First of all, thank you so much for the in depth review! I'm glad you enjoyed the game enough to take the time to write it all ^^
I'll do my best to answer some things!
- Rose's tattoo It does directly turn into the claws! I'll have more opportunities to talk more about it later, probably through party events which will let the characters interact between each other about all sort of things. It'll be a great way to touch on minor lore elements ^^
- Less dialogue near the end For sure! I want at least one more cutscene after you save Biscotti, and once again party events will also help with this once more are implemented. There are only a few in the game currently and almost all are non optional, like when Rose first talks about her tattoo.
- The fei crystals floating about in the underwater dungeon are a bit distracting Mmh... A variant without the symbol could help, but there are also a few puzzles where some of the petals are somewhat hidden. I could even have cases where the puzzle itself is hidden later, but seeing symbols on the petals with symbols would prevent that. I'll see what I can do, but I might end up leaving them as is!
- Secret detector Something like this is planned! It might have to do with Tril ^^
- Constellations and cannons Will do! I know how to help with that ^^
- Witch cards I agree that these aren't as good as they could be. I do have ideas on how to improve them and make switching to a different character a better option, but this will have to wait a bit before it's actually implemented ^^
- Alternate left/right mouse This can actually be done! There is an option for it in the settings ^^
- 'Rank Lock' isn't immediately descriptive That's fair... I do have the '?' button giving you more info about it, but I'll update it if I can find a satisfying alternative ^^
- More granularity would also help; locking rank appearance per witch etc Once again only explained through the '?' button on the spellcard menu, this is what the '+' and '-' are for! You can choose your favorite rank (purely graphical change). This among a few other mechanics will also be properly explained later.
I actually fixed some of the issues you mentioned, like Heartcarrots and dragging Tril, in the newest update from 2 days ago! More generally there is definitely room for improvement balance wise, I made sure to increase the amount of received magi in the latest updates but I'll probably make more changes later, including chest contents, the rate at which alchemy recipes are found (and which ones), shop selections, encounter rates and a lot more. Though this might have to wait until the game is in a bit less of a WIP state so I can make more definitive decisions. Shape fights will mostly rely on Shape variety and new Shapes as you said, though I do have a few ideas about these too for later. And, ironically enough, I also feel like there isn't enough BE content currently. I'm working on this (chibi sprites BE and more) but of course this will take a bit of time, especially given I'm juggling with quite a few tasks since the release. But it'll happen! ^^
Thank you again! I've taken notes and will make sure to address as much of this as I can asap ^^
I wouldn't say it's super popular in general. It has been difficult to get into contact with influencers, but I'm trying! I'm already very lucky that people like Natetheman223 and TannerOfTheNorth made videos about it ^^
I'm planning on adding dialogue after some rank ups as you said! It will be added later ^^
Having revived characters show up in the world could be cute too for sure!
Thank you! I wish I could go faster as well, but there's sadly no alternative... Though since I've been hiring artists, development has definitely sped up ^^
Nothing too crazy, we had a few disagreements and figured parting ways would be better for the both of us! I'm much more comfortable this way ^^
Debug mode gives you access to the room editor, the damage calculator, the debug room which lets you see any cutscene again, the ability to insta rank up anyone... A bunch of stuff I use to develop the game basically ^^
You can find a full list at the bottom of this post
It's as you said! The idea was to show booba in this demo, but in the final game amplification will be spread out (and story relevant). I'm also looking into other ways to include more BE content so BE is a bit more frequent throughout the game ^^
It should be easier to travel if you activate Sneak mode (the icon with Vuu's face) ^^
I'll be looking into a temporary save system that lets you save anywhere but can only be loaded once (so you have to actually reach a save point later), though it might be some time before this is actually implemented if it's even possible...
That's really weird... Just to make double sure, did you defeat Cerelea? If yes, could you send me a screenshot of the game while you're in Biscotti? If possible, could you also send me your save at nosebecc@gmail.com? It's located in "C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\BE_Witches", where XXX is your username. Sorry for bothering you with this...
The HUD element is something I'd like to add in the future, it doesn't exist currently.
If you're at the part where you can't leave Biscotti, you'll need to use the SMASH cursor you just unlocked! You can scroll the mouse wheel or press C to switch between cursor modes ^^
A small "current goal" button somewhere on the HUD could definitely help... Should be easy to implement too. I'll look into that ^^
The sizes get pretty massive already at rank 5, and there will be a 6th rank in the final game. It will definitely among the biggest boobas ever seen in video game :B
I definitely want to make this mechanic more useful. I think making it so it removes both buffs and debuffs could be interesting... It does give you a small heal currently, I could also increase that value. I'll keep thinking about it! ^^
2) Next one on the list: Cards (rebalances/reworks/new cards)
Balance still needs a lot of work for sure! There won't be as many spells available this early in the final game, their availablity and some of their stats will be rethought. Some spells will have evolved versions as well, and I do want a lot more variety and weird effects in the future too! I'll do my best :B
Also, the reason Nightmare didn't take damage from Earthquake is because she nullifies all yellow damage she receives ^^
3) Monstergirls's Unique Abilities.
No worries, they'll each have a unique skill in time! ^^
In Cerelea's case, I want hers to be Wall smasher, the same spell she uses when you face her. The more stone blocks destroyed, the more damage it deals
4) Reviving witches
That's completely fair! I've included a bunch of monstergirls to be revived, but there won't actually be this many this early in the final game. I'm also thinking about some way to make it easier to meet her as you said, which will help a lot ^^
5) Sidequests
This is indeed the very first (and currently, the only) quest in BEW! I know exactly what you mean. For the most part, I plan for most sidequests to relate to one or several playable characters. They'll be optional, but double as a way to learn more about the characters. They'll give some good rewards and in some cases be a criteria to rank up said characters. I have a bunch of ideas when it comes to this (including relating to Cha!), so no worries there, I'm confident! ^^
6) Cute little in-game details.
I love these little seemingly pointless things, so you can definnitely expect more of that too ^^
There will also be more party events that trigger as you explore under certain conditions. This is a very recent system so there are only a few non optional ones currently, but there'll be more!
7) Secrets and Rewards from them
Agreed! For now, I chose to make it so you only need 10 power orbs to rank up everyone, so you don't need to find all of them. In the future, quests or more obvious puzzles will be how you often most of them. The golden tree will have to do with a quest as well, so it won't stay this hard to find.
No worries, I really appreciate that you took the time to express all this! It will only help me make the game better ^^
A lot of these issues are due to the game being a WIP and "early" balance. I agree with pretty much everything you said and in most cases I have some sort of plan in mind, though it will be some time before I can implement it all. I'll get to it at some point, for sure!
nosebecc@gmail.com is an easy way to contact me, I guess I wouldn't mind sharing my discord handle there. I need to mention that I've been especially busy of late however, so even though I do my best to get back to everyone, it might take some time!
Your characters will be revived once you save. There is also an item called a Heartchain link which can be used to revive a character anywhere, but you might not have access to it yet, I'm not sure.
Likewise there is also an item that instantly removes any fight on use, the Heart dummy, bought at the same shop as the Heartchain link. Or you can use Sneak mode (The button with Vuu's face, next to the map) to lower the encounter rate. Finally when walking into a room with an enemy encounter, you can always walk back the way you came from. In some cases this can allow you to walk around the encounter ^^
I do plan to implement a fast travel system later, it will very probably be linked to the save rooms as you said :B
There's definitely a long going on in fights, making it as readable as possible has been a challenge for sure. I personally like when it feels overwhelming, but I'll keep trying to make it easier to follow the action/limit how much is happening.
Thank you again! I appreciate the constructive criticism, it helps a lot ^^
