I played and the 2D art in battle looks really nice! Would be awesome if the eventual field art looks just as good. Text formatting in battle could look neater.
Honestly can't say anything about the battle system because the enemies were so weak and we have so much MP that spamming the strongest Skills, and using other skills would just have made the battles longer. But the battle system seems interesting.
Banger battle theme! Honored to be part of this demo's music as well. I like this, keep it up Antang!
I'm so glad I finally get to play a bit of this! I've been following this project for a while, and it's nice to finally get a taste of what it the game is feeling like so far.
I really like it already! I like that it uses dice for movement, so that turns are a little up to chance. I like the individual abilities of the party members, and I enjoy how quickly combat goes by because if this is a sorta dungeon-crawler style game, snappy combat is super important.
If I had to pick anything that may need some improvement, it may actually be the damage numbers? I feel like regular attacks are much stronger than skills, and skills don't usually seem worth it a lot of the time when it comes to damage. This isn't all skills, as the cleric character's radiant attack feels good, and the skills that say they're weak obviously make sense. It's more for the warrior and rogue, where the warrior's skills that do damage I think should be more powerful, and the rogue's basic attack may be a little too strong (they did about the same as the warrior when it came to basic attacks). The characters definitely feel strong, which is good, I would just like to see a little game balence in this area so far.
This is obviously a pre-alpha build that's very bare bones, so I don't wannna comment on anything that isn't there. But what IS there? It's awesome. I love the game's art direction, and the UI that is there is very flashy and it makes combat very fun. This is gonna be a really cool game when it gets made someday, keep at it and I'll definitely be there when it comes out!
On damage numbers - Basic attacks actually do have the same damage scaling as most skills in the current build. So in consequence, the damage range of characters end up being pretty similar on their skills. The skills are also similar to each other in damage. This is intentional on my part to allow for party build flexibility in the future and also to keep damage ranges predictable.
It is not apparent now, but what makes skills special will be in their utility to inflict status effects or reach even greater heights in damage. In this build you can do up to 40(!) damage as Fighter in a single attack with Shield Bash, and her Brave Assault is a very consistent source of extra damage and turns (averaging at 8-15 damage), especially when done to a target with defense down. In contrast, the Rogue has two skills unrelated to directly damaging the enemy, but these skills open up your options in another way. Substitution arts is a massive DEF buff (It will be changed to a more fitting status effect, but still related!), allowing him to completely dodge attacks directed towards him at times, costing the enemy their turn. While his knife throw is actually a magical attack, letting him always strike true and greatly reduce the defense of the target.
Basically, I'm aiming for a "horizontal" game design where you must pick and choose the right skills, and effects to inflict to deal the most amount of damage and gain the most amount of turns while also still being able to afford to keep your party standing.
With that being said, I will take your feedback into account! I'm still figuring out the design myself.
Ahhh, I think I get it now. I was more thinking that the skills were meant to function like Battle Arts in other games, basically like super moves that do more damage. Instead, it sounds like the main source of damage is your basic attack, while skills are more meant for utility to make the characters function differently each battle.
Playing the build a bit more and knowing this now, I can see what you mean! The skills being more about utility than damage makes sense to me, and the tradeoff seems clear when playing it a bit more now. This is very cool, and I’m glad I got this info because it changed how I approached combat for this game. Again, good job on this, it’s coming out great!
I plan on having super moves as well! Ideally, the player will have to make conscious decisions on when to use them, as the MP economy is limited.
But, basic attacks actually do less damage for me on average. In the code, their hit modifiers (also decides the crit rate) are low and often fail to go over the enemy's defense. Perhaps you've been getting lucky then!
I've made a quick update to the game to make the dungeon exploration snappier, if you want to give it another shot :D
I finally got to play the new version! The exploration definitely feels a little better, which it noticeable as soon as you start. I was WAY less lucky this time, I ended up losing the Fighter and Rogue on this playthrough so my luck has run out a bit lol BUT! I'm still playing with skills, and I think I'm really starting to see the potential they could have in these combat encounters. Now that I've had a normal (less lucky) run, I can sorta see how these dungeon encounters may run if there's multiple levels. I'd also like to see how this matches up with items at some point, and how items will be used (if they'll be used) in combat because that could make things VERY interesting.
For now, had a lotta fun with this! I'm definitely sticking around for any updates, and I'm so curious to see what you can the team cook up.
Hey, I just found out about this game while browsing randomly on itch.io, and it seems like the type of game I'd enjoy a lot, I hope it's still in development! Would you be interested in having someone write some music for the project?
hello! had some fun with this game, and super interested in seeing where it goes!
- i personally LOVE the art style, and i love the sleek minimalist design of the ui. i would love to see an expansion of more animations for the characters and monsters! as others have mentioned, there's a bug where the cleric's image shows as the rogue's in the party list. additionally, there are times in battle where people will overlap, so it makes it hard to see the damage and effects.
- personally, i don't mind not knowing the turn order since it makes it a bit of a challenge! according to my friend, it is inspired from darkest dungeon! i did have a slight issue with the monsters showing the range on the left side since i did not know what they meant? i did not know at all what these numbers meant, but my friend did based on her knowledge! i think in a further developed version, it could be helpful if there was some sort of tutorial / ui explanation?
- when you attack a monster, there is nothing in the textbox to remind you of that - whereas other people have "(x) is healing," etc. i think it'd be good if that was there again (mostly because i am a bit forgetful whoops)! also a redo or some sort of final confirmation for the turn would be great as well!
- i know people are upset about the laugh track in some odd ways, but personally i find it HILARIOUS as is. i really don't think it needs changes, but maybe you could either implement a volume slider for it or a checkbox to deactivate it.
all in all, it was a pretty cool demo! i would be excited to see more, and hope for the best for you!
Thank you for playing! Yes, the damage numbers being able to get overlapped by the actual characters was a mistake lol We're going to prioritize the player UX for the next build, so I hope to see you by then!
I had the chance to test it and made a Video, but since It was in Spanish, I though it would be better to write it here in English, I will just list it as it comes into my head:
+ The art style is simple and easy to replicate, this should allow more versatyle and unique poses for each skill. While everything in B&W makes for an unique feel, it still needs work, for example: Characters do blend with the Background therefor become hard to appreciate, some Outline or Background for each class would be nice.
- The Actions cant not be REDO and this is an issue, in case I miss Click the button and lose my turn at an action I didnt intent. A possible Solution can be to Qeue all the Actions and Confirm the End of the Turn after Players decide to (or at least to enable this as an option in the menu).
+ The UI can be used better, It totally needs more Visual elements to Help/Guide the Player guide themselves without needing to read everything in order to understand. (Skills, Pointers, Active/Inactive status of elements, etc.
= Turn list can have an improvement. Dynamics that help us to udnerstand where the Actions we are walking in the menu will put us. Also understand what each character will do in the Turn Order to have a better plan, for example: Character 1 applies Oil Debuff, Character 2 Uses Molotov causing fire Damage with Bonus for Oil, Character 3 that causes Bleed, and Character 4 deals damage and Heals from the Bleeding in the same Turn. These kind of combos and Dynamics in the Turn list would make Each turn more rich and enjoyable.
+/- Music felt accurate, (it felt like Fire Emblem, Vandal Hearts, Suikoden, etc), But some Sound effects need work. For example, the Miss Laugh is too long (the concept is fun tho), it would help the game to have many different Laughs for each Kind of miss or Enemy type.
- Few UX elements felt that still need a lot of work and Purpose. Empty Spaces can be used better. The Battle Area could be blend more efficiently with the background. Enemies and Character location could do something more creative to have an unique flavor. But all this is expected for a v0.1 of the game.
= I would love if the character would Evolve/LvlUp visually as I progress. I would love to have Costumizations to display in the characters (I know color is off the table) but texturess, ourlines, background, sounds, etc.
Other elements from the game I wont point out, due to the early state of development.
Overall, I love game with unique visuals and this one got my attention and interest. I wish for the best of the project, and would love to know what comes in the next versions.
If you guys ever want me to stream or make any content for it, I would love to, just hit me at: YT: @ZarafanYT or Twitch: ZarafanTV
Really hopeful about the potential of this game... So here's the feedback:
1. Adding more resolutions options, game only starting fullscreen for me with taskbar showing was taking me a bit out of the vibe, 2. Make the turn order a bit more clear, maybe display the turn order from the beginning? 3. The sound for when you miss is honestly very annoying, maybe tone that down a bit or have a more neutral sound, 4. Monster designs and animations feel a bit lacking so far, but the direction is good, hope I get to see more terrifying monsters! 5. Tutorials/Glossary for the demo would be nice.
Sorry if this is not formatted well, made an account just to give you guys some feedback. I hope you guys keep working on this and improve it, I really want to keep playing this!
I'm not sure how to format this, so sorry if this comes off as rant-like. (ichio's formatting kinda sucks too)
Off the top, what the game needs the most, and I'm not sure if this is just a glitch, but for many actions, there was no sound effect at all. It just makes the gameplay feel very strange. Besides that, as far as glitches go, the only other ones I had were on the status menu, the rogue had the same portrait as the cleric for some reason. During the manticore fight, it sorta got stuck in the middle of the field, and the animations kinda freaked out. The battle ui also displays behind the character sprites for some reason. For example, the knights halberd can obstruct the fighter's battle text box. Other than that, nothing game breaking. Which is good.
As far as everything else. The overall UI design is kind of needlessly complex. Theres a lot of detail, like the filigree on the side, which just strangely pillarboxes the screen, which is already windowed, and zoomed out. There's a lot of wasted space visually.
I think the animations could be improved too. The ones for attacking are passable, but could be made better with more exaggerated easing. As if they were like winding up for an attack.
The spells and skills though, really need actual animations to convey what they're doing. I understand what it is, but it just doesn't present great.
As for the character designs, I think they're well enough, but the monsters could be improved. There's a good use of contrast for the characters, but enemies like the slime and skeleton are missing this aspect. If they were brought up to say, the level of the manticore design wise, I think that would be good. As is, they kinda just blend into the background. I think in general, using this monochromatic style, this is something you want to avoid.
I think the level up screen should convey more clearly what you're doing. Because I realized it after I did it, but if there was some sort of confirmation to do so, it would be less confusing.
Besides that, the actual strategy of the fights, i'm not sure. I haven't played darkest dungeons before but I have heard of how punishingly difficult it is. Comparable to something like xcom. Something like that doesn't necessarily appeal to me, but if it's along those lines i'm sure it will appeal to people that like those games.
Also, maybe I'm just dumb, but I didn't really understand the turn count system at all. I saw the numbers and stuff but didn't know what it all meant.
As for me, I prefer rpgs that do actually require strategy, unlike something like pokemon, or some of the mainline ff games.
I'd like something tuned more like how Shin Megami Tensei (3, 4, DDS) is, or for more examples, Etrian Odyssey, or FF4 3d.
I do think this has potential, and hope it improves.
Thank you for the feedback! Yes, we're going to do a UI overhaul after seeing many people play the game (and struggle with it)
The numbers on the turn order are the rows of the characters the enemy are targetting, it is not conveyed as well as it should and more serves as the proof of concept of knowing the enemy's "intent" in combat.
We are looking into giving the combat more depth in the future. We decided to cut a number of features and tone down the strength of the enemies to keep it simple and fast for playtesters, as the intent of this build is to stress test for game-breaking bugs and inherent design flaws.
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Yo exciting that the demo is out!
I played and the 2D art in battle looks really nice!
Would be awesome if the eventual field art looks just as good.
Text formatting in battle could look neater.
Honestly can't say anything about the battle system because the enemies were so weak and we have so much MP that spamming the strongest Skills, and using other skills would just have made the battles longer. But the battle system seems interesting.
Banger battle theme! Honored to be part of this demo's music as well.
I like this, keep it up Antang!
Thank you for playing, Jens! And thank you for the banging SMT style music as well!
Wish there was a chance to use the battle theme you'd made, maybe in an actually SMT-styled project!
That would be cool!
I'm so glad I finally get to play a bit of this! I've been following this project for a while, and it's nice to finally get a taste of what it the game is feeling like so far.
I really like it already! I like that it uses dice for movement, so that turns are a little up to chance. I like the individual abilities of the party members, and I enjoy how quickly combat goes by because if this is a sorta dungeon-crawler style game, snappy combat is super important.
If I had to pick anything that may need some improvement, it may actually be the damage numbers? I feel like regular attacks are much stronger than skills, and skills don't usually seem worth it a lot of the time when it comes to damage. This isn't all skills, as the cleric character's radiant attack feels good, and the skills that say they're weak obviously make sense. It's more for the warrior and rogue, where the warrior's skills that do damage I think should be more powerful, and the rogue's basic attack may be a little too strong (they did about the same as the warrior when it came to basic attacks). The characters definitely feel strong, which is good, I would just like to see a little game balence in this area so far.
This is obviously a pre-alpha build that's very bare bones, so I don't wannna comment on anything that isn't there. But what IS there? It's awesome. I love the game's art direction, and the UI that is there is very flashy and it makes combat very fun. This is gonna be a really cool game when it gets made someday, keep at it and I'll definitely be there when it comes out!
Thank you so much for playing!
On damage numbers - Basic attacks actually do have the same damage scaling as most skills in the current build. So in consequence, the damage range of characters end up being pretty similar on their skills. The skills are also similar to each other in damage. This is intentional on my part to allow for party build flexibility in the future and also to keep damage ranges predictable.
It is not apparent now, but what makes skills special will be in their utility to inflict status effects or reach even greater heights in damage. In this build you can do up to 40(!) damage as Fighter in a single attack with Shield Bash, and her Brave Assault is a very consistent source of extra damage and turns (averaging at 8-15 damage), especially when done to a target with defense down. In contrast, the Rogue has two skills unrelated to directly damaging the enemy, but these skills open up your options in another way. Substitution arts is a massive DEF buff (It will be changed to a more fitting status effect, but still related!), allowing him to completely dodge attacks directed towards him at times, costing the enemy their turn. While his knife throw is actually a magical attack, letting him always strike true and greatly reduce the defense of the target.
Basically, I'm aiming for a "horizontal" game design where you must pick and choose the right skills, and effects to inflict to deal the most amount of damage and gain the most amount of turns while also still being able to afford to keep your party standing.
With that being said, I will take your feedback into account! I'm still figuring out the design myself.
Ahhh, I think I get it now. I was more thinking that the skills were meant to function like Battle Arts in other games, basically like super moves that do more damage. Instead, it sounds like the main source of damage is your basic attack, while skills are more meant for utility to make the characters function differently each battle.
Playing the build a bit more and knowing this now, I can see what you mean! The skills being more about utility than damage makes sense to me, and the tradeoff seems clear when playing it a bit more now. This is very cool, and I’m glad I got this info because it changed how I approached combat for this game. Again, good job on this, it’s coming out great!
I plan on having super moves as well! Ideally, the player will have to make conscious decisions on when to use them, as the MP economy is limited.
But, basic attacks actually do less damage for me on average. In the code, their hit modifiers (also decides the crit rate) are low and often fail to go over the enemy's defense. Perhaps you've been getting lucky then!
I've made a quick update to the game to make the dungeon exploration snappier, if you want to give it another shot :D
I finally got to play the new version! The exploration definitely feels a little better, which it noticeable as soon as you start. I was WAY less lucky this time, I ended up losing the Fighter and Rogue on this playthrough so my luck has run out a bit lol BUT! I'm still playing with skills, and I think I'm really starting to see the potential they could have in these combat encounters. Now that I've had a normal (less lucky) run, I can sorta see how these dungeon encounters may run if there's multiple levels. I'd also like to see how this matches up with items at some point, and how items will be used (if they'll be used) in combat because that could make things VERY interesting.
For now, had a lotta fun with this! I'm definitely sticking around for any updates, and I'm so curious to see what you can the team cook up.
Is there not currently a download available? I'm not seeing it.
Sorry, you'll have to wait for the new build.
Hey, I just found out about this game while browsing randomly on itch.io, and it seems like the type of game I'd enjoy a lot, I hope it's still in development! Would you be interested in having someone write some music for the project?
Your work is very nice! I'll keep you in mind for future reference.
That's cool, thanks for the reply!
peak
fighter is my wife
Hey! Keep the love you put into the art and design of this prototype. it looks awesome. can’t wait to see how it grows 8)
hello! had some fun with this game, and super interested in seeing where it goes!
- i personally LOVE the art style, and i love the sleek minimalist design of the ui. i would love to see an expansion of more animations for the characters and monsters! as others have mentioned, there's a bug where the cleric's image shows as the rogue's in the party list. additionally, there are times in battle where people will overlap, so it makes it hard to see the damage and effects.
- personally, i don't mind not knowing the turn order since it makes it a bit of a challenge! according to my friend, it is inspired from darkest dungeon! i did have a slight issue with the monsters showing the range on the left side since i did not know what they meant? i did not know at all what these numbers meant, but my friend did based on her knowledge! i think in a further developed version, it could be helpful if there was some sort of tutorial / ui explanation?
- when you attack a monster, there is nothing in the textbox to remind you of that - whereas other people have "(x) is healing," etc. i think it'd be good if that was there again (mostly because i am a bit forgetful whoops)! also a redo or some sort of final confirmation for the turn would be great as well!
- i know people are upset about the laugh track in some odd ways, but personally i find it HILARIOUS as is. i really don't think it needs changes, but maybe you could either implement a volume slider for it or a checkbox to deactivate it.
all in all, it was a pretty cool demo! i would be excited to see more, and hope for the best for you!
Thank you for playing! Yes, the damage numbers being able to get overlapped by the actual characters was a mistake lol
We're going to prioritize the player UX for the next build, so I hope to see you by then!
Hello! Zarafan.art here!
I had the chance to test it and made a Video, but since It was in Spanish, I though it would be better to write it here in English, I will just list it as it comes into my head:
+ The art style is simple and easy to replicate, this should allow more versatyle and unique poses for each skill. While everything in B&W makes for an unique feel, it still needs work, for example: Characters do blend with the Background therefor become hard to appreciate, some Outline or Background for each class would be nice.
- The Actions cant not be REDO and this is an issue, in case I miss Click the button and lose my turn at an action I didnt intent. A possible Solution can be to Qeue all the Actions and Confirm the End of the Turn after Players decide to (or at least to enable this as an option in the menu).
+ The UI can be used better, It totally needs more Visual elements to Help/Guide the Player guide themselves without needing to read everything in order to understand. (Skills, Pointers, Active/Inactive status of elements, etc.
= Turn list can have an improvement. Dynamics that help us to udnerstand where the Actions we are walking in the menu will put us. Also understand what each character will do in the Turn Order to have a better plan, for example: Character 1 applies Oil Debuff, Character 2 Uses Molotov causing fire Damage with Bonus for Oil, Character 3 that causes Bleed, and Character 4 deals damage and Heals from the Bleeding in the same Turn. These kind of combos and Dynamics in the Turn list would make Each turn more rich and enjoyable.
+/- Music felt accurate, (it felt like Fire Emblem, Vandal Hearts, Suikoden, etc), But some Sound effects need work. For example, the Miss Laugh is too long (the concept is fun tho), it would help the game to have many different Laughs for each Kind of miss or Enemy type.
- Few UX elements felt that still need a lot of work and Purpose. Empty Spaces can be used better. The Battle Area could be blend more efficiently with the background. Enemies and Character location could do something more creative to have an unique flavor. But all this is expected for a v0.1 of the game.
= I would love if the character would Evolve/LvlUp visually as I progress. I would love to have Costumizations to display in the characters (I know color is off the table) but texturess, ourlines, background, sounds, etc.
Other elements from the game I wont point out, due to the early state of development.
Overall, I love game with unique visuals and this one got my attention and interest. I wish for the best of the project, and would love to know what comes in the next versions.
If you guys ever want me to stream or make any content for it, I would love to, just hit me at:
YT: @ZarafanYT or Twitch: ZarafanTV
Thank you so much for playing! We are definitely prioritizing the UX for next time. I'll try to hit you up whenever the game's ready.
Really hopeful about the potential of this game... So here's the feedback:
1. Adding more resolutions options, game only starting fullscreen for me with taskbar showing was taking me a bit out of the vibe,
2. Make the turn order a bit more clear, maybe display the turn order from the beginning?
3. The sound for when you miss is honestly very annoying, maybe tone that down a bit or have a more neutral sound,
4. Monster designs and animations feel a bit lacking so far, but the direction is good, hope I get to see more terrifying monsters!
5. Tutorials/Glossary for the demo would be nice.
Sorry if this is not formatted well, made an account just to give you guys some feedback. I hope you guys keep working on this and improve it, I really want to keep playing this!
Thank you for playing! In the next one we'll make sure to include more options for the player experience.
I'm not sure how to format this, so sorry if this comes off as rant-like. (ichio's formatting kinda sucks too)
Off the top, what the game needs the most, and I'm not sure if this is just a glitch, but for many actions, there was no sound effect at all. It just makes the gameplay feel very strange. Besides that, as far as glitches go, the only other ones I had were on the status menu, the rogue had the same portrait as the cleric for some reason. During the manticore fight, it sorta got stuck in the middle of the field, and the animations kinda freaked out. The battle ui also displays behind the character sprites for some reason. For example, the knights halberd can obstruct the fighter's battle text box. Other than that, nothing game breaking. Which is good.
As far as everything else. The overall UI design is kind of needlessly complex. Theres a lot of detail, like the filigree on the side, which just strangely pillarboxes the screen, which is already windowed, and zoomed out. There's a lot of wasted space visually.
I think the animations could be improved too. The ones for attacking are passable, but could be made better with more exaggerated easing. As if they were like winding up for an attack.
The spells and skills though, really need actual animations to convey what they're doing. I understand what it is, but it just doesn't present great.
As for the character designs, I think they're well enough, but the monsters could be improved. There's a good use of contrast for the characters, but enemies like the slime and skeleton are missing this aspect. If they were brought up to say, the level of the manticore design wise, I think that would be good. As is, they kinda just blend into the background. I think in general, using this monochromatic style, this is something you want to avoid.
I think the level up screen should convey more clearly what you're doing. Because I realized it after I did it, but if there was some sort of confirmation to do so, it would be less confusing.
Besides that, the actual strategy of the fights, i'm not sure. I haven't played darkest dungeons before but I have heard of how punishingly difficult it is. Comparable to something like xcom. Something like that doesn't necessarily appeal to me, but if it's along those lines i'm sure it will appeal to people that like those games.
Also, maybe I'm just dumb, but I didn't really understand the turn count system at all. I saw the numbers and stuff but didn't know what it all meant.
As for me, I prefer rpgs that do actually require strategy, unlike something like pokemon, or some of the mainline ff games.
I'd like something tuned more like how Shin Megami Tensei (3, 4, DDS) is, or for more examples, Etrian Odyssey, or FF4 3d.
I do think this has potential, and hope it improves.
Thank you for the feedback! Yes, we're going to do a UI overhaul after seeing many people play the game (and struggle with it)
The numbers on the turn order are the rows of the characters the enemy are targetting, it is not conveyed as well as it should and more serves as the proof of concept of knowing the enemy's "intent" in combat.
We are looking into giving the combat more depth in the future. We decided to cut a number of features and tone down the strength of the enemies to keep it simple and fast for playtesters, as the intent of this build is to stress test for game-breaking bugs and inherent design flaws.