Oh, that demo was disappointing. The combat is very simplistic, which on its own isn't a terrible thing, games like Boktai 2 and Ys Oath in Felgana manage to have very engaging and rewarding combat while still being very simple, but the enemy design is terrible. Enemies have such little health that they go down in just a few hits, but they're also incredibly nonthreatening, being simple to either stunlock or just to kill before they even have a chance to attack. They take a huge amount of time telegraphing their attacks, and when they do actually attack, they can be easily avoided just by walking to the side; the dodge-roll seemed entirely superfluous. Because of this, every encounter felt like a throwaway fight, and it gave very little satisfaction or sense that the combat system was something to be learned and mastered. I would have liked to see some serious changes in the game, namely;
1.) Make the enemy attacks hit harder. Getting hit feels without any consequence.
2.) Make enemy attacks come out much faster. It feels like I'd need to be comatose to actually be in harm's way. Make me pay closer attention, dammit.
3.) Give enemies more attack varieties than just their standard one, and have them each have their own speeds and ranges. As it is now, it seems like every enemy is a one trick pony, making the player use a rinse-and-repeat strategy to defeat them. By adding variety, I think the player will feel a sense of progression and mastery of the game when getting to know enemies' movements and attacks starts to make an actual difference in the outcome of fights. I'm imagining this being something the player doesn't even consciously notice is happening.
4.) Make the different attack types mean something. The best reason I can find to mix up my attack types between light and heavy is to avoid monotony. I think there needs to be chargeable heavy attacks, or maybe give heavy attacks a chance to inflict some status ailment. Maybe they could make a system where heavy attacks can interrupt enemy super-moves, but the moves come out almost as fast as your heavy attack, meaning the player needs to be familiar with the signs telegraphing the enemy attack and anticipate the windup to interrupt it with a heavy attack, because starting a heavy attack after the super-move has already started won't give you enough time to get your attack out. This will reward experienced players who are familiar enough with the enemy's attacks to anticipate the move, or maybe the technical players who might start their heavy attack outside the super-move's hitbox so that the enemy misses them while their heavy attack is running through it's windup, only to hit the enemy after it's finished. I don't know if that's the best way to implement that kind of mechanic, but it's something.
5.) Make player attacks able to be dodge cancelled just a tiny little faster. Maybe it's just me, but I feeling like I can dodge out of an attack fractions of a second before it actually lets me. I dunno, this one's not so important.
But really, I only played the game for 50 minutes, during which I spent maybe 10 in actual combat, so I can't say for sure what would make this a better game; these are just some ideas I feel which would make the combat more rewarding and significant while still preserving the general style.
1.) Make the enemy attacks hit harder. Getting hit feels without any consequence.
2.) Make enemy attacks come out much faster. It feels like I'd need to be comatose to actually be in harm's way. Make me pay closer attention, dammit.
3.) Give enemies more attack varieties than just their standard one, and have them each have their own speeds and ranges. As it is now, it seems like every enemy is a one trick pony, making the player use a rinse-and-repeat strategy to defeat them. By adding variety, I think the player will feel a sense of progression and mastery of the game when getting to know enemies' movements and attacks starts to make an actual difference in the outcome of fights. I'm imagining this being something the player doesn't even consciously notice is happening.
4.) Make the different attack types mean something. The best reason I can find to mix up my attack types between light and heavy is to avoid monotony. I think there needs to be chargeable heavy attacks, or maybe give heavy attacks a chance to inflict some status ailment. Maybe they could make a system where heavy attacks can interrupt enemy super-moves, but the moves come out almost as fast as your heavy attack, meaning the player needs to be familiar with the signs telegraphing the enemy attack and anticipate the windup to interrupt it with a heavy attack, because starting a heavy attack after the super-move has already started won't give you enough time to get your attack out. This will reward experienced players who are familiar enough with the enemy's attacks to anticipate the move, or maybe the technical players who might start their heavy attack outside the super-move's hitbox so that the enemy misses them while their heavy attack is running through it's windup, only to hit the enemy after it's finished. I don't know if that's the best way to implement that kind of mechanic, but it's something.
5.) Make player attacks able to be dodge cancelled just a tiny little faster. Maybe it's just me, but I feeling like I can dodge out of an attack fractions of a second before it actually lets me. I dunno, this one's not so important.
But really, I only played the game for 50 minutes, during which I spent maybe 10 in actual combat, so I can't say for sure what would make this a better game; these are just some ideas I feel which would make the combat more rewarding and significant while still preserving the general style.
Last edited by Meteor7,
