements in the center of the HUD are just for show from the looks of it. In Hawken the fuel gauge is essentially a stamina bar if I remember correctly.

Anyway, that's just my idea. UI design sucks but you gotta do it. Keep up the good work.

I'm improving at the game. It's the fist time I notice the day-night cycle and I even got one of those big combos where the character appears on screen to say something in Japanese.

On that note, the game has voices now! Provided by people with extremely narrow diaphragms from the sound of it. Alright. 

I tried to install the game on my android phone to no avail. I wish I could be more helpful but all it says is "Kyubu Kyubu Dice 0.6.6 (Debug) not installed". I'm certain I have enough storage space too so I think my device might be incompatible although the version on Google Play works fine.

Keep up the good work.

I was hoping to beat the game again but I encountered some issues regarding the game's performance. This is as far as I'll go this time because the framerate is terrible and I can't reliably aim at small enemies anymore but it was working completely fine until now. However, going up/down the stairs isn't fixing it. 

At least I finally tried 2 handed weapons. The trade-off of lower defense and passives for higher attack rating is generally worth it for a melee focused character, although the charge could be more juicy. I think Tower of Kalemonvo is a little like Divine Divinity where you want to start as a ranged warrior and transition to a melee build with spells later on later on.

As you can see, I have a lot of potions. It's all thanks to the little yellow ring over there. I find that using the golden idol to merge accessories is the best and they last the whole game unlike other pieces of equipment. Lifesteal and +X mana on kill are the best passives by far.

I also dropped a skullcap with busted stats in the first level after the password, I think they are bugged because the very next level they start dropping at half the stats. Mine is a 16 dodge, 16 armor which is crazy for this part of the game.

I also found a bug where you can get stuck in place and unable to move or attack. I triggered it in the first level after opening and closing a door a bunch of times while kiting some enemies but I couldn't recreate it. Teleporting didn't fix the issue either.

Another minor issue has to do with the fleshpriest enemies, they are strangely passive. Sometimes I can walk right besides them and they don't mind me. I guess they like me.

I saw the new moon lady enemies. They look pretty good, perhaps too good in fact, but that might just be my innate resistance to chance speaking. I also like the cloth physics.

Those were all the issues I found this time around. The game is still really fun in general. I can't wait to reach that orb.

Nice song, reminds me of bugs.

This is most likely the Last Demo Day for Afterlife Gladiator for a grand total of 11. Anyway, what's new since the last time?

Finally redid the worst slide in the game. Also, fixed a major bug introduced by the trinket system.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/769048/devlog-32-watching-over-me

Finally implemented Spanish localization, but it hasn't been proofread so try at your own risk. Next game will be on Esperanto because this was a huge pain.

Also, respec system has been re-balanced. No more free min-maxing. 

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/780018/devlog-33-viva-la-actualizacin

Even more new art, redid the second worst slide in the game. New portrait for Finnegan and a lot of minor fixes. You never run out of these.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/787450/devlog-34-good-news-i-had-a-nightmare

What else? I have yet to write the corresponding devlog but here's the short version:

Implemented sound effects for UI elements, almost done with the art, journal messages now dynamically change just like tooltips, several balance changes, many bugs squashed and story-related bowl of soup is no longer invisible. 

Interesting idea.

I don't think a lot of people would care for it, but it wouldn't be difficult to implement either.

Maybe as a bonus for beating the game, who knows. 

Thank you for the kind wishes.

Thank you for playing.

That's a lot of feedback and I appreciate it. Trinkets are a recent addition that I haven't integrated all that well yet, although the trinket slot has an animation to let you know when you have unlocked some. I think some of the things you have brought up make more sense in-universe after reaching certain points in the story. As an example, skills that affect positioning become more prevalent later on and you also may get to play as other characters. Who knows.

I'll look into the issue with the store too. Thanks again.

The game feels extremely polished, I just wish there was more of it. My only gripe is that the scope on the SMG feels  a little pointless with that recoil. As it stands, the best way to defeat enemies far away is to wait behind a corner for them to come closer. 

It's effective, but feels a little cheesy. 

Also, I feel strangely compelled to play Cosmic Call.

Intriguing.

I hadn't tried this game before. It seems pretty fun and, despite beating it twice, I think I'm yet to see every boss. The tongue-in-cheek tone is pretty funny as well. 

The period near the end where all you have to do is wait seems a little questionable but I guess it makes more sense while playing with other people. Likewise, I would have liked to see crazier effects on items. They are useful when they drop but it's hard to get all that excited about a +2 regeneration ring when you are holding the +1 regeneration ring already.

I didn't get to play the game last DD so this is all new to me. 

Everything looks a lot better and I like the changes to the weapons. Enemies look like Donkey Kong Country faux 3D, nice. 

That being said, I think the shadows in the first room of the game have some issues. Furniture doesn't cast a shadow which is weird because 5 feet away the tables and chairs in the dimly lit area next to bar do. I wonder if that has something to do with the part where you snuff out the lights later.

I'm sorry to hear you've been feeling under the weather. Hopefully things can get back to normal soon.

Thank you for your kind comment.

The game is far more readable now. I can tell the units have outlines and the UI is noticeably larger. 

I think enemies might be more proactive now too. It took me longer to beat the past levels now, but the flamethrower is really good. 

It's also nice of the pilot to show up and offer some comments every so often, although it's hard to justify looking at her while you are getting shot. Maybe she should show up at the mission briefing too so her role is clearer.

This game makes me struggle with object permanence like a toddler or perhaps a house cat.

The presentation is fantastic and reminds me of Puyo Puyo, but the UI needs some work like a quick restart button. You probably already knew that last part.

Is there any point to picking a different character? I only played 3 different ones but they all do the same AoE clear on a combo. I think some sort of statistical manipulation of block spawns could be useful, although it sounds like a pain to code.

Nice game.

Monkeys are very cute, there's no way around it.

I beat the final boss after a couple of tries. 

The gameplay is pretty good, it reminds me of Golden Axe the most, only you can't move up or down to dodge incoming attacks. Instead, I found out that the best way to beat enemies is to time strikes properly. The no miss bonus clued me in as well.

I reached the highest level of monkey mastery after finding a rhythm that enabled me to do the first 2 hits in a combo repeatedly after which I stunlocked most enemies to death. Good times.

I think the only thing you are missing is to clean up things a little bit and maybe add some juice here and there. Perhaps more enemes that jump could be good too so the uppercut can be put to good use.

Pretty cool game. I'm not too fond of witches, but I like their pointy hats.

I'm not too good at precision platformers but I beat Super Meat Boy and the first world of Dustforce back in what feels like the middle ages. I think the controls are really good except for the shift key which feels a little awkward for when you need to z - shift - hold z. 

I also found a bug where you can get stuck in platforms by shifting from cat to witch in mid air. This is easy to reproduce at the tutorial during the last jump by pressing shift close to the ceiling close to the last gate.

Finally, consider adding a way to restart the entire level. Here are my sick times.

Finally, the church of thickness.

This level felt shorter than usual which I imagine is a trade-off for the fancy visuals. There are also fries all over the place so I ended up going crazy with the chainsaw since I could afford to take some damage. I wonder if that was intended. It would be cool to have gibbing animations for the chainsaw and explosives.

A cost effective way to do this could be to make some body part sprites based on the existing enemies and splatter those all over the place like particles when an enemy dies in certain ways. The Citadel did this and it looked pretty good in my opinion.

A small issue I encountered was that my UI got huge so I think it might not be scaling properly.

To summarize, nice level. What do I do with the floating nugget?

I got pwnd.

Thanks for trying the game.

I've found it rather difficult to balance the rate at which information is presented. I think a lot of RPGs have this problem. As an example, you are often asked to create a character before you know what skills are useful, but I digress.

I don't think the player needs to know the finer details unless they hit a wall or don't understand what a specific icon means although I tried to make them as intuitive as I could. I also shouldn't discount the possibility that by simply having that information available I'm implying that all of it is going to be relevant in the near future which isn't the case. 

I also think I should add an exclamation icon on top of the tutorial or something. 

What is new since the last time:

Some bug fixing based on DD 56 feedback, new slides for the intro, new store assets and some proofreading.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/733923/devlog-28-the-secret-ing...

New combat animations and more proofreading.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/741861/devlog-29-six-frames-per...

Slight improvements to UI, new slides for demo end slides, new trinket system allowing each character to equip an additional perk-like item, and a new fishing minigame.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/750882/devlog-30-obligatory-fis...

More new slides, new card game minigame and, you guessed it, more proofreading.

https://bakar.itch.io/afterlife-gladiator/devlog/760034/devlog-31-born-to-sleep

I appreciate the attention to detail.

Interesting thought process. You had an idea to lessen the required effort only to talk yourself out of it while implementing it. It happens.

As for the placeholder, it probably didn't help that illusions look like that in DotA and Warcraft 3, but tinted blue instead of green. That probably helped condition people towards that interpretation.

Also, I'm still a little confused about the fairies. Is the summoned fairy some sort of construct that only lasts for a level, a merry fairy that was at a different location and got teleported in, or a fraction of the original witch fairy contained within the marble? 

6 damage ain't no joke. 

Looking sharp. Everything looks noticeably more detailed with all the tiny animations and such.

It never occurred to me to question why the game is so heavy. I simply assumed it was because of the music. 

Thank you. I want to make more stuff.

I like to see myself as one of those orangutans who learn the numerical passwords to their enclosures by watching their caretaker's finger motions. Only not as intelligent.

Writing/speaking too formally is also a sign of ESL because native speakers have an easier time understanding colloquialisms.    

I hope you saw the Yug Yug.

I managed to survive until enemies started repeating. It would be cool if more units had attack animations instead of their mere physical contact being enough to hurt the player, like Kobolds are allergic to the fur of certain animals or something. Perhaps some of them are, but that's besides the point.

On the topic of balance, I think the shield is really strong so I just kept stacking them. Gameplay feels like herding sheep after a while.

Cool concept, I like the evil artichokes. 

The animations give the game a lot of flavor and I would like to see more. Maybe the rotation icons could move a little bit to represent the movement better. 

The terrains honestly just feel like nuisances. It would be cool if they did more than occupy space and grant 100 points.