I played the game a little to see how it was but i feel kinda stuck.
The concept seems interesting and i like the randomized maps, but how are you supposed to progress? that's the confusing part to me about this game.
After the intro fight you start the game with 1 health and from then on fighting any battle is pretty much impossible.
Most barrels and chests don't have anything in them, i'm not sure if this is just me being unlucky or this is how the game works, but this feels a little annoying as you can open up a bunch of stuff only to be met with nothing.
I guess the only exception to that rule were the claws, but again, with 1 health i can't really do much in terms of combat so i just kept dying.
I did like that after a couple of deaths some new npcs appeared that could've been useful but i didn't progress far enough to interact with them(the only option was to sacrifice the claws for 25 essence, but that's about it).
I feel like the statues could maybe be made a bit more obvious that they are interactable? either some sparkles or the game encouraging you to spend your essence on some stats after you gained enough essence(kinda like a tutorial).
I also noticed that if i dodge the traps i take no damage despite the game telling me i took 30 or maybe it's just that you can't take damage if you are stuck at 1 health. The burning effect did apply however.
The traps could maybe be made a bit more obvious before you step on them as to not be completely unpredictable. Take this suggestion with a grain of salt as i don't understand how this mechanic is supposed to work.
One other thing that makes the game difficult is the enemies being as fast as the player, it doesn't help that the maps are small so it can be a tad bit difficult to dodge them.
There was this attempt i did after managing to escape from an enemy only for my path to be blocked by a pile of rocks that i couldn't even interact with.
Now for the combat, right off the bat the couple skills i've seen seem pretty basic, some damage, some healing and some defense buff.
Technically speaking the only thing that bothered me here is that the heavy blow and the sword skill felt pretty similar in what they do, with heavy blow being weaker than the sword skill and even the basic attack(that applies a DoT effect compared to the 2 skills i mentioned).
What i'm trying to say is that it will be cooler if skills had more interactions with one another(one skill bleeds the enemy, another one does something if enemy has bleed debuff or has been debuffed with bleeding 3 times, etc).
And the last thing is that animation seem to take a while to play and that kinda slows down the combat pace.
Despite me having complained about a lot of stuff, the game could be interesting if things get more polished as you keep working on it.
I have been torn over whether to include tutorial elements or to leave it up to the player to explore and figure things out on their own. I suppose I can make it feel more in line with the game world by having the healing statue beckon you over.
I want the NPCs to be somewhat cryptic not having to spell out what they can do for you but again I can rework the dialogue to still instruct you whilst still being in line with the tone of the game.
I don't want the traps to kill you so yeah you just remain on 1 health. But that is mostly because making the traps kill you within RPGmaker makes you game over and return to the title screen and I don't know a way around that yet.
Not sure if you noticed but the traps are marked by a crack in the ground. That's about as much as I want the player to know where they are. Once they figure that out they can avoid them.
Pathing for the enemies is placeholder for the moment as they do just walk in circles for now. I plan for them to move around the space a bit more organically. The idea is if you don't want to fight them you need to wait for an opportunity to pass them. You can still outrun them but that's hard to do.
Combat is still in its infancy, element weaknesses are meant to play a bigger role with unlocked skills having elements attached. I like the idea of combining skills so I may consider that. I'll tweak the heavy blow skill as it should be stronger than a basic attack.
If you played in your browser that slow animations are due to how the game loads in things only as they are used. Usually after the first time it will be normal speed. You can download the game instead of playing in browser to avoid this.
Thanks again for playing and for the extensive feedback! I hope you'll play again when I put out a polished demo.
I played this on the downloadable version yesterday, but Itch didn't let me post a comment for some reason. I will say that the web version is more convenient for trial purposes, but generally I strongly prefer to download games.
First, some bugs that are hopefully easy to fix but that detract a great deal from the gameplay experience:
When I use mend wounds I get this error that likely resulted from an animation that was loaded using a script call or plugin function but not used in one of the engine's designated animation spots, resulting in it not being added to the list of animations included when [Remove unused assets] check is checked (this isn't exact, but should give a good place to start when trying to fix it)
This happened while out of battle:
Second a piece of specific gameplay feedback
In my gameplay, it seemed like whether or not an encounter is (mostly) safe boils down to one thing: Does the enemy deal more damage than mend wounds recovers? If yes, then I have to hope that I can deal enough damage to kill it before it kills me (which usually doesn't work). If no, then the optimal strategy is to spam mend wounds every turn* (with the important detail that it can crit and miss, which means luck is involved so its certainly not an airtight strategy) until I am at full health, and sometimes the gain of Mend Wounds is like 5 health higher than the damage taken so I sit there spamming the same move for a while which is quite boring
For actual feedback on how I feel about the game concept, I must say that I like it a lot! The idea of a rougelite RPG is very compelling, the dark atmosphere and edgy text feels dark-souls esc, and the randomized loot can make for some cool emergent gameplay with trying different strategies and unique setups based on whatever weapon skills I'm stuck with if those ever become more distinct (maybe they already are pretty different, I didn't see more than a few types of weapons since I didn't play too too much) along with some desperation when I get into tight spots. I will be excited to see if this game goes anywhere!
In a bid to bring the file size down for browser play I was removing a lot of audio files that I thought weren't being used. I kept a backup so all I have to do is replace those files.
In regards to gameplay:
Combat definitely isn't fleshed out yet. I also find myself spamming mend wounds haha. The enemies base attacks will be made weaker I think as I will add special moves that will cause more trouble but be less frequent. Elemental weaknesses are also implemented but I haven't filled out the skills yet that will allow you to use element attacks. Skills gems are found throughout the levels that add random skills to your character so over multiple playthroughs you'll build up your abilities.
I want combat to feel desperate but not impossible at first, then over time you begin to feel more powerful. Which will definitely require more play testing.
I'm glad that you like the concept! I see why so many people make soulslikes, it's fun working within a dark atmosphere and trying to keep the mystery. The idea for the story is that more will be revealed as to your creation and purpose the more times you are defeated. NPCs unlock when you reach a certain number of defeats. For now they just perform their roles (shop, special items, bank etc.) but when I'm done they will have unique dialogue that reveals the story as you progress.
I am a bit time poor so progress on this will be slow but I hope you'll stick around for any updates! Thanks again for playing 😁
One small piece of feedback that I remembered, but I think it would be cool if you could use Caestus skills while weaponless, since that logically makes sense to me and would also make my hypothetical fists-only playthrough more interesting. I do know that working with NULL weapon can be a pain though, and also that that might take a little bit away from the powerlessness of lacking equipment, so it's alright if it doesn't happen.
I'm glad to be of assistance with the errors and also glad that the combat will be more fleshed out in due time. I will be sure to check back every once in a while to see how this is going! Thanks for the downloadable version as well.
A no equipment run probably isn't possible as hit% is tied to weapons and stats are also mainly boosted by equipping a weapon. I did want that when I first started making the game because I find that kind of thing a fun optional challenge but yeah the I've made the equipment work won't allow it. Also pummel is a pretty broken skill at the moment so not sure I want easy access to that haha.
My next goal is to have a polished demo with everything in place to play through the first 2 stages. So keep an eye out!
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Hey, it's A_Abel from reddit.
I played the game a little to see how it was but i feel kinda stuck.
The concept seems interesting and i like the randomized maps, but how are you supposed to progress? that's the confusing part to me about this game.
After the intro fight you start the game with 1 health and from then on fighting any battle is pretty much impossible.
Most barrels and chests don't have anything in them, i'm not sure if this is just me being unlucky or this is how the game works, but this feels a little annoying as you can open up a bunch of stuff only to be met with nothing.
I guess the only exception to that rule were the claws, but again, with 1 health i can't really do much in terms of combat so i just kept dying.
I did like that after a couple of deaths some new npcs appeared that could've been useful but i didn't progress far enough to interact with them(the only option was to sacrifice the claws for 25 essence, but that's about it).
I feel like the statues could maybe be made a bit more obvious that they are interactable? either some sparkles or the game encouraging you to spend your essence on some stats after you gained enough essence(kinda like a tutorial).
I also noticed that if i dodge the traps i take no damage despite the game telling me i took 30 or maybe it's just that you can't take damage if you are stuck at 1 health. The burning effect did apply however.
The traps could maybe be made a bit more obvious before you step on them as to not be completely unpredictable. Take this suggestion with a grain of salt as i don't understand how this mechanic is supposed to work.
One other thing that makes the game difficult is the enemies being as fast as the player, it doesn't help that the maps are small so it can be a tad bit difficult to dodge them.
There was this attempt i did after managing to escape from an enemy only for my path to be blocked by a pile of rocks that i couldn't even interact with.
Now for the combat, right off the bat the couple skills i've seen seem pretty basic, some damage, some healing and some defense buff.
Technically speaking the only thing that bothered me here is that the heavy blow and the sword skill felt pretty similar in what they do, with heavy blow being weaker than the sword skill and even the basic attack(that applies a DoT effect compared to the 2 skills i mentioned).
What i'm trying to say is that it will be cooler if skills had more interactions with one another(one skill bleeds the enemy, another one does something if enemy has bleed debuff or has been debuffed with bleeding 3 times, etc).
And the last thing is that animation seem to take a while to play and that kinda slows down the combat pace.
Despite me having complained about a lot of stuff, the game could be interesting if things get more polished as you keep working on it.
Good luck with your project!
Thank you for playing and for your feedback!
I have been torn over whether to include tutorial elements or to leave it up to the player to explore and figure things out on their own. I suppose I can make it feel more in line with the game world by having the healing statue beckon you over.
I want the NPCs to be somewhat cryptic not having to spell out what they can do for you but again I can rework the dialogue to still instruct you whilst still being in line with the tone of the game.
I don't want the traps to kill you so yeah you just remain on 1 health. But that is mostly because making the traps kill you within RPGmaker makes you game over and return to the title screen and I don't know a way around that yet.
Not sure if you noticed but the traps are marked by a crack in the ground. That's about as much as I want the player to know where they are. Once they figure that out they can avoid them.
Pathing for the enemies is placeholder for the moment as they do just walk in circles for now. I plan for them to move around the space a bit more organically. The idea is if you don't want to fight them you need to wait for an opportunity to pass them. You can still outrun them but that's hard to do.
Combat is still in its infancy, element weaknesses are meant to play a bigger role with unlocked skills having elements attached. I like the idea of combining skills so I may consider that. I'll tweak the heavy blow skill as it should be stronger than a basic attack.
If you played in your browser that slow animations are due to how the game loads in things only as they are used. Usually after the first time it will be normal speed. You can download the game instead of playing in browser to avoid this.
Thanks again for playing and for the extensive feedback! I hope you'll play again when I put out a polished demo.
I played this on the downloadable version yesterday, but Itch didn't let me post a comment for some reason. I will say that the web version is more convenient for trial purposes, but generally I strongly prefer to download games.
First, some bugs that are hopefully easy to fix but that detract a great deal from the gameplay experience:
When I use mend wounds I get this error that likely resulted from an animation that was loaded using a script call or plugin function but not used in one of the engine's designated animation spots, resulting in it not being added to the list of animations included when [Remove unused assets] check is checked (this isn't exact, but should give a good place to start when trying to fix it)
This happened while out of battle:
Second a piece of specific gameplay feedback
In my gameplay, it seemed like whether or not an encounter is (mostly) safe boils down to one thing: Does the enemy deal more damage than mend wounds recovers? If yes, then I have to hope that I can deal enough damage to kill it before it kills me (which usually doesn't work). If no, then the optimal strategy is to spam mend wounds every turn* (with the important detail that it can crit and miss, which means luck is involved so its certainly not an airtight strategy) until I am at full health, and sometimes the gain of Mend Wounds is like 5 health higher than the damage taken so I sit there spamming the same move for a while which is quite boring
For actual feedback on how I feel about the game concept, I must say that I like it a lot! The idea of a rougelite RPG is very compelling, the dark atmosphere and edgy text feels dark-souls esc, and the randomized loot can make for some cool emergent gameplay with trying different strategies and unique setups based on whatever weapon skills I'm stuck with if those ever become more distinct (maybe they already are pretty different, I didn't see more than a few types of weapons since I didn't play too too much) along with some desperation when I get into tight spots. I will be excited to see if this game goes anywhere!
Thanks for playing and for the great feedback!
In regards to the errors:
In a bid to bring the file size down for browser play I was removing a lot of audio files that I thought weren't being used. I kept a backup so all I have to do is replace those files.
In regards to gameplay:
Combat definitely isn't fleshed out yet. I also find myself spamming mend wounds haha. The enemies base attacks will be made weaker I think as I will add special moves that will cause more trouble but be less frequent. Elemental weaknesses are also implemented but I haven't filled out the skills yet that will allow you to use element attacks. Skills gems are found throughout the levels that add random skills to your character so over multiple playthroughs you'll build up your abilities.
I want combat to feel desperate but not impossible at first, then over time you begin to feel more powerful. Which will definitely require more play testing.
I'm glad that you like the concept! I see why so many people make soulslikes, it's fun working within a dark atmosphere and trying to keep the mystery. The idea for the story is that more will be revealed as to your creation and purpose the more times you are defeated. NPCs unlock when you reach a certain number of defeats. For now they just perform their roles (shop, special items, bank etc.) but when I'm done they will have unique dialogue that reveals the story as you progress.
I am a bit time poor so progress on this will be slow but I hope you'll stick around for any updates! Thanks again for playing 😁
One small piece of feedback that I remembered, but I think it would be cool if you could use Caestus skills while weaponless, since that logically makes sense to me and would also make my hypothetical fists-only playthrough more interesting. I do know that working with NULL weapon can be a pain though, and also that that might take a little bit away from the powerlessness of lacking equipment, so it's alright if it doesn't happen.
I'm glad to be of assistance with the errors and also glad that the combat will be more fleshed out in due time. I will be sure to check back every once in a while to see how this is going! Thanks for the downloadable version as well.
A no equipment run probably isn't possible as hit% is tied to weapons and stats are also mainly boosted by equipping a weapon. I did want that when I first started making the game because I find that kind of thing a fun optional challenge but yeah the I've made the equipment work won't allow it. Also pummel is a pretty broken skill at the moment so not sure I want easy access to that haha.
My next goal is to have a polished demo with everything in place to play through the first 2 stages. So keep an eye out!
Just FYI I've added a downloadable version back with some minor updates!